WildEarth Guardians

Monday, December 10, 2007
Conservationists Blast BLM Exceptions to Wildlife Protections

Groups slam agency's land-use waivers for oil and gas drilling
Contact: Albuquerque Journal

Conservation groups on Monday accused the Bureau of Land Management of allowing nearly 1,000 waivers since 2000 to seasonal closures and restrictions designed to protect wildlife from being disturbed by oil and gas drilling.

WildEarth Guardians and groups and individuals representing hunting, conservation and business interests are asking the federal agency to enforce winter and spring closures and are asking Gov. Bill Richardson, the state Department of Game and Fish and the Game Commission to pressure the bureau to do so.

The governor's office did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Luke Shelby, an assistant director of the state Game and Fish Department, said, "We would like to review the assertions made by WildEarth Guardians before we make comment.''

WildEarth Guardians, which released the report on the waivers, said the BLM's Farmington and Carlsbad offices adopted restrictions but allowed them to be systematically violated, making them meaningless.

WildEarth Guardians conservation director Nicole Rosmarino contended wildlife protections are being brushed aside with just a call or an e-mail from the industry, and that particularly in the Farmington area, wildlife are "being sacrificed for the breakneck pace of drilling.''

"We would like the BLM to stop reneging on promises it made to the public to protect wildlife from oil and gas,'' she said.

A spokesman for the BLM, Hans Stuart, said the WildEarth Guardians report contains "a lot of implications that are incorrect.''

The report implied exceptions often are granted for drilling, Stuart said. But, he said, the agency estimates fewer than 5 percent of the waivers are for drilling.

A waiver might be granted so a company could finish drilling a well that was nearly done before the area was closed, or to go into a closed area to repair equipment, he said. Or a company might be allowed into a winter closure area for elk if the animals have not been forced into the closure area by bad weather elsewhere, he said.

In addition, waivers are granted for environmental reasons, such as closing reserve pits used during drilling so animals won't drink from them, said Stuart and BLM Deputy Director Tony Herrell.

Exceptions are for short periods, usually three days to a week, Herrell said. Work can be done during daytime only, he said.

The BLM said Game and Fish, sportsmen's groups and an environmental representative helped develop criteria for waivers. Requests that don't fall within the guidelines cannot be granted.

"I believe the future of public land management is dependent on integrating with government, land managers and conservation groups. ... We want everyone to participate in public land management so we can figure out ways to do energy development, multiple uses in ways that we're good conservationists, too,'' Herrell said.

WildEarth Guardians said the Carlsbad office allowed at least 516 exceptions to restrictions to protect the lesser prairie chicken since 1997. The pace of exceptions has slowed, with three each in 2005 and 2006 and eight this year, according to the report, compiled from a Freedom of Information Act request. The office allowed 26 waivers in 2004 and a high of 237 in 2001.

A settlement the BLM signed in April 2006 with WildEarth Guardians and other groups requires a public process and surveys of lesser prairie chickens before waivers are granted.

The Farmington office has averaged 110 waivers a year since adopting restrictions in September 2003 to protect mule deer, elk, pronghorn and other animals, WildEarth Guardians said. Waivers there also have dropped, from 116 in 2005-2006 to 54 in 2006-2007, the report shows.

WildEarth Guardians said the Farmington office approves an average of about 89 percent of the requests it receives for exceptions - many within a day. There is no public notice.

Specially designated wildlife protection areas at Rosa Mesa, Middle Mesa and Rattlesnake Canyon account for about half of the exceptions, the report said.

WildEarth Guardians, citing BLM documents on Rattlesnake Canyon, said the agency granted a waiver to one company from March 19-31 to build roads and well pads "due to the unexpected availability of a drilling rig'' and granted an exception for all of December 2005 for seismic exploration while acknowledging the work "could be detrimental'' to wildlife.

WildEarth Guardians quoted the BLM as telling ConocoPhillips last year that "we have been very liberal in granting exceptions.''

Copyright 2007 Albuquerque Journal - Reprinted with permission