JACKSON - Three-dimensional computer programs similar to Google Earth could help humans better "co-evolve" with wildlife, and could assist state and federal officials in protecting critical habitat and migration routes while still developing vital energy resources, speakers said Sunday at the Western Governors' Association meeting.

The annual meeting kicked off with speeches and discussions about how Western states can better protect crucial migration corridors for animals such as antelope, moose and elk, while still extracting energy resources such as oil and natural gas.

The meeting at Teton Village opened with speeches by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, among others.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, chairman of the Western Governors' Association, recommended that the governors from Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska and other Western states create a collaborative planning system for new development, with a common vocabulary and based on shared interests. The purpose would be to protect wildlife migration routes and corridors, many of which cross state lines and include federal, state, public and private lands.

In his speech, Kempthorne outlined what he sees as the basic conundrum authorities and energy companies face throughout the West: "You often have world-class habitat sitting right above world-class energy reserves."

Jack Dangermond, CEO of Environmental Systems Research Institute, in a presentation to the governors, said technologies similar to those used in the popular geographic program Google Earth could help authorities and residents of states such as Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming better understand "the expanding human footprint" and actually see, with computer modeling, how the footprint interacts with known wildlife movements.

"Here in Wyoming, it's not like the rest of the West," Dangermond said. "In Wyoming, the impact is not so much from urbanization. The challenge here is the development of oil and gas."

Through computer modeling it's now possible to see, from a bird's-eye perspective, how recent growth in the town of Pinedale, coupled with nearby oil and gas drilling, has narrowed an antelope migration corridor that has been used by the animals for at least 6,000 years, he said.

In one area the migration route has been shrunk down to a "narrow neck," which could be choked closed by development, he said, if planners aren't cautious.

"That little neck is now only a few hundred meters wide," Dangermond said. "Currently there is enough space, but there is a chance that neck could close up."

Humans are able to understand and accurately model these types of conflicts today because of breakthroughs in computer-based geographic information systems. He urged the governors to work toward developing an interstate information system which integrates Google-Earth-style three-dimensional models along with data on wildlife inventories and movements, among other data, to create a visual presentation accessible to most everyone.

With a tool shared by all interested parties, states and municipalities could model proposed development and visually "watch" its effects on given wildlife populations by running proposals through "conflict models."

Such a tool would support the type of collaborative action Freudenthal is calling for, he said.

"We could get a picture of cumulative effects before they happen," Dangermond said. "Information systems will help all interested parties to see the big picture. I think this will actually make a difference."

Brokaw suggested making the tool available to all citizens, as well as local, state and federal officials, on the Internet. The governors, in general, seemed to like the idea.

Steve Elbert, vice chairman of BP America, the largest producer of domestic oil and gas in the United States, said energy prices will stay high for the foreseeable future, as national and international demand for energy continues to outpace upticks in supply.

The global competition for energy is intensifying, he said, and even if America is successful in its conservation efforts, "the U.S. will need more coal, more oil, more natural gas in 2030 than it does today."

"The West is and will remain a crucial supplier to the nation for energy," Elbert said.

He said BP supports the Western Governors' initiative to protect wildlife corridors and to "make resource development decisions based on rigorous science and information."

Technologies like those Dangermond spoke of could help all interested parties protect essential wildlife corridors and habitat, while attempting to meet energy demands, Elbert said.

"We can work together to produce the energy we need in ways that are compatible with healthy wildlife populations," he said.

Freudenthal, in a discussion after the speeches, said some companies "are doing a good job" of protecting wildlife and habitats and following regulations, "but some aren't." He called on Kempthorne to improve oversight on federal lands and for the Bureau of Land Management to provide better site inspections to make sure operators are following environmental regulations, and abiding by planning restrictions.

Freudenthal received perhaps the biggest laugh of the day from the several hundred in attendance when he said to Kempthorne, "I'm always amazed how such a troublesome agency can be headed by such a charming man."

The governors' meeting will continue today and Tuesday with discussions on the limited water supply in the West and the need to expand the region's electricity grid, among other topics.