Federal appeals board halts CBM wells in Powder River Basin over grouse concerns

A federal appeals board bounced 82 permits for coal-bed methane wells in the Powder River Basin back to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, saying the BLM failed to consider adequately the wells' likely effect on sage grouse.

The Powder River Basin Resource Council, a Sheridan-based environmental group, and Campbell County rancher William P. Maycock last summer challenged the BLM's approval of the wells. The Interior Board of Land Appeals sided with the council and Maycock in a decision issued Monday.

Council organizer Jill Morrison wrote to the Buffalo office of the BLM on Wednesday asking that it halt development of the wells based on the board's order. The order set aside the BLM's earlier approval of the wells.

Morrison said the wells are located roughly in the middle of the Powder River Basin, east of the Powder River and north of Interstate 90. The basin has been a hotspot for CBM development, and also the focus of debate about the effect of that development on sage grouse.

University of Montana biologists released peer-reviewed studies in 2007 that indicated the standard density and pace of CBM development was devastating sage grouse populations in the basin.

The studies concluded that CBM development was hurting the bird populations, "over and above those of habitat loss caused by wildfire, sagebrush control, or conversion of sagebrush to pasture or cropland."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering requests from environmental groups to place the sage grouse on the federal list of threatened and endangered species.

Cindy Wirtz, spokeswoman for the BLM in Wyoming, said Wednesday the agency hadn't yet reviewed the board's order and couldn't comment on it.

Morrison said she understood that many of the disputed wells have already been drilled but are not yet producing gas.

"There's a lot of roads that have been constructed, and some of the pipeline infrastructure laid, but it's not complete," Morrison said. "It's not finished, and the project is not producing."

Morrison said her group first filed their request with the appeals board for a stay of drilling operations last summer. She said the board denied the request.

Morrison said the BLM should insist that energy companies working in the area take steps to protect the grouse.

"I'm concerned that they would try to deal with this issue as a paperwork exercise, but what we really need to see is on the ground action to protect the habitat and the sage grouse in this area, so they continue to be viable," Morrison said. She said the science is clear that the birds can benefit from the creation of buffer zones and also from restrictions on the timing of drilling operations.

Larry Gerard, a retired wildlife biologist with the BLM's Buffalo office, provided testimony in support of the Powder River Basin Resource Council's appeal.

Gerard argued that the proposed drilling area includes four or five known sage grouse breeding grounds. He said those were left out of Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal's recent proposal to set aside core protection areas around the state for sage grouse.

"There was some controversy about whether this area should fit in the governor's core area. I think it was kind of a trade-off," Gerard said.

Bruce Hinchey, president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, said he couldn't comment on the board's ruling. He said that the data that Wyoming has generated suggests that the sage grouse is not endangered in the state.

"The main thing to do is wait for the (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife (Service) to make a decision," Hinchey said, referring to the agency's ongoing review of whether to list the sage grouse as a threatened or endangered species.

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Information from: Star-Tribune, http://www.casperstartribune.net