Drilling Plans Too Close for WYO Range Comfort
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Drilling creeping up on the Wyoming Range. That's how some locals view a U.S. Forest Service plan to allow wildcat gas wells in the Hoback Basin. Dan Smitherman with Hoback Peak Outfitters says he and others have supported energy development in many parts of the state, but they think it's time to recognize that drilling isn't appropriate everywhere.
"We see what this looks like down here, and now it's in our front yard. It's in the places we play, and we don't wanna see it."
Drilling plans call for operations that the company says are gentle to the environment. According to Smitherman, even those practices leave a permanent footprint of roads and noise that aren't compatible with high-quality hunting and fishing. He is one of 45 outfitters who make their living along the Wyoming Range. He says elk, deer and moose hunting is most successful in areas that aren't developed.
"The area that we're most concerned about, for the most part, is mountainous. A large chunk of it has been roadless and designated roadless for a long time."
A copy of the drilling proposal is at www.fs.fed.us/r4/btnf/projects.
get more stories like this via email
Social Issues
By Lane Wendell Fischer for the Shasta Scout via The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service for the Public News …
Environment
By Naoki Nitta for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public Ne…
Social Issues
Concerns about potential voter intimidation have spurred several states to consider banning firearms at polling sites but so far, New Hampshire is …
Social Issues
Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick has released 57 "interim charges," the topics he wants Senate committees to study in preparation for the 89th …
Social Issues
Minnesota's largest school district is at the center of a budget controversy tied to the recent wave of school board candidates fighting diversity pro…
Minnesota lawmakers are considering a measure which would force employers to properly classify certain trade union workers and others as employees rat…