WildEarth Guardians

Monday, December 10, 2007
No Rest for the Weary: Why Seasonal Oil & Gas Closures Aren't Protecting Wildlife in New Mexico

The break-neck pace of drilling public lands for oil and gas has led the BLM in NM to brush aside wildlife closures and timing limitations approx. one thousand times since 2000, all to ensure the rigs keep working. The result is no rest for the weary.
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

WildEarth Guardians' report that documents nearly 1,000 breaches of seasonal closures and timing limitations that are supposed to protect wildlife from disturbance by oil and gas drilling. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) adopted these timing restrictions to help protect mule deer, elk, and pronghorn in northwest New Mexico and lesser prairie-chickens in southeast New Mexico, but our report details how the federal agency is routinely allowing oil and gas companies to avoid these restrictions. Approximately 1,000 breaches occurred from 2000-2007.