Sportsmen’s Coalition: Energy Legislation Would Derail Leasing Reforms, Spur Conflict
OutdoorHub 05.16.12
A coalition of sportsmen’s groups is calling on the U.S. House of Representatives to reject bills that would derail attempts to balance responsible energy development on public lands with the conservation of fish and wildlife and the protection of air and water quality.
Three bills intended to speed up and expand energy development would undermine common-sense leasing reforms and shut out the public in decisions about public lands at a time when oil and gas production are at record or near-record rates, members of Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development said Wednesday.
The sportsmen’s coalition, led by the National Wildlife Federation, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and Trout Unlimited, said while the bills’ aim is to accelerate development, the likely result is gridlock because of conflicts and litigation.
“Companies are looking for certainty, but I fear the result will be more lawsuits and ultimately slower development coupled with less trust and declining support,’’ said Brad Powell, energy director for Trout Unlimited. “These bills include measures that would prioritize energy development on public lands at the expense of fish and wildlife.’’
The House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday considered three bills sponsored by members of the Colorado congressional delegation. The bills, H.R. 4381, H.R. 4382 and H.R. 4383, would undermine federal leasing reforms that encourage responsible planning and have helped reduce the number of lease protests, hunters and anglers said.
Other measures would restrict the public’s ability to weigh in on decisions affecting public lands, including one that charge $5,000 for every protest of a lease or permit.
“Energy development is a legitimate part of multiple use of public lands and must be done in a way that balances energy production with conservation of fish and wildlife habitats so that opportunities to hunt and fish on public land are not diminished,’’ the SFRED coalition said in a letter to the House Natural Resources Committee.
“Public lands and the recreational activities they support fuel an outdoors-based economy worth millions of dollars every year,” said Ed Arnett, director of the TRCP Center for Responsible Energy Development. “Hunting and angling in particular form the economic lifeblood of many rural communities. These misguided bills would undercut common-sense reforms that facilitate responsible energy development and help sustain our public natural resources – resources that offer long-term, bankable economic benefits throughout the Rocky Mountain West.”
National Wildlife Federation attorney Michael Saul said provisions in the bills would hamper public participation and the courts’ ability to remedy illegal actions by federal agencies.
“These bills, particularly read together, are aimed not at removing so-called barriers to federal lands oil and gas extraction,’’ Saul added, “but at putting energy extraction on public lands outside the law altogether, and further encouraging speculation in leases despite the existing glut of unused outstanding leases.’’
