BLM’s Competitive Oil and Gas Leasing & Drilling Process  (06/17/2008)
This fact sheet summarizes the process by which the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issues leases
for oil and gas development and then permits drilling of those leases. The major steps in this process are set out and, for each step, an overview is provided of how the terms of a lease are affected and the opportunities for public participation and influence of oil and gas operations.
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Birds: From the Arctic to Your Backyard (06/13/2008)
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge provides vital habitat for some of America’s most spectacular wildlife. Birds, in particular, rely heavily on the Arctic Refuge. When the weather turns warm, the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge becomes a haven for millions of migrating birds, affording them a safe place to feed, mate and nest.
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Colorado Travel Management Planning Fact Sheet  (06/10/2008)
This fact sheet outlines many of the issues that are occurring in Colorado around travel and recreation management planning.
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Utah Travel Management Planning Fact Sheet (06/09/2008)
This fact sheet outlines many of the issues that are occurring in Utah around travel and recreation management planning.
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“EPCA III” Fact Sheet (06/06/2008)
The Bureau of Land Management's “EPCA III” report paints a highly misleading portrait of the extent to which the development of federal onshore oil and gas resources are “inaccessible” to development. Despite the
report’s implications to the contrary, most federal onshore oil and gas resources are available for leasing and drilling, and have been for a long time.
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Oil Shale Fact Sheet - Billions of Barrels of Oil Shale Resources in Private Hands Are Undeveloped (06/05/2008)
Though proponents of oil shale development claim the need for an expedited federal oil shale leasing program, the Department of Energy's Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves has estimated that more than three million acres of oil shale lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming are already in private hands and have been for decades.
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Analysis of BLM’s Oil and Gas Development 2001-2007: Explosion of Drilling and Leasing Hits Rocky Mountain States Hardest (05/31/2008)
The last seven years have seen an unprecedented rush to lease and approve permits to drill on federal public lands. Despite the massive numbers of acres already under lease and available for drilling and the huge surplus of acres leased and Applications for Permits to Drill approved, industry, the Bush Administration, and BLM continue to insist they need access to millions of additional acres and push for opening more sensitive lands to development, particularly in the Rockies.
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Overview of Percent of Federal Minerals and Acreage Available for Oil and Gas Development (05/31/2008)
Selected Resource Management Plans for the Rocky Mountain West
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H.R. 6156/S. 3069 Fact Sheet (05/29/2008)
This document presents background information on Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act
(H.R. 6156/S. 3069), which is sponsored by Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon and Sen. Barbara Boxer.
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Factsheet on the Inaccuracies and Misleading Information in BLM's EPCA III Report (05/28/2008)
A factsheet detailing the misleading and inaccurate information in BLM's EPCA III report on oil and gas potential on federal lands in the U.S.
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Factsheet on BLM's use of Categorical Exclusions for Oil and Gas Drilling (05/28/2008)
A factsheet detailing the BLM's irresponsible use of Categorical Exclusions provided by Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act 2005 to limit review of environmental impacts of proposed drilling for oil and gas.
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Analysis of Habitat Fragmentation from Oil and Gas Development and Its Impact on Wildlife: A Framework for Public Land Management Planning (05/28/2008)
This scoping brief is submitted as part of the NEPA process for this land management proposal. It is intended to identify habitat and wildlife impacts that must be analyzed in the plan, demonstrate the potential impacts on wildlife of habitat fragmentation from oil and gas development at various well-pad densities, and offer methodologies to assist the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to fulfill its responsibility to analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts on wildlife of proposed oil and gas development in the management plan.
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Overview of Percent of Federal Minerals and Acreage Available in Selected Resource Management Plans for the Rocky Mountain West (05/28/2008)
A spreadsheet detailing the percent and acreage of federal lands open for oil and gas development of selected Resource Management Plans in the Rocky Mountain West.
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Facts about Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Rural Heritage Act (05/23/2008)
Each year, thousands of people flock to the Eastern Sierra to hike, fish, climb, horseback ride, and enjoy the remarkable beauty of the region’s wild lands. Recreation on these public lands is the foundation of the area’s economy. Residents of rapidly growing northern Los Angeles County go to nearby open space in the San Gabriel Mountains to spend time in a natural setting close to home.
