Wyoming has sided with the oil and gas industry by moving forward with leasing a parcel of state school trust land in a crucial part of a migration route in Sublette County.
The 640-acre lot was initially auctioned off by the Office of State Lands and Investments in July to Kirkwood Oil and Gas LLC for $19/acre, as originally reported by Wyofile, but was stalled because of concerns for wildlife stemming from both conservation groups and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD).
The State Board of Land Commissioners, which has five elected officials including Wyoming’s Governor Mark Gordon, discussed the controversial issue at a recent meeting. The Office of State Lands, which is governed by the board, recommended the board approve the sale, but with an added protection.
“The idea was to address the need for the lessee to coordinate with Game and Fish to ensure surface disturbance did not occur during critical migration periods,” said Jennifer Scoggin, Office of State Lands director.
The land lies within a ‘bottleneck’ of the ‘Path of the Pronghorn’, a 200-mile migration route that goes from southwest Wyoming to Grand Teton National Park. It’s famous for being one of the longest and hardest migration routes, with hundreds of pronghorn traversing it every spring and fall and thousands of animals using parts of it. Notably, the number of pronghorn making the full journey this spring was in the dozens, as about half of the herd died from the harsh winter and disease.
“Bottlenecks represent the most sensitive habitat within a migration corridor because the movement is constricted,” said Wyoming Outdoor Council’s Meghan Riley to the board. “The animals don't have a lot of wiggle room to go in other places. So we have a much smaller margin of error for disturbance.”
Riley was asking the board not to lease that parcel of land to Kirkwood Oil and Gas, or at minimum some added protections for wildlife to prevent harm from development.
“So I think the state has worked so hard to support maintaining movement for these animals and invested so much, it would be a shame to risk that connectivity at one of a handful of bottlenecks that sublet pronghorn are relying on,” Riley said.
This particular bottleneck is at a river crossing on the New Fork River. Wyoming Game and Fish Deputy Director (WGFD) Angi Bruce said it's a critical pinch-point for wildlife.
“So they're crossing through this particular area in the spring in the fall,” Bruce said to the board. “This became even more apparent this last severe winter. My local biologists talked to me about the antelope in the area, and those that were able to migrate through this area had a much higher chance of survival than those that didn’t.”
Bruce advocated for including the stipulation recommended by the Office of State Lands, which would’ve required Kirkwood to coordinate with WGFD to shutdown surface activity and maintain the habitat functionality during parts of the fall and spring. Those specific dates would’ve been determined each year based on radio collar data.
“Because those antelope have been colored, we know exactly when they're moving through a particular parcel, we can very much narrow it down,” Bruce said, adding that this migration is likely one of the “most studied in the world.”
Despite this testimony, members of the board were concerned about a couple things. One, adding in a stipulation retroactively, and two, the economic concerns of either preventing or limiting oil and gas development.
“What is the cost to people with the implications of these proposals?” said Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who sits on the board. “How many people who are homeless right now would be able to afford a home because of the work that development would bring?”
Gray implied that supporting industry is of more value for the state. Along with two other board members, he voted to not add the stipulation recommended by the WGFD. Gordon voted to add the stipulation, and one other board member, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, recused herself because her father is the land manager of Casper-based Kirkwood Oil and Gas.
The sale will move forward as-is with some development stipulations for sage grouse and big game winter range, but no further migration protections for pronghorn.
