WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, December 19, 2013
Guardians Seeks Greater Fracking Safeguards in Southern Utah's Mountains and Canyons

Appeal Filed Over Oil and Gas Leasing on 1.7 Million Acres of National Forest Lands
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 437-7663

Additional contact:

Kevin Mueller, WildEarth Guardians’ Utah-Southern Rockies Conservation Manager, (801) 466-4055

Salt Lake City, UT—Seeking to secure tighter protections for the air, water, lands, and wildlife of central and southern Utah, WildEarth Guardians this week appealed a plan by the U.S. Forest Service to make 1.5 million acres of the Fishlake National Forest, as well as more than 200,000 acres of the Dixie National Forest, available for oil and gas leasing.

“The Fishlake and Dixie National Forests are the lifeblood of southern and central Utah, providing clean drinking water, clear air, and vast expanses of mountain wildlands critical to the survival of Utah’s wildlife,” said Kevin Mueller, WildEarth Guardians’ Utah-Southern Rockies Conservation Manager.  “This appeal is about ensuring we have the strongest safeguards possible to keep oil and gas drilling and fracking from scarring these irreplaceable landscapes.”

In August, the Forest Service made the entire Fishlake and a portion of the Dixie National Forests open for drilling and fracking by making more than 1.7 million acres “available” for oil and gas leasing.  Although the Agency would require “ no surface occupancy” on 1.3 million acres, there would be limited restrictions on the remaining 400,000 acres, an area approximately 625 square miles in size.

The areas where surface disturbance for leasing would be allowed are largely on the edges of southern Utah’s world-renowned canyon country and adjacent to iconic National Parks, including Zion and Capitol Reef. 

Even with “no surface occupancy” requirements for most of the Fishlake and Dixie National Forests, the Forest Service still projects that oil and gas drilling and fracking will despoil streams, violate air quality standards, and jeopardize the protection of unroaded lands that qualify for Wilderness designation by Congress.

“While critical areas of the Fishlake and Dixie will be spared from drilling and fracking under the Forest Service’s decision, key natural values remain at risk,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and Energy Program Director.  “It’s vital that we not only keep drilling and fracking out of special places, but protect the air, water, and wildlife that sustain these places.”

Under the Forest Service’s leasing decision, an estimated 73 wells will be drilled, 166 miles of new and reconstructed roads, 10 miles of powerlines, and 10 miles of pipelines could be constructed under the Agency’s decision.  More than 1,412 acres will be disturbed and 365,366 metric tons of carbon dioxide will be released, equal to the amount released by more than 76,000 passenger vehicles annually.

Guardians’ appeal targets the failure of the Forest Service to ensure full protection of air quality, streams, and wildlife in accordance with federal laws and regulations. 

The Forest Service’s own analysis, for example, projects that air quality standards will be violated, in violation of the Agency’s own plan for managing the Fishlake National Forest.  The analysis also discloses that wildlife, including the imperiled sage grouse, will continue to be negatively impacted because of habitat destruction, even though the Forest Service has committed to stemming the loss of grouse and grouse habitat throughout the American West. 

The Forest Service has 160 days to respond to WildEarth Guardians’ appeal.