Study Shows Wyoming
Gas Projects Harming Mule Deer
October 10, 2005 — By Becky Bohrer, Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. — A new study
suggests natural gas development in western Wyoming is forcing mule deer
into less suitable winter range and affecting the animals' movements in
an area known as the Pinedale Anticline.
The number of mule deer on the Mesa winter range dropped a
"disconcerting" 46 percent from 2002 to 2005, according to the report
from Western EcoSystems Technology Inc. Models and maps indicated that,
through at least three winters, deer tended to favor areas further away
from well pads.
Such behavior suggests that seasonal drilling restrictions may not be
achieving what land managers had intended, the researchers said.
The study includes a control population of mule deer that winter on the
Pinedale Front range, near the Wind River Mountains, but researchers
didn't find concurrent evidence of a population decline there. The
decline on the Mesa was attributed to deaths, changes in birth and
movement of deer to new wintering range, though researchers couldn't
pinpoint how much each of those factors contributed.
The study, funded largely by the energy development firm Questar
Exploration and Production Co., is part of an ongoing, years-long look
at the potential effects of gas development on mule deer in the Green
River Basin. The results were released this week by environmental
groups.
Peter Aengst, an energy campaign coordinator with The Wilderness
Society, said the study should serve as a wake-up call to federal land
managers that changes are needed, perhaps in the pace of development or
the manner in which the gas is tapped.
There are more than 400 wells on the Pinedale Anticline, and a 2000
study anticipated 2,800 wells over time. But Aengst and others say
that's probably conservative.
"We can't just rely on the way we've been doing things," he said. "We
have to do it differently."
Steven Hall, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in
Wyoming, said the agency takes studies like this into account as it
makes decisions about drilling projects. He said some companies have
proposed or are trying to reduce impacts during the drilling phase, when
disruption to wildlife are more apt to occur.
"In order to have natural gas and oil from public lands, there will be
some impact to the environment," he said, adding it's BLM's to find an
appropriate balance.
A telephone message left for a Questar spokeswoman, who was out of the
office Friday, was not immediately returned.
The study said restrictions, such as limiting public access, or use of
different technologies, such as directional drilling, may be needed to
ease the disturbance of wintering mule deer.
Environmentalists say the Mesa provides crucial winter range to
thousands of mule deer and pronghorn.
Source: Associated Press |