GREEN RIVER - The Wyoming Range Legacy Act that passed Congress last week provides permanent protection from future oil and gas development for 1.2 million acres in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

It also allows for conservation groups and individuals to buy and retire leases on some 75,000 acres already leased for oil and gas development in the Wyoming Range.

But finding private dollars and willing sellers for those existing leases may not be so easy during troubled economic times, conservation and industry officials said.

Conservationists said Friday they were optimistic an equitable framework to retire some existing leases can be worked out and that money can be raised for buyouts. They said buying back leases is a "solution" that could benefit all entities.

But industry officials said producers may not get the price they want for the leases and may end up drilling on those Wyoming Range leases anyway. They said the industry has a proven track record when it comes to protecting the environment in the Wyoming Range while developing the resource.

After years of work, the U.S. House passed the Wyoming Range Legacy on Wednesday on a vote of 285-140. The bill now moves to President Barack Obama's desk for his signature, which is expected this week.

The bill prevents oil and gas drilling on 1.2 million acres within the scenic Wyoming Range, located on the state's western flank within the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The bill also allows conservation groups and individuals to buy and retire existing energy leases from possible development, but only if the lease-holders are willing to sell.

With a recession under way, it may not be the best time to raise money for buying leases, said Peter Aengst, deputy director for the Wilderness Society's Northern Rockies Office.

"We think it's also a time when oil and gas companies are trying to scale back to core assets and raise needed cash … and that should help propel current lease-holders to begin the dialogue about possibly selling their leases," Aengst said.

"I'm optimistic that this part of the bill will work, but it's going to take time and continued vigilance," he said.

"It's possible that some leaseholders … could decide short-term they want to try and drill and not sell, and they have that right," Aengst said. "But I hope instead they understand how much things have changed and decide to sit down with various parties to discuss a possible lease buy-back."

But Bruce Hinchey, president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, was skeptical about producers being able to come to an agreement as to what the leases are worth.

"I don't know how you place a value on a lease … when you can't go in there and drill any wells, so I'm not sure how you can come to an agreement with a company as to what it's worth," he said.

"So they probably won't be able to get the prices they want for the leases … and if that's the case, I doubt there will be very many buy-backs," Hinchey said in a phone interview.

Companies holding leases "may end up having to drill and develop those leases … but with (1.2 million acres preserved under the act), they certainly won't be able to expand upon that," he said.

Hinchey said the industry has proven "time and time again that it can go in there and protect the environment" while developing the resource.

"There are about 15 or 16 wells on Forest Service land up there that Exxon drilled that feeds the Shute Creek Plant that have been there over 25 years," he said. "They've done a great job of taking care of it, and it's a showplace."

Public lands package

Originally introduced in 2007 by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the Wyoming Range Legacy Act spent 18 months in Congress until clearing the House last week as part of a larger omnibus public lands package. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., voted against the legislation.

The Senate passed the measure in January. Barrasso and Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., voted for it. Both said the bill was a legacy of the late Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., who was preparing to introduce the Wyoming Range legislation at the time of his death from leukemia in 2007.

The Wyoming Range act was one of more than 150 measures in the public lands bill, which will also protect nearly 2 million acres in nine states as designated wilderness areas.

The Wyoming Range is located in western Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest and is home to elk, antelope and trophy herds of mule deer. The range supports three separate subspecies of cutthroat trout and is also home to the state's largest herd of moose.

The new law prevents any new oil and gas leasing, mining patents or geothermal leasing in an approximately 100-mile stretch of the Wyoming Range.

But the bill does not invalidate current oil and gas leases, nor does it include producing gas fields that already exist in the range.

The legislation drew the support of numerous conservation organizations, sportsmen's groups, union and trade organizations, church organizations, as well as Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

The groups contend that protecting the Wyoming Range from further energy development would have a negligible impact on gas production.

But Hinchey said nobody really knows how much gas is underground until operators drill and start developing the area.

Bittersweet irony

Aengst said lease buy-backs have worked before.

Most recently, a buy-back program was instituted in Montana's Rocky Mountain Front south of Glacier National Park. In that instance, four different leaseholders entered into deals to retire their valid leases, some through buyouts and some through donations, on about 70,000 acres.

Aengst noted that Bridger-Teton officials will also have to decide the fate of another 44,000 acres of contested leases on the eastern side of the range.

Bridger-Teton officials are currently working on an environmental impact statement that will address whether to issue or rescind the 44,000 acres of contested leases. A draft document is expected later this summer.

The lease offerings within the 44,000 acres were protested in 2001 and then later halted by a federal appeals board.

The furor over the leases spurred, in part, the development of the Wyoming Range Legacy Act.

"It would be ironic and bittersweet if the very leasing proposal that caused outfitters, sportsmen and conservationists to come together and push for the Wyoming Range Legacy Act … somehow still went forward even after the act's passage," Aengst said.

Contact southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino at 307-875-5359 or gearino@tribcsp.com

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