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Oil Shale Fact Sheet - Oil Shale Production & Global Warming (05/14/2008)
The energy intensity and carbon footprint involved in deriving transportation fules from oil shale are higher than conventional fuels. This fact sheet discusses how oil shale production relates to global warming.
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Oil Shale and Tar Sands Fact Sheet - Status of Research & Development (05/13/2008)
Current federal policy supports a robust oil shale research and development program on federal lands managed by the BLM. The purpose for the R&D program is to overcome significant technological obstacles and provide adequate information to evaluate the impacts of potential development prior to a commercial-scale leasing program.
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Oil Shale and Tar Sands Fact Sheet (05/08/2008)
The Bureau of Land Management is working overtime to turn over large tracks of western public lands to international oil companies that want to commercially develop the West’s oil shale and tar sands resources, no matter the environmental, economic, and social costs to our wild lands and local communities. Commercial oil shale and tar sands development relies on unproven, environmentally destructive, and economically dubious technologies that are decades away from commercial readiness. Industry does not even know if the technology works – so what’s the rush?
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Arctic Refuge Drilling and Gas Prices: Not a Solution, Now or Later (05/08/2008)
Proponents of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge opportunistically and incorrectly point to rising
gasoline prices as a reason to drill for oil in one of America’s last wild places. If oil were discovered in commercial
quantities, it would take 10 years before a single drop could be produced. Recent U.S. Energy Information Administration data indicates that in 2030, when oil discovered in the Arctic Refuge would be near peak production levels, the effect at the gas pump would be about two pennies per gallon.
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Global Warming and U.S. Public Lands: America's wild lands are under threat, and will play key role in any climate change solution (03/24/2008)
Global warming poses an unprecedented threat to our national parks, forests, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges. At the same time, protecting these natural places is more important now than ever before. Our country’s public lands store carbon and offer one of our best hopes for sustaining the plants, animals, clean water and air, and recreational opportunities that are important to our heritage.
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TWS Oil Shale Sands Fact Sheet (03/20/2008)
A fact sheet detailing the challenges of commercial oil shale development and the need for industry to prove that such development can be done without causing unacceptable harm to our air, water, landscapes, wildlife, and health before BLM commits our public lands to commercial oil shale and tar sands leasing.
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Climate Change Implications for Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge (03/01/2008)
Alaska is experiencing visible signs of climate change, including melting permafrost, drying wetlands, and increased fire activity. To better understand what changes are taking place, and how land managers might deal with these changes on public lands, Dr. Wendy Loya, an ecologist with The Wilderness Society (TWS), initiated a project to apply climate change scenarios to Alaska’s federal wildlands. Together with TWS GIS analyst Anna Springsteen, and in partnership with the University of Alaska’s SNAP (Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning) program, Dr. Loya used temperature and precipitation data from five down-scaled global climate models to estimate how growing season length, climate variability, and water availability might change.
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Forest Management Fact Sheet (02/15/2008)
Healthy and naturally functioning forests are more likely to survive the effects of a changing climate than heavily harvested ones. This report debunks the logic that aggressive timber harvesting and suppressing all fires is sound forest management practice.
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Carbon Cycling Fact Sheet (02/15/2008)
This report highlights the adverse effects elevated CO2 levels have on forests ecosystems. Because forests have evolved at slow rates, today's warming climate and elevated CO2 levels are changing the way forests grow and store carbon.
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Fire and Climate Change Fact Sheet (02/15/2008)
While it's true that fires release emissions as they burn, forests recapture carbon as they regenerate and do not contribute to climate change.
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Kinds of Carbon: Wildland Fires vs. Fossil Fuels Fact Sheet (02/15/2008)
This report explains how carbon that is released during wildland fires is significantly less harmful to the environment than carbon released by burning fossil fuels.
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Directional Drilling Background and Recommendations Factsheet (02/12/2008)
A fact sheet describing the limitations and advantages of directional drilling and outlining The Wilderness Society's recommendations for use.
