Guess who's going to lose again.
Congress eyes lifting winter drilling limits near wildlife
11/21/2005
By Mike Soraghan
Denver Post Staff Writer
Washington - In an attempt to pump more oil and gas out of public lands for the winter heating season, some congressional leaders and the administration are proposing to give drillers greater freedom to operate in key Western wildlife areas.
In many parts of the West, gas companies have to stop drilling in the winter in places where deer, elk and antelope come to ride out harsh weather. And in the spring, they're often banned from drilling wells near where sage grouse gather.
Companies often get temporary exemptions from these rules, usually for a few weeks, but even so, they object to what are known as "seasonal stipulations." Between deer, antelope and birds, some places can be closed to drilling for nine months out of the year.
But with the recent rise in gas prices, lawmakers are looking for ways to get more natural gas to the market. And the seasonal stipulations are a prime target.
"It just seems these winter restrictions are a bigger issue than we thought," Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., said at a recent hearing on ways to spur gas drilling on public lands. "I've been out in that country in the winter, and I've never seen any wildlife. You just have frozen roads."
Bureau of Land Management director Kathleen Clarke called winter drilling limits a "significant restriction," adding: "We are willing to work with companies and Congress to increase production."
Some environmentalists and hunters object to easing the rules.
"I'm really just not in favor of it," said Terry Pollard, a hunting outfitter in western Wyoming for 37 years. "They really need to give some top priority to the deer and antelope."
Wyoming's Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal sent a letter this month urging senators not to open up crucial wildlife habitat to more drilling.
"I don't want to see a wholesale removal of a tool that's been useful in striking the right balance," he said.
Pollard's hometown of Pinedale, Wyo., is ground zero in the debate. It's where one of the nation's most active and promising gas fields lies beneath critical winter range for deer.
Since 2000, when gas development in the area began, deer numbers there have dropped 46 percent, according to a BLM study of the Sublette mule deer herd.
During that time, officials with the Bureau of Land Management, which administers much of the federally owned drilling land across the West, have granted many exemptions to the ban on drilling from Nov. 15 to May 1 in the Pinedale area. Since 2001, according to the Wilderness Society, 88.3 percent of requests for such exemptions in Pinedale have been granted.
"When drilling is proposed, BLM says there will be no impact because of these seasonal stipulations," said Steve Torbit, a biologist with the National Wildlife Federation in Boulder. "Then they waive them. It's like you put all the money in the bank, but when the companies come in, the bank is robbed."
But oil and gas executives say their companies only make extension requests that are likely to be granted. The restrictions that remain, they say, limit gas production at a crucial time.
"You're shutting down the methane-manufacturing industry for five months," said Logan Macgruder, an executive with Berry Petroleum Co. in Denver and president of the Independent Petroleum Association of the Mountain States.
Increasingly, the larger companies operating in Pinedale have been seeking, and getting, permission to drill all winter. In exchange, they've agreed to limit their footprint on the land by concentrating multiple wells on the same drilling pad.
BLM officials say the concept makes sense because the most disruptive part of gas production - the drilling of wells - is over faster and the damage to habitat is less spread out.
"The trade-off is some winter activity for, (over the) long term, less surface disturbance," said Ron Hogan, general manager of the Pinedale Division for Questar Exploration and Production Co.
Alarmed by gas shortages caused by Gulf Coast hurricanes, administration officials this year informally asked companies how they could increase production. The companies responded with requests for additional plans to drill and complete wells past the usual Nov. 15 deadlines. All of the requests were in the Pinedale area.
The BLM approved some, but not all, said Steven Hall, spokesman for the BLM in Wyoming.
In Congress, House Resources Committee chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., in September proposed allowing such limits to be waived in other drilling areas of the West in the event of a "significant disruption" in supply. That proposal never made it to the floor. Then Burns revived the idea in the Senate. Action on that plan could come after this week's Thanksgiving recess.
Congress eyes lifting winter drilling limits near wildlife
11/21/2005
By Mike Soraghan
Denver Post Staff Writer
Washington - In an attempt to pump more oil and gas out of public lands for the winter heating season, some congressional leaders and the administration are proposing to give drillers greater freedom to operate in key Western wildlife areas.
In many parts of the West, gas companies have to stop drilling in the winter in places where deer, elk and antelope come to ride out harsh weather. And in the spring, they're often banned from drilling wells near where sage grouse gather.
Companies often get temporary exemptions from these rules, usually for a few weeks, but even so, they object to what are known as "seasonal stipulations." Between deer, antelope and birds, some places can be closed to drilling for nine months out of the year.
But with the recent rise in gas prices, lawmakers are looking for ways to get more natural gas to the market. And the seasonal stipulations are a prime target.
"It just seems these winter restrictions are a bigger issue than we thought," Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., said at a recent hearing on ways to spur gas drilling on public lands. "I've been out in that country in the winter, and I've never seen any wildlife. You just have frozen roads."
Bureau of Land Management director Kathleen Clarke called winter drilling limits a "significant restriction," adding: "We are willing to work with companies and Congress to increase production."
Some environmentalists and hunters object to easing the rules.
"I'm really just not in favor of it," said Terry Pollard, a hunting outfitter in western Wyoming for 37 years. "They really need to give some top priority to the deer and antelope."
Wyoming's Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal sent a letter this month urging senators not to open up crucial wildlife habitat to more drilling.
"I don't want to see a wholesale removal of a tool that's been useful in striking the right balance," he said.
Pollard's hometown of Pinedale, Wyo., is ground zero in the debate. It's where one of the nation's most active and promising gas fields lies beneath critical winter range for deer.
Since 2000, when gas development in the area began, deer numbers there have dropped 46 percent, according to a BLM study of the Sublette mule deer herd.
During that time, officials with the Bureau of Land Management, which administers much of the federally owned drilling land across the West, have granted many exemptions to the ban on drilling from Nov. 15 to May 1 in the Pinedale area. Since 2001, according to the Wilderness Society, 88.3 percent of requests for such exemptions in Pinedale have been granted.
"When drilling is proposed, BLM says there will be no impact because of these seasonal stipulations," said Steve Torbit, a biologist with the National Wildlife Federation in Boulder. "Then they waive them. It's like you put all the money in the bank, but when the companies come in, the bank is robbed."
But oil and gas executives say their companies only make extension requests that are likely to be granted. The restrictions that remain, they say, limit gas production at a crucial time.
"You're shutting down the methane-manufacturing industry for five months," said Logan Macgruder, an executive with Berry Petroleum Co. in Denver and president of the Independent Petroleum Association of the Mountain States.
Increasingly, the larger companies operating in Pinedale have been seeking, and getting, permission to drill all winter. In exchange, they've agreed to limit their footprint on the land by concentrating multiple wells on the same drilling pad.
BLM officials say the concept makes sense because the most disruptive part of gas production - the drilling of wells - is over faster and the damage to habitat is less spread out.
"The trade-off is some winter activity for, (over the) long term, less surface disturbance," said Ron Hogan, general manager of the Pinedale Division for Questar Exploration and Production Co.
Alarmed by gas shortages caused by Gulf Coast hurricanes, administration officials this year informally asked companies how they could increase production. The companies responded with requests for additional plans to drill and complete wells past the usual Nov. 15 deadlines. All of the requests were in the Pinedale area.
The BLM approved some, but not all, said Steven Hall, spokesman for the BLM in Wyoming.
In Congress, House Resources Committee chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., in September proposed allowing such limits to be waived in other drilling areas of the West in the event of a "significant disruption" in supply. That proposal never made it to the floor. Then Burns revived the idea in the Senate. Action on that plan could come after this week's Thanksgiving recess.
