WASHINGTON - Hunters and fishermen from Western states came to Washington this week to push their agenda for energy development on public lands, which would slow the pace of oil and gas drilling and boost protection for wildlife and habitat.

The visits were timed to coincide with a hearing on wide-ranging energy legislation introduced by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va. Bush administration and energy industry officials strongly oppose the bill, saying it would drive up energy prices.

The sportsmen visited about 20 Capitol Hill offices, meeting with both Republicans and Democrats to promote their "Sportsmen's Public Lands Energy Agenda." They said about 70 percent of their ideas are included in Rahall's bill.

The trips were coordinated by Trout Unlimited and the National Wildlife Federation.

Duane Hyde, a retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department warden, said his family has hunted and fished in the Wyoming Range for five generations. He said that as oil fields have been developed over the past several years the mule deer numbers have declined, resulting in a reduction of deer licenses for hunters.

"Hunters are losing their interest in coming to the Wyoming Range to hunt," he said.

"I'm interested in seeing the most current science and the best practices utilized to minimize oil field development impacts on wildlife habitats," he added. "I'm interested in seeing legislation enacted that would provide for protection from any further oil leases being issued in that very special area."

Amond Acri of Jackson said he has become very concerned about how public lands are being managed.

"I do not object to gas development in the Green River Basin," he said. "I object to how it is being done, all at once. We need to leave some areas for wildlife and recreation."

He applauded operators who are voluntarily trying new techniques to try to minimize impact, but said all operators should be required to do so.

Acri cited increased haze from emissions and a network of roads fragmenting habitat.

"This makes it difficult for me to find the kind of undisturbed areas I prefer to hunt," he said.

"We need to do this right," he continued. "That does not mean stopping, but it does mean slowing down. We need to listen to the Game and Fish, they are the experts on wildlife. We need to leave some places undisturbed for wildlife and for people like me."

Hugo Tureck, whose ranch about 30 miles from Montana's Missouri Breaks National Monument contains both private and public lands, said environmental groups and hunters and fishermen have allied because they have the same vision.

"My fellow hunters and I are here today to ask Congress to compel the BLM to treat these landscapes the way we do," he said. "We all use gas and oil. We are not against this use on public lands. All we ask is that this short-term use must be tempered with the long-term vision of a landscape that we will leave for future generations, and of course the aquifers that are under it."

He noted that much land in Montana is under split estate, with the underground minerals controlled by BLM and the surface controlled by private landowners. He praised a provision in Rahall's legislation that would require oil and gas operators to notify surface owners well in advance of operations and secure written agreements from them or make a good-faith effort to do so.

He said Montana has not yet been affected like neighboring states but that rapid leasing has begun.

"Montanans are afraid, and they're responding," he said. "We look now to Wyoming and we look to Colorado and see what's happened. And so our case I think is going to be (an) overwhelming response to Washington, D.C."

Rahall's bill addresses numerous topics ranging from energy corridors to Minerals Management Service audits to carbon capture. It would eliminate the 30-day limit for federal managers to process drilling permits, repeal a two-year time frame to identify energy corridors and repeal "categorical exclusions" that industry says prevent costly duplication of environmental reviews.

The committee's ranking Republican called it a "bastard bill," and administration officials outlined numerous objections to it. They said eliminating the exclusions would cost more time and money without any benefits and that the corridors provision would throw away a collaborative effort already under way.

Marc Smith, executive director of the Independent Producers Association of Mountain States, has said the bill would be detrimental to energy security and would drive up energy prices. He said almost every provision of the bill would cut oil and gas production in the Rockies.

Tureck said the sportsmen had been well received on Capitol Hill and were encouraged by what they heard.

"I think there is hope for this legislation," he said.