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Position Paper - Appropriate Management Response (11/16/2007)
Position of The Wilderness Society on Appropriate Management Response in wildland fire.
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Position Paper - Wildland Fire Use (11/16/2007)
Brief document outlining The Wilderness Society's position on Wildland Fire Use.
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Position Paper - State Fire Assistance (11/16/2007)
This position paper takes a look at the Forest Service's State Fire Assistance program, which provides financial assistance to states and communities for fire management activities including training, planning, hazardous fuels treatment and purchase of equipment.
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Position Paper - Fire Regime Condition Class (11/16/2007)
This paper discusses the concept of Fire Regime Condition Class - a method of classifying vegetation developed by the Forest Service which purports to represent the degree of departure of current vegetation from historical conditions.
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Wyoming Range Legacy Act FAQ (11/01/2007)
Frequently asked questions about the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, legislation that would protect the Wyoming Range from future oil and gas drilling.
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Summary of BLM's IM on Comprehensive Travel and Transportation Management Planning (10/31/2007)
A summary of BLM's IM on Comprehensive Travel and Transportation Management Planning
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Overview of Special Places Impacted by the Southwest NIETC (10/15/2007)
Overview of the National Park Service, Wilderness, National Monument, and other special lands potentially impacted by the southwest NIETC.
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Keys to Effective Engagement with Agencies (10/12/2007)
Suggestions for productive meetings with land management agencies.
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Well Count Analysis Methodology (08/31/2007)
A look at how The Wilderness Society assembled its analysis of current and proposed drilling permits on western BLM lands.
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Preliminary Analysis of Current Federal Actions Authorizing Drilling of New Wells (August 2007) (08/29/2007)
In October 2006, The Wilderness Society’s BLM Action Center conducted a preliminary analysis of land use plans and large-scale projects approved or in the process of approval in the states of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in order to estimate the number of new oil and gas wells likely to be approved for drilling over the next 15 to 20 years. This document represents an update to that analysis and lists the names of the plans and projects analyzed, the number of new wells expected, and the sources the BLM Action Center used in its analysis. Over 126,000 new wells are expected in the five-state region from the 32 federal actions analyzed.
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Fact Sheet: Governor's Consistency Review and BLM Planning (08/06/2007)
Fact sheet developed by the BLM Action Center outlining BLM's responsibility to offer governor's an opportunity to review BLM Resource Management Plans for review of conformance with state laws prior to publishing a Record of Decision (ROD).
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Fact Sheet: FACA Chartered Committees and BLM Planning (08/06/2007)
Fact sheet developed by the BLM Action Center outlining participation and requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).
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Fact Sheet: Data Quality Act and BLM Planning (08/06/2007)
Fact sheet developed by the BLM Action Center to outline BLM's requirements to adhere to the Data Quality Act.
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BLM Actions and Terminology (08/06/2007)
Informal guide to common BLM acronyms, terminology, and agency actions.
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Factsheet: The Interplay of Fire, Carbon Storage, Charcoal and Global Warming (07/24/2007)
“The Interplay of Fire, Carbon Storage, Charcoal, and Global Warming,” describes the relationship of wildland fires to climate change and provides scientific information to inform public discussions of fire impacts. We also summarize research being conducted by Tom DeLuca and Greg Aplet. Their research will be published in fall 2007 in the journal, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
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All Units Impacted by SW NIETC (By State) (06/15/2007)
All units impacted by the Southwest National Interest Electricity Transmission Corridors by state.
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Overview of Special Places Impacted by SW NIETC (06/15/2007)
A consolidated report of the numbers by unit of areas impacted by the Southwest National Interest Electricity Transmission Corridor (AZ, CA, NV).
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USFS Economic Spending Profile Report of National Forest Visitors, 2005 (06/04/2007)
Fact Sheet developed by the Recreation Planning Program outlining important findings from the USFS’s Spending Profile Report about how much off-road motorized users spend when visiting a national forest compared to quiet, traditional recreationists.
