FIELD Notes

Oil drilling threatens nation’s first national forest

by gliffen | January 27, 2010 | Uncategorized

By Lisa McGee THE SHOSHONE NATIONAL FOREST could approve, in the coming months, a decade-old application to drill for oil near Dubois, Wyoming. If the project is given the green light, it would be the first well drilled on the Shoshone in more than 20 years. Because...

Winter Frontline, the Outdoor Council newsletter

by gliffen | January 15, 2010 | Uncategorized

WYOMING’S NEXT ENERGY BOOM, in the form of industrial-scale wind farms, might already be here. And the sheer volume of new applications for Wyoming wind projects has taken most observers by surprise. There have been about 100 applications for potential wind...

Making the air we breathe cleaner: EPA proposes stricter smog rules

by gliffen | January 7, 2010 | Uncategorized

WITH THE AIM OF BRINGING HEALTH BENEFITS to millions of Americans, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new smog standards on Thursday. The new standards would replace Bush-era rules that experts agree are inadequate to protect people from potentially...

Salazar’s oil and gas reforms: Big step in right direction?

by gliffen | January 6, 2010 | Uncategorized

Photo by Linda Baker U.S. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR KEN SALAZAR on Wednesday announced major reforms to the way the federal government manages oil and gas drilling on federal lands. The announcement immediately won guarded praise from conservation groups, including...

Wyo CBM policy violates Clean Water Act, EPA says

by gliffen | December 16, 2009 | Uncategorized

THE STATE OF WYOMING has been informed by the federal government—once again—that some of its policies related to the pumping and dumping of coal-bed methane water violate the Clean Water Act. In a letter dated Nov. 13, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency...

EPA concerned with Wyo’s efforts to comply with regional haze rule

by gliffen | December 11, 2009 | Uncategorized

Photo by Scott Copeland THE FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY has significant concerns about Wyoming’s proposed plan to reduce haze generated by polluters such as coal-fired power plants and trona mining operations. The EPA sent a letter to Wyoming’s...

Sage-grouse ‘core’ areas might be bird’s best bet

by gliffen | November 10, 2009 | Uncategorized

Photo by Jeff Vanuga THE LOOMING THREAT that the greater sage-grouse might be listed as an endangered species spurred Wyoming to adopt a new approach to protect the celebrated bird. As a result, the Cowboy State has emerged as the regional leader in re-thinking...

EPA opposes Wyoming’s coal-bed methane water policy

by gliffen | September 30, 2009 | Uncategorized

ON THE HEELS OF a recent independent report that called a proposed Wyoming water policy “scientifically indefensible,” the federal government on Tuesday voiced its own opposition to the policy—suggesting that if the rules were officially adopted by the...

The Kemmerer Surprise

by gliffen | September 29, 2009 | Uncategorized

A FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN for southwestern Wyoming — which most observers assumed would be completed during the final days of President George W. Bush’s administration — has yet to be published. And correspondence sent to the Wyoming Outdoor Council this...

Outdoor Council works to protect McCullough Peaks

by gliffen | September 28, 2009 | Uncategorized

CODY-AREA RESIDENTS are concerned that a popular hiking, hunting, and mountain biking spot east of town could become industrialized with oil and gas development, if the federal Bureau of Land Management doesn’t do more to safeguard the area’s natural heritage. The BLM...