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FINALLY! Sanity Reigns
By Brandon Mason
In the not-so-distant past, the group Wyoming Outdoor Council bid on an energy lease in the BLM bidding process near Pinedale, WY. While the group seemed to have noble intentions of “putting our money where our mouth is”, the fear of this opening a proverbial can of worms was real.
In a recent article on Wyofile.com, Dustin Bleizeffer reported on changes the state of Wyoming has made through legislation regarding the bidding process for energy industry leases on BLM land.
The concern over the bidding process was much larger than Wyoming Outdoor Council bidding on the lease in question. The state took a step back and realized that if a small Wyoming organization is able to do so, then what happens if extreme preservationist organizations that are well funded come into the state and buy up the coveted energy leases? Not only could this hit the Wyoming economy hard, I can also foresee huge conflicts on the public’s land with no trespassing/no hunting regulations pushed by these extreme groups as a next step.
One of the energy companies involved in the lease bidding process in this particular tract of land, Kirkwood Oil and Gas, stated, “the industry has a stellar track record of producing oil and gas without detrimental impacts to wildlife” (see quote from the company’s Land Manager Steve Degenfelder here).
While I’m 100% on board with protecting key wildlife corridors from energy and housing development, I’m not on board with environmental groups trying to shut things down on public land. Should there be regulations with a conservation and wise-use focus on public lands related to energy development? Absolutely! Unfortunately, though, when environmental groups are given an inch, they take a mile. Much like a little kid, they will push the limits until they have crossed the line so far over the course of time that we won’t remember how we got in this state of affairs.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the matter. Share your (constructive) comments below.
