Thomas drilling stance gets mixed response
Oil and gas drilling in national forests should be allowed as industry works with land managers to put environmental safeguards in place, an energy executive said Monday.
Bruce Hinchey with the Petroleum Association of Wyoming said he doesn’t agree with U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas’s statement Saturday that national forests should generally be off-limits to new drilling.
“I don’t think you need to totally have everything off-limits, because you still have logging and mining that occurs in the forest as well,” Hinchey said. “It depends on the areas.”
Hinchey said there is not a lot of drilling on national forests, and what does occur happens on forest edges. Interior parts of national forest tend to be much costlier to explore because the areas are not easily accessible.
Thomas, R-Wyo., said Saturday he does not think national forests should be open to oil and gas development because of the special qualities these areas possess.
At issue specifically in Wyoming are lease parcels in the Wyoming Range. While there are some existing drilling operations there now — and Thomas said existing operations should be allowed to continue — new parcels are being sold for energy leases.
“As far as drilling and leases in the Wyoming Range, I strongly believe we should work to protect this area,” Thomas said Monday. “That’s a pretty special place. In terms of the existing leases, while I would have preferred that some of them had not been issued, I feel we still have an opportunity to work with the agency to reduce the activity and total number of leases.”
Thomas was involved in scaling down the parcels available for lease sale in the Wyoming Range two years ago, when the lands available were trimmed from about 175,000 acres to 44,000. Leases on some of those 44,000 acres have been sold, but no drilling permits have been issued.
He said he was “always of the opinion that much of the Wyoming Range should be off-limits to drilling.”
“One of the more short-term issues will be dealing with applications to drill on leases folks have already bought, however,” Thomas said. “What’s important right now in the Hoback area and elsewhere is to make the case that future applications and permits to drill be held to a minimum.”
Hinchey said restricting new exploration in the Wyoming Range may be problematic, because leases have been sold and with that comes a right to explore.
“I’m not sure how they’re going to work that out,” he said, saying the leases might be bought back by federal agencies.
“If they didn’t want to have the potential for development, then I guess the lease shouldn’t have been issued,” Hinchey said.
Wyoming politicians were not quick to embrace Thomas’s sentiment.
U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., did not say whether he agreed or disagreed with Thomas. Instead, Enzi’s press secretary, Coy Knobel, said in an e-mail that Enzi “believes energy exploration, leasing and drilling should be done according to the specifications already in the law.”
“The National Environmental Policy Act, environmental impact statements, permits to drill, forest planning, all have specific requirements that must be met before the next action can be taken and this process works for the most part,” Knobel said. “It is designed to ensure protection of environment and utilization of the resource. It is done on a case-by-case basis and allows for the public to be involved, which Sen. Enzi encourages. He believes environmental protection and energy production don’t have to be mutually exclusive.”
U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., echoed Enzi, saying analyses must be completed before developing national forests, according to her press secretary, Alison McGuire.
“Rep. Cubin has always stated that our federal lands must be managed through the lens of promoting multiple uses for the public’s benefit,” McGuire said. “These benefits include ensured access, conservation and energy development. Not all public lands are appropriate for energy development — our national parks certainly being the first that come to mind. Much of our public lands are appropriate for development, however, and there are numerous laws on the books to ensure such development is done responsibly, in an environmentally sound way, and with plans for reclamation once a project is complete.”
Gov. Dave Freudenthal’s press secretary Monday said the governor generally agrees with Thomas, but that banning new development might be painting “with too broad a brush.” Earlier this year Freudenthal reached an agreement with Forest Service officials not to lease any more parcels in roadless areas in Wyoming until forest plans are complete.
Mark Preiss, executive director of the Wyoming Outdoor Council, praised Thomas’s statement.
“The senator’s leadership on protecting Wyoming’s outdoor heritage and setting aside our national forests in particular … is critical … We are very pleased he has come out with setting these places aside,” Preiss said.
Speaking specifically of Wyoming’s Shoshone and Bridger-Teton national forests, Preiss said, “These two forests are really a safety net for the greater Yellowstone area.”
Source: www.casperstartribune.net
