DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER Star-Tribune energy reporter | Posted: Saturday, August 25, 2007 12:00 am
When coal-bed methane activity crowded onto federal lands in the Powder River Basin last winter, drillers found themselves in the narrow straits of stacked timing restrictions for a number of bird species.
Some operators reacted with extreme caution and sent crews home. Nearly 100 workers protested at the Bureau of Land Management's Buffalo field office.
Restrictions haven't eased on federal lands, where most of Wyoming's energy development takes place. But industry's tone seems to have evolved into one of acceptance.
This month the BLM Buffalo field office notified 13 operators they had pending permits for wells in areas considered prime sage grouse habitat, and those would be given a lower priority for processing.
"We're supportive of what the BLM is doing. They're doing what is required of them," said Kelly Swan, spokesman for Williams Production RMT.
Williams can "adapt and comply" with the new priority strategy, according to Swan.
Wildlife, agriculture and energy industry officials discussed strategies for conserving the sage grouse this week during the Petroleum Association of Wyoming's annual meeting.
Renee' Taylor, of Taylor Environmental Consulting, said there's a great need to update sagebrush habitat data through on-the-ground mapping so oil and gas developers can do their best to avoid prime habitat.
At the same time, operators are experimenting with different seed mixes to speed up reclamation of disturbed surface. Taylor said it's an especially challenging task in this time of drought.
"We need to consider impacts of the drought," Taylor said.
Bob Budd is heading a special stakeholders group directed to submit a list of recommended sage grouse conservation actions to the governor.
"This group is not about oil and gas alone," Budd said. Grazing, mining, rural subdivisions - they all affect sage grouse and could in turn be restricted if the bird is listed.
"It's also not about restricting oil and gas development," Budd said.
Budd suggested that the same overlying seasonal restrictions that squeezed coal-bed methane operators in March could be adjusted. No-surface-occupancy and distance restrictions for red-tailed hawks, raptor nesting and sage grouse strutting sometimes overlap.
Budd said some of those timing restrictions for other species actually prevent companies from implementing reclamation needed for sage grouse habitat. Restrictions for the red-tailed hawk, for example, could be lifted in order to perform conservation work for sage grouse, which seems to be closer to an Endangered Species Act listing.
Agriculture stands ready to participate in sage grouse conservation, said Bryce Reese, executive director of the Wyoming Wool Growers Association.
Reese said sage grouse prefer a sagebrush habitat that includes new growth, moderate growth and old growth. He said cattle, sheep and goats prefer different forage and can be used to manipulate the rangeland for an optimum sagebrush habitat.
In fact, the agriculture industry proposed a multimillion-dollar pilot project to do just that, Reese said. But the offer was flatly rejected.
"It was the most frustrating thing I've ever been associated with," Reese said.
Reese said some in the agriculture industry plan to use the method anyway. Agriculture has much at stake with a sage grouse listing, too.
"We think if you use the right animal at the right time, you can have a tool to enhance sage grouse habitat," he said.
Energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer can be reached at (307) 577-6069 or dustin.bleizeffer@casperstartribune.net.