There. Got that one out of the way.
Posted on 10/07/2005 9:24:15 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BILLINGS, Mont. - A new study suggests natural gas development in western Wyoming is forcing mule deer into less suitable winter range and affecting the animals' movements in an area known as the Pinedale Anticline.
The number of mule deer on the Mesa winter range dropped a "disconcerting" 46 percent from 2002 to 2005, according to the report from Western EcoSystems Technology Inc. Models and maps indicated that, through at least three winters, deer tended to favor areas further away from well pads.
Such behavior suggests that seasonal drilling restrictions may not be achieving what land managers had intended, the researchers said.
The study includes a control population of mule deer that winter on the Pinedale Front range, near the Wind River Mountains, but researchers didn't find concurrent evidence of a population decline there. The decline on the Mesa was attributed to deaths, changes in birth and movement of deer to new wintering range, though researchers couldn't pinpoint how much each of those factors contributed.
The study, funded largely by the energy development firm Questar Exploration and Production Co., is part of an ongoing, years-long look at the potential effects of gas development on mule deer in the Green River Basin. The results were released this week by environmental groups.
Peter Aengst, an energy campaign coordinator with The Wilderness Society, said the study should serve as a wake-up call to federal land managers that changes are needed, perhaps in the pace of development or the manner in which the gas is tapped.
There are more than 400 wells on the Pinedale Anticline, and a 2000 study anticipated 2,800 wells over time. But Aengst and others say that's probably conservative.
"We can't just rely on the way we've been doing things," he said. "We have to do it differently."
Steven Hall, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming, said the agency takes studies like this into account as it makes decisions about drilling projects. He said some companies have proposed or are trying to reduce impacts during the drilling phase, when disruption to wildlife are more apt to occur.
"In order to have natural gas and oil from public lands, there will be some impact to the environment," he said, adding it's BLM's to find an appropriate balance.
A telephone message left for a Questar spokeswoman, who was out of the office Friday, was not immediately returned.
The study said restrictions, such as limiting public access, or use of different technologies, such as directional drilling, may be needed to ease the disturbance of wintering mule deer.
Environmentalists say the Mesa provides crucial winter range to thousands of mule deer and pronghorn.
There. Got that one out of the way.
http://espn.go.com/outdoors/hunting/s/h_fea_CO_muleys_late03_Burkhead.html
Nov. 26, 2003
"Mule deer are still out there in very good numbers on the eastern plains,"
said Colorado Division of Wildlife big-game manager John Ellenberger.
Tuff chitski for the mule deer.
Adapt or die.
Can they spell wolves?
Good! Maybe now they'll avoid jumping right out in front of my 70mph-moving truck. ;)
I personaly look at the Northern Rocky Mountains, High Great Plains or Powder river region of Wy. as having the most abundant domestic natural gas, oil and coal resources in the usa, so vast in fact, as to supply America's energy needs for at least 300-500 years to around $100 trillion. This region is the FUTURE for the usa, so we don't need to go Hat-in-Hand any country for our energy needs. The mule deer and pronghorn antelope will grow with proper care.
Looks like a good spot to me!
Of course, my front porch is equally nice - and I don't have to walk very far to get another cold beer. ;)
And the drought that is going into it's sixth or seventh year in Wyoming isn't causing distress and changes in migratory patterns throughout Wyoming, Montana, Northern Colorado????
Mule deer migrate in the winter?
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
That's why I love this place. Both of you took it right out of my mouth.
That and the fact that the oil projects in Alaska have actually led to increases in the Caribou population.
"Study: Wyo. Gas Projects Harming Mule Deer"
Of course.
Also they forgot; "women, children, the elderly, and minorities disproportionately affected."
From higher elevations to lower.
cant we just grind mule deer into oil... sort of speed up the process...
nor the deer wasting disease that is running its course in the west. One other little deer fact I have personally witnessed in South Dakota. White tail deer seem to enjoy crossing major highways far more than mule deer as their liquefied carcasses seem to prove. Wyoming deer overall seem to avoid dangerous crossings preferring to eat the grass within six inches of the road surface, but generally avoiding the suicide dash of South Dakota whitetail deer.
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