Dubya and Interior Rebut Charges by Trout Unlimited

[YourRoyalHighness]

Even the guys who have Thomas & Thomas or Sage rods in their Hyde driftboats are getting tired of Dubya's attacks on our hunting and fishing opportunities....

HELENA — The Interior Department has a strong commitment to environmental regulations intended to protect wildlife and their habitat, Assistant Interior Secretary Rebecca Watson told Trout Unlimited, reacting to criticism from the conservation group.

A week ago, Trout Unlimited accused the federal agency of allowing rapid, inadequately researched oil and gas development in the West. The group advocates the protection and restoration of North America's coldwater fisheries.

Watson sent Trout Unlimited a letter Thursday focusing on concerns the organization raised in its recent letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton.

‘‘The Department of the Interior's energy program reflects the administration's belief that environmentally sound energy development is important to our national security and economic well-being,'' Watson wrote. ‘‘It also directly supports the Bureau of Land Management's mandate to manage resources to best meet the present and future needs of the American people.''

Trout Unlimited had criticized the Interior Department both in writing and in a Feb. 15 telephone news conference arranged by Trout Unlimited's Missoula office.

The organization and more than 50 fish and wildlife professionals wrote the U.S. secretaries of Interior and Agriculture that ‘‘a better scientific understanding of potential impacts of gas and oil development on fisheries, watersheds and wildlife is essential'' to make sound decisions.

Watson said the government has taken several measures to help ensure that conservation of wildlife, wildlife habitat and recreation are part of the land-use planning process for public lands.

She also cited President Bush's call, in the National Energy Policy, for ‘‘a new harmony between energy needs and our environmental concerns.'' Bush said that ‘‘energy production and environmental protections are not competing priorities.'' Both are part of living ‘‘well and wisely'' on Earth, he said.

‘‘We routinely set aside special areas that hold unique values,'' Watson wrote. ‘‘We have withdrawn leases from energy development to protect wildlife.''

She said that of 261 million acres managed by the BLM, an agency of the Interior Department, fewer than 325,000 acres or about one-tenth of 1 percent are affected directly by oil and gas production.

David Stalling, a Trout Unlimited field organizer in Missoula, said the Interior Department should be commended for ‘‘a lot of what they've done.''

But ongoing efforts in Congress would exempt the oil and gas industry from some environmental laws as part of a national energy strategy, Stalling said.

‘‘We have fish and wildlife biologists all over the West seeing impacts'' from petroleum development ‘‘and we don't feel those concerns are being addressed,'' he said Thursday.

Stalling said that ‘‘unprecedented'' oil and gas development is occurring in the West despite only scant knowledge about possible effects on fish and wildlife.

 

[mtmiller]

She said that of 261 million acres managed by the BLM, an agency of the Interior Department, fewer than 325,000 acres or about one-tenth of 1 percent are affected directly by oil and gas production.

 

[1_pointer]

Ditto that miller. I'm guessing that number would only apply to the acreage in pads, but not roads and their effect.

 

[YourRoyalHighness]

Who can you trust these days???