ROCK SPRINGS - Devon Energy Co. officials are proposing to conduct a three-dimensional seismic survey as part of a small, controversial exploratory drilling project near Little Mountain south of here.

The survey would be part of Oklahoma-based Devon Energy's proposal last year to drill two exploratory wildcat wells - known as Rubicon wells 105 and 106 - near Little Mountain, a popular hunting and recreation area in Sweetwater County.

Devon officials said the latest 3D mapping proposal will help determine the best well pad locations for their two-well Baxter Natural Gas Exploration Project.

The project, however, met with stiff opposition from a coalition of hunters, people of faith and blue-collar workers when proposed by Devon last December. Gov. Dave Freudenthal also panned the drilling proposal in a February letter to Bureau of Land Management officials.

This week, Devon officials announced plans to conduct seismic exploration operations on 42 square miles of public lands near Little Mountain.

The Rubicon 3D seismic survey would occur within the BLM's Sugarloaf Special Management Area and the Currant Creek Area of Critical Environmental Concern, according to company plans.

The project area is about 40 miles south of Interstate 80 off of U.S. Highway 191, and includes small portions of state and private lands. The area is located east of the popular Flaming Gorge Reservoir and west of the area known as Adobe Town.

Devon Energy officials said the geophysical exploration will help the company determine the potential for oil and gas resources within the underlying geologic formations.

Chip Minty, Devon's senior external communications specialist, said seismic mapping operations make it easier for the company to locate pockets of natural gas and hydrocarbons, thereby reducing the potential for dry holes and impacts to the environment.

He said the 3D imaging will provide Devon geologists with a high-resolution look at the subsurface geological formations. He said future surface disturbance may be substantially reduced as a result of the seismic project.

"It's one way for us to take a look and get a good idea of what the geology looks like underneath … and determine the best and most successful places to position those wells," Minty said in a phone interview.

"We do the seismic so we don't have to poke too many holes in the ground later on," he said.

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Project plans call for shot holes to be drilled using helicopters and heli-portable drilling equipment.

Officials said 10 pounds of dynamite charges will be detonated in each hole in order to generate the seismic images. No vibroseis vehicles, or thumper trucks, will be used.

The Wyoming Association of Churches, Sweetwater County hunters and local labor leaders formed a coalition this winter to express concerns over Devon's wildcat drilling proposal.

Coalition officials noted the juniper woodland-laced Little Mountain supports thriving populations of elk and mule deer and is considered by some to be one of the premier hunting spots in the country.

The coalition said the project will threaten hunting, scenic values and cutthroat trout fisheries on the mountain. Officials contend the area is worthy of protection because of its unique environmental qualities.

Minty said the company has no estimates about how much gas the area might contain.

"It's difficult to know what the reserves are until we actually begin to drill," he said.

Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearino@tribcsp.com.