JEFF GEARINO Southwest Wyoming bureau | Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 12:00 am
GREEN RIVER - Striking a balance between the quality of life enjoyed by residents in the scenic Upper Green River Valley in southwest Wyoming and possible full-blown oil and gas development over the next three decades will be the subject of an upcoming conference in Pinedale.
The "Wells, Wildlife and Quality of Life: Striking a Balance" conference is scheduled for March 26-27 at the Pinedale Entertainment Center, according to organizers.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal will be the conference's keynote speaker during a luncheon March 27, officials said.
The evening dinner speaker will be sixth-generation rancher Tweetie Blancett, who will share her experiences with oil and gas development on her family's ranch in New Mexico.
Organizers said the event, except for the luncheon and dinner, is free and open to the public. Registration for the conference is encouraged by March 15 and meal reservations are due by March 19.
The conference is sponsored by a coalition of 17 individual people, area businesses and various conservation organizations including the Upper Green River Valley Coalition, Wyoming Outdoor Council, Wyoming Wildlife Federation and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.
The conference - through field trips, overflights and panel discussions - will explore the consequences and impacts on the scenic Upper Green River Valley from possible large-scale oil and gas development, the UGRV Coalition's Lauren McKeever said in a statement.
"We look forward to bringing our community together for a positive discussion of these important issues," McKeever said.
The Upper Green River Valley, nestled west of the Wind River Mountains in Sublette County, is home to about 6,000 residents and approximately 100,000 migrating big game animals, including elk, mule deer and pronghorn antelope.
The valley is also home to one of the richest deposits of natural gas in the country, with most of the reserves located on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
The BLM's Pinedale Field Office is revising its land-use plan to determine the extent and scope of energy development. Officials have indicated an upcoming draft Environmental Impact Statement on the revised land-use plan could allow up to 10,000 new oil and gas wells over the next 30 years in the valley.
Several panel discussions set for March 27 will include representatives from Shell and Encana corporations, who have oil and gas leases in the region, various wildlife experts, Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials and biologists, hunters, anglers, area ranchers and state legislators.
Other events planned for the conference include a field trip March 26 to view oil and gas development activity in critical wildlife areas, including the controversial Trapper's Point bottleneck near Cora.
Thousands of deer and antelope migrate through Trapper's Point each year in the longest migration route in the lower 48 states. Other sites on the field tour include the Fremont Lake bottleneck, oil and gas development on the Pinedale Mesa and in the Jonah natural gas fields.
McKeever said LightHawk flights will also be offered the afternoon of March 26 and the morning of March 27. The nonprofit environmental aviation group will conduct overflights of the Pinedale Mesa and Jonah fields.
For more information and registration forms, visit the UGRV Coalition's Web site (www.uppergreen.org).