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Factsheet: HR 2337, The “Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act of 2007” (05/30/2007)
An analysis of HR 2337, which contains various reforms to the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
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Factsheet: Expanding Wildland Fire Use (05/21/2007)
Wildland Fire Use (WFU) is the practice of actively managing naturally-ignited fires in designated sections of forests to accomplish resource management goals. WFU is widely accepted by scientists, policymakers and land
managers as an important tool not only to help mitigate the escalating costs of fire suppression, but also to help restore forests and make them more resilient.
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Factsheet: Dry Conditions Persist Throughout West and Southeast (05/15/2007)
Wildfire season is upon us. Experts are predicting severe conditions from Pennsylvania to Florida to California, and over 60,000 acres have already burned in Georgia. According to the US Drought Monitor, the majority of Western states and much of the Southeast are once again experiencing very dry conditions.
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Budget Overview: Why A New Direction for Wildfire Management is Necessary (05/15/2007)
The cost of putting out all fires has skyrocketed in recent years. In four of the last seven years, suppression costs have exceeded $1 billion. These escalating costs threaten to consume the majority of the Forest Service's discretionary budget, leaving them very little money to do anything else. Climate predictions, changing demographics and budget realities require a new way of thinking.
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Fact Sheet: Otero Mesa Moratorium Request (04/04/2007)
Fact sheet developed by the BLM Action Center outlining current and past oil and gas development in and around Otero Mesa and calling for a moratorium on new leasing for the duration of the salt basin aquifer water study.
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Factsheet: Critique of Forest Service Report Finds Timber Demand Analysis Inadequate (04/03/2007)
In July 2006 the Forest Service released “Timber Products Output and Timber Harvests in Alaska: Projections for 2005-25,” a revised demand analysis for timber from the Tongass National Forest, and the first step in a court-ordered process to amend the 1997 Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP). A critique prepared for The Wilderness Society by resource economist Lisa Crone, PhD, identifies at least three major flaws in the Forest Service timber demand analysis:
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Factsheet: America's Treasured Wildlife Refuges on the Brink (03/28/2007)
Several years of stagnant or declining budgets have exacerbated the more than $2.5 billion operations and maintenance backlog at refuges, and have forced a dramatic 20 percent reduction in staff nationwide. This factsheet details effects at refuges across the country.
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Factsheet: Wildland Fire Use (03/27/2007)
Wildland Fire Use (WFU) is the practice of actively managing naturally-ignited fires in designated sections of forests to accomplish resource management goals. WFU is widely accepted by scientists, policymakers and land managers as an important tool not only to help mitigate the escalating costs of fire suppression, but also to help restore forests and make them more resilient. This Fact Sheet provides more information on this management tool and how it can be expanded.
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Facts About FY 2008 Wildfire Appropriations (03/26/2007)
Over the last five years, over $14 billion has been appropriated to the National Fire Plan (NFP). During this time of large federal deficits and increasing pressure to re-examine federal budget priorities, the question must be asked whether these taxpayer dollars have promoted safer communities and more resilient ecosystems.
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Factsheet: State Fire Assistance Program (03/26/2007)
Coalition factsheet on State Fire Assistance Program, which provides funds to state forestry agencies to help communities successfully prepare for and manage wildland fires, including funding for Community Wildfire Protection Plans.
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Factsheet: State Fire Assistance Highlights (03/26/2007)
Coalition factsheet on State Fire Assistance Program highlights.
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Factsheet: Wildfire Suppression Reserve Account (03/26/2007)
Recognizing that past borrowing of funds from other agency programs for wildland fire suppression caused project cancellations, strained relationships with partners, and disruptions in management, Congress established a supplemental wildfire suppression account to preclude that practice. This brief provides a history of the account, why it should be maintained, and information on efforts to develop long-term solutions to address suppression funding.
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Factsheet: National Fire Plan - State and Local Assistance (03/26/2007)
Less than 10% of the $14 billion appropriated to the National Fire Plan in the last five years has gone to non-federal partners. This brief describes how funding can be redistributed to better balance non-federal and federal fire funding to help insure more effective national fire management.
