WASHINGTON - A former Bureau of Land Management state director testified Tuesday that energy development has become the predominant use of public lands wherever oil and gas resources exist and that BLM policies facilitate development to the near exclusion of other priorities.

But a Republican congressman derided her testimony as inaccurate during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the implementation of the on-shore gas and oil drilling provisions of the 2005 Energy Policy Act.

Ann Morgan, who served as a BLM state director between 1994 and 2002, including five years in Colorado, said the BLM has moved to an "extreme pace" of development over the past six or seven years. She is now vice president of public lands for The Wilderness Society.

"In recent years, the BLM policies have facilitated the extraction of oil and gas resources to the virtual exclusion of many of these other resources," including wildlife, fisheries, recreation, cultural and wilderness resources, she said.

She said oil and gas production on public lands is important and can be "vibrant" while protecting other resources. But she said the BLM has been unable to strike a balance between conservation and development.

She said the rapid pace comes from the false notion that too many restrictions have impeded development on the West's public lands.

"The fact of the matter is that most BLM public lands in the five Rocky Mountain states containing substantial natural gas resources are available for development and have been for a long time," she said.

Morgan said the BLM routinely waives permit conditions that protect wildlife and habitat, inadequately funds inspection and enforcement, cannot meet commitments to monitor wildlife and air-quality impacts and opens more sensitive lands to leasing. She said the agency estimates that over 1 million acres will be disturbed by currently planned new oil and gas development.

She noted that of the 36 million acres of public lands under lease, only 12 million are under production.

"Why are they continuing to rush to new leases?" she asked.

Morgan called on Congress to require companies to pay for costs of a pilot program to improve federal permit coordination; repeal a section of the Energy Policy Act exempting certain activities from the National Environmental Policy Act; fully fund inspection programs; and require BLM to develop and enforce best management practices.

She also said Congress should consider limiting the Interior Department's ability to continue issuing leases in areas with wilderness characteristics or that are in Forest Service roadless areas.

But Rep. Stevan Pearce, R-N.M., said much of Morgan's testimony was exaggerated. He said her assertion that oil and gas has become the predominant use on public lands is "just plain wrong."

He said the BLM manages 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate, of which 6 percent are currently under lease for oil and gas development. He said 1.8 percent of the lands have active oil and gas production, calling that a "little bitty sliver" of the total.

He also disagreed with her statement that the administration has a "rush to lease policy." Pearce said the number of new leases issued under the current administration is substantially lower than under the Clinton administration.

Pearce cited a number of hearings called by the Democratic leadership of the committee in recent weeks and said the direction of those hearings leads him to conclude that the majority intends to repeal the entire oil and gas provision of the Energy Policy Act.

"I worry about the entire hearing and its purpose," he said.

Abraham Haspel, assistant deputy Interior secretary, defended the BLM's implementation of the Energy Policy Act.

Haspel said 116 approved BLM pilot office positions have been filled, and that Montana and Wyoming have both agreed to supply personnel. He said completed inspections have increased by one-third since 2001. And he said best management practices have been implemented that reduce surface disturbance.

Haspel also defended the use of categorical exclusions under NEPA as appropriate and said the agency is making sure they are used effectively and efficiently.

The Western Governors' Association has called for the repeal of the part of the Energy Policy Act that allows agencies to issue categorical exclusions for NEPA studies of oil and gas drilling permits in sensitive wildlife habitats.

But Haspel said there is wide misunderstanding of the section, and that it does not mean there will be no public input or protection for endangered species.