The head of the Wyoming Reclamation and Restoration Center says regulations for reclamation on federal land are not consistent.
Pete Stahl says different BLM field offices across the state have different requirements for reclaiming land after energy development and are inconsistent in how they monitor reclamation. He says when the BLM is evaluating reclamation success, they sometimes compare the reclaimed site to just one small area of undisturbed land, which he says is not enough for a scientific comparison.
“If somebody showed up in a PhD defense or a masters defense at the university and had a sample size of one, they’d get thrown out on their ear,” Stahl said.
Stahl made those comments at a meeting of the BLM’s Resource Advisory Council in Laramie.