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Community Fire Assistance Budget Continues to Decline in FY 2008 (03/26/2007)
Comprehensive fire management inherently transcends land ownership boundaries, just as wildland fire does not solely impact federal lands. Programs have been designed to help states and localities promote fire-adapted communities in fire-resilient landscapes. While funding for these programs increased slightly between FY 2003 and 2004, funding for these programs has trended downward since FY 2001. A significant decrease in funds, almost 30%, has occurred since FY 2004. Unfortunately, that trend continues in fiscal year 2008 with a proposed 17% reduction from the FY07 enacted levels
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Fact Sheet: USFS Travel Management Rule and the Travel Planning Process (03/05/2007)
Fact sheet developed by the Recreation Planning Program outlining the USFS’s Travel Management Rule of 2005, the FS’s responsibility under the rule, and questions to ask to better understand how your local national forest is implementing travel planning.
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Fact Sheet - Carrizo Plain World Heritage Site Nomination (02/09/2007)
The Wilderness Society is working with local partners to nominate Carrizo Plain National Monument as a World Heritage Site.
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Oil and Gas Resources in the Little Snake Field Office (02/08/2007)
A fact sheet summarizing the economically recoverable oil and gas resources in the BLM's Little Snake Field Office in northwest Colorado.
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Fact Sheet: 2006 Fire Season to Date (11/17/2006)
We take a look at how much has burned as well as the type of landscapes involved and their location.
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Fact Sheet: Disposal of BLM Lands (11/16/2006)
This fact sheet summarizes the legal processes by which the BLM can dispose of lands under its management.
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Fact Sheet: HR 6298 - The "Wrong" Rights-of-Way Act (10/23/2006)
Representative Steve Pearce (R-NM), Chairman of the House Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on National Parks, recently introduced a bill (H.R. 6298) that, if passed, could have devastating consequences to all federal lands due to its re-interpretation of an obscure 19th Century law known as “R.S. 2477.”
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Analysis of Current Federal Actions Authorizing Drilling of New Wells (October 2007) (10/06/2006)
In October 2006, The Wilderness Society’s BLM Action Center conducted a preliminary analysis of land use plans and large-scale projects approved or in the process of approval in the states of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in order to estimate the number of new oil and gas wells likely to be approved for drilling over the next 15 to 20 years.
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Factsheet: How September 20, 2006, Roadless Rule Decision Affects the Tongass National Forest (09/20/2006)
This factsheet discusses the impact of this ruling on the Tongass National Forest.
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Factsheet: North Slope Oil Development: Air and Water Pollution, Spills, and Sprawl (08/10/2006)
Three decades of oil industry public relations have drilled away at one familiar theme that belies the reality on the ground: that drilling can be done in an "environmentally responsible" fashion. The reality is that the sprawling industrial infrastructure and pollution associated with drilling on the North Slope continue to have pervasive, lasting, and serious environmental consequences.
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Factsheet: Arctic Refuge Drilling and Gas Prices: Drilling Nets About a Penny per Gallon, 20 Years From Now (08/07/2006)
Proponents of drilling Arctic National Wildlife Refuge point to rising gasoline prices as a reason to drill one of America’s last wild places. But in reality, Arctic Refuge oil would amount to a drop in the bucket of the oil market. The U.S. Department of Energy’s own Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that even twenty years down the road, when Arctic Refuge oil is at or near peak production, gas prices would be affected by about a penny per gallon.
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Stunts to Buy Support for Oil Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (07/26/2006)
Pro-drilling House Members are trying YET AGAIN to use any excuse to pursue their myopic plan to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The most recent Arctic drill bill in the House dedicates speculative leasing revenues from Arctic Refuge drilling to a list of renewable energy incentives. But this is just one of a myriad of tactics, gimmicks, and schemes used by drilling proponents over time to buy votes for protecting the Refuge. Here are some other ways they have tried to offer up these speculative revenues to open our nation’s largest and wildest refuge.
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More Oily Myths: Claims For Arctic Refuge Drilling Are Fabricated (07/11/2006)
Factsheet detailing how a fake grassroots organization called "Americans for American Energy" is claiming in an Arkansas print ad that drilling the Arctic Refuge would "solve" America’s "energy problems. " This claim is wrong, as are their claