Controversial lease sale still set for Feb. 25

Joy Ufford
Posted 1/4/19

Just before the

holidays – and the federal government shutdown

– began in earnest in late December, the

Wyoming Bureau of Land Management Office

released a timely notice about an upcoming

controversial lease sale.

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Controversial lease sale still set for Feb. 25

Posted

SUBLETTE COUNTY – Just before the

holidays – and the federal government shutdown

– began in earnest in late December, the

Wyoming Bureau of Land Management Office

released a timely notice about an upcoming

controversial lease sale.

On Dec. 21, the BLM Wyoming announced

the lease sale notice for 578 parcels initially

proposed to be sold in its 2018 fourth-quarter

December sale. The December lease sale proceeded

with three parcels, none of which contained

greater sage-grouse habitat or big-game

migration corridor concerns.

The state office, which had reviewed public

comments and then sought further comment

about the remaining 578 parcels, said these

would be offered in a supplemental lease sale

in February.

Public information officer Courtney Whiteman

reported on Dec. 21 that the supplementary

sale is now set to run from Feb. 25

through March 1 with 568 parcels proposed

totaling about 768,942 acres.

The Wyoming BLM also posted its Finding

of No Significant Impact for the February

lease sale that describes the modified proposed

action to sell 583 parcels containing about

790,462 acres.

After further review, the BLM deferred 79

whole parcels and portions of 27 parcels totaling

about 181,421 acres.

“The BLM deferred seven additional parcels

from the sale at the request of the Wyoming

Game and Fish Department, citing

concerns for the Red Desert to Hoback mule

deer migration route,” Whiteman noted.

“Three additional alternatives were considered

but not analyzed in detail: Offer all

parcels subject to standard lease terms and

conditions, offer all parcels subject to no surface

occupancy stipulations, and defer all parcels

located in greater sage-grouse habitats,

the FONSI states. “These alternatives were not

analyzed in details because they would not be

in conformance with the respective resource

management plans.”

In November, Whiteman explained the

process: “Our RMPs identify major resource

concerns and considerations, such as plant or

animal habitat, sensitive environmental factors,

culturally important values, etc. RMPs

generally specify areas to be open to leasing,

closed to leasing, or open with stipulations that

protect the habitats or resources in the area.

We follow the direction laid out in RMPs as

we analyze parcels for leasing, and we make

leasing decisions based on these directions.”

Of the additional deferred parcels, Nick

Dobric of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation

Partnership said, “We appreciate the Wyoming

Game and Fish Department’s increased

leadership to request deferring energy leases in

recognized big-game migration corridors till

appropriate lease stipulations can be applied.

We also appreciate their attention to stopover

areas, where deer spend 95 percent of their migration

foraging and are used spring and fall,

year after year.”

Other parcels along Game and Fish’s biggame

migration routes will be tagged with

special lease notices for buyers to be aware

that certain additional wildlife mitigation are

likely needed if they do purchase a lease and

plan to develop.

The Dec. 21 sale notice also kicked off a

30-day protest period to run through 4 p.m. on

Jan. 22.

A group of eminent biologists and wildlife

experts, many retired, also penned a lengthy

letter of concern to former Secretary of the Interior

Ryan Zinke’s replacement Deputy Secretary

David Bernhardt.

In the letter, they ask the Department of the

Interior to delay leasing on any parcels that

intersect the 150-mile Red Desert to Hoback

mule deer migration corridor. They request

a stay until federal guidelines are created to

make sure energy development – which mule

deer have been shown to avoid – would not

further damage the mule deer route.

The letter cites Zinke’s 2018 Secretarial

Order to protect and prioritize big game migration

routes and habitat.

“The ability of big game to utilize seasonal

habitats across great distances is critical for

sustaining the robust herds of wildlife that

we know and enjoy across many areas of the

American West,” it says.

The status of that request is unknown with

BLM offices closed since Dec. 22.

The protest period deadline of Jan. 22 apparently

continues as the government shutdown

finds BLM offices statewide closed with

employees furloughed.

Visit https://go.usa.gov/xExGK for relevant

documents. BLM websites will not be maintained

until federal funding is restored.