Guest Editorial

3/9/05

Great Divide EIS 

Over the next six years land planning for 12 BLM and Forest Service plans affecting 46 percent of Wyoming’s surface will take place as part of required federal land planning processes.  

The most recent plan to grab the headlines in letters to the editor is the Great Divide 20 year resource plan.  This area is located in South-Central Wyoming and encompasses 3.5 million acres of federal lands in Albany, Carbon, Laramie and Sweetwater Counties (plus an additional 1 million acres of sub-surface mineral estates).  It has become Wyoming’s most recent multiple use rallying point…and there is no question that the BLM’s final decisions regarding access to energy development will impact Wyoming’s ability to sustain the current energy upswing, a robust state budget surplus and growing employment opportunities.   

On the industry side is the response to meet national demand through exploration to produce more energy - - especially natural gas.  Wyoming is one of the few regions in the Western Hemisphere which has natural gas development potential.  The Great Divide area, accordingly, has begun to see increased natural gas interest and production.  Total tax revenues from minerals - - ad valorem, severance taxes and federal mineral royalties - - were $62 million for the four counties in 2001, or about half of all city and county revenues.  Without these revenues and to maintain current budget levels, a typical family of four would have to pay $1500 in additional taxes yearly.   

On the environmental side are fears that excessive development - - primarily from natural gas - - will affect wildlife and damage the terrain forever.  Arguments cite Adobe Town to the south, Pedro Mountains to the north, Native American archaeological sites, air quality and wildlife habitat.  Their plan, the Western Heritage Alternative, recommends arbitrary well clustering and directional drilling as standard practices to reduce vertical drilling and the construction of surface roads, yet there are many instances where these techniques are neither reasonable nor possible.  

The BLM in its Preferred Alternative rejected the Western Heritage Alternative.  The BLM’s plan allows for gas development on most of the land versus Western Heritage Plan’s no surface occupancy proposal for 3.1 million of the 3.5 million-acre surface.  Some 4.14 million surface acres and federal mineral estate could be available under the Preferred Alternative.  This sounds like a lot, but it does not tell the whole story for the some 8,822 wells that could be drilled.  The BLM believes that only 57,500 acres of the 4.6 million acre Great Divide area actually would have short term disturbances.   

No wonder the public is so confused.  How much land that will be affected - - and the range of potentials - - depends on how different land use scenarios, positions and opinions from the various stakeholders and interest groups play out.  The BLM’s Rawlins agency is caught between opposing forces and has the difficult task of balancing various and competing interests.  As the debate proceeds the Wyoming public should recognize: 

1. Of the 4.58 million acres of mineral estate, 18.6 percent - - 853,690 acres - - is available for oil and gas leasing with standard restrictions; 81.4 percent of the land has severe and often overlapping restrictions of one form or another.  This includes 76,950 acres which are closed to all oil and gas leasing;
2. Land which may be considered for energy development, based on known energy potential, is about 3 million of the 4.6 million acreage total, or 65 percent of the land.  This is based on foreseeable estimates from the National Energy Policy and Conservation Act Inventory planning tool; 
3. The BLM projects that 8,822 wells could be drilled.  The estimated short term disturbance will occur on just 1.2 percent of the total acreage.  Long term disturbance is estimated at 15,472 acres – or .3 percent of the total.  The statement that mass industry type development will take place is an exaggeration and a condition the BLM simply won’t allow to take place;
4. Decisions about no surface occupancy, directional drilling, or traditional drilling practices as well as access road locations are based on economics, geology, wildlife, recreation and other mitigating factors.  These analyses are contained in the BLM’s current Preferred Alternative; and
5. There are many more restrictions in the Preferred Alternative than with the current RMP.  Examples include new definitions of “disruptive activities” and “intensive management,” possible sage grouse nesting areas, and treating the White Tailed Prairie Dog as being at risk.

Federal lands impact Wyoming’s economy.  One in every four jobs in Wyoming is due to federal land activity - - some 60,000-70,000 jobs overall. While Wyoming’s employment has grown on average 2 percent yearly (even more in Carbon and Sweetwater Counties), without mineral activity, the annual growth rate would have been closer to .4 percent.  Budget surpluses due to minerals today are being used to fund many programs, including this year’s historic $400 million tuition scholarship endowment program for Wyoming students to receive tuition to attend the University of Wyoming or community colleges.  

The BLM is responsible for the Great Divide RMP and EIS.  The agency has analyzed the options and presented its Preferred Alternative based on multiple-use purposes for a 20 year project.  It’s now facilitating and assessing public comments.   

The vastness and diversity of the Great Divide’s 4.6 million-acre region provides the BLM with an opportunity to significantly address our nation’s critical energy needs, while at the same time, provide for the protection of the area’s unique qualities.  We urge the BLM to maintain its Preferred Alternative model as the planning process moves forward.   

Sam Clark                                                        Judy Saulcy

Mountain West Farm Bureau Insurance       Saulcy Real Estate Corp.

Laramie                                                            Encampment

Mr. Clark and Mrs. Saulcy are members of the Wyoming Business Alliance/Wyoming Heritage Foundation Steering Committee.