GREEN RIVER - Bureau of Land Management officials have deferred leasing a parcel for oil and gas exploration around Little Mountain in southwest Wyoming until a joint state/federal wildlife management strategy can be crafted for the area.

The 1,700-acre parcel near Little Mountain was pulled from a BLM oil and gas lease sale Tuesday morning, according to Julie Weaver, BLM fluid minerals branch chief.

The parcel was deferred until state and federal managers review and determine a strategy for development in the Little Mountain ecosystem, Weaver said Friday.

She said BLM officials will work with Wyoming Game and Fish Department managers to develop management strategies on the mountain, a popular area for hunting, fishing and recreation about 40 miles south of Rock Springs near Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

Little Mountain was thrust into the energy fray last year in 2007 when the Oklahoma-based Devon Energy Co. announced plans to conduct a two-well exploratory drilling project near the mountain. A loose coalition of conservationists, faith-based organizations, blue-collar workers and hunters panned the project amid fears it would lead to full-scale development on the scenic mountain.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal also decried the drilling project and a follow-up seismic survey in 2008.

The deferred BLM parcel contains an area Freudenthal has identified as a "focus area" for prime sage grouse habitat. The parcel is located on the east side of Potter Mountain, near Brooks Draw and Elk Butte.

"We spoke with the Game and Fish, and they have concerns because our focus area and theirs did not match … so we need to discuss how to come to an agreement between the two agencies," Weaver said.

Formal protests

On Tuesday, the BLM's oil and gas lease sale generated $1.6 million for leasing rights and referrals on about 61,000 acres on 77 parcels in Wyoming.

The lease sale drew 19 protests from various conservation groups and individuals, including the Greater Little Mountain Coalition. The protests marked the third time in less than a year the coalition has protested leases in Sweetwater County.

Last November - after the BLM received 127 formal protests - the agency removed 13 or 14 parcels that were proposed for leasing in the Little Mountain area.

The BLM also received protests on a June 2008 lease sale that had some parcels on Little Mountain and for an August 2008 lease sale that included about 160,000 acres on the mountain.

Weaver said the deferral doesn't impact current valid leases on Little Mountain and that the agency will "still address the protest concerns when we answer the protests … probably later this year."

She said the agency is still working on its response to the June 2008 protests.

"So we're about a year behind, but once we get that resolved, then we will do August and then do each one of them in the order that they came in," Weaver said.

Weaver said the agency will consider deferring parcels on Little Mountain in future lease sales on a case-by-case basis until the management strategy is adopted. "We'll have to look at each parcel to determine if it's going to be affected," Weaver said.

The Little Mountain area is prized among locals for its elk, antelope and mule deer hunting. The mountain contains prime habitat for wildlife, and streams and rivers that support many fish species, including sensitive Colorado River cutthroat trout populations.

Since 1990, the greater Little Mountain area has benefited from more than $2 million in riparian habitat restoration projects funded by various private groups, state and federal agencies. Game and Fish has also spent more than $350,000 on habitat improvement projects in the area.

Devon officials contend that with proper planning and the necessary resources, drilling on leases on Little Mountain can be conducted in an environmentally sensitive manner and without significant harm to wildlife.

They note the area's geology would make any commercial development by Devon a "unique" play that would not require nearly as many wells and well pads as the more intense development to the north in the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline fields.

Contact southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino at 307-875-5359 or gearino@tribcsp.com.

* Last we knew: Conservation groups and others submitted 19 protests for the BLM's June 2 oil and gas lease sale that included a parcel around Little Mountain.

* The latest: The BLM deferred leasing the parcel until a new wildlife management strategy for the Little Mountain ecosystem can be drafted.

* What's next: The BLM will hold another oil and gas lease sale Aug. 4 in Cheyenne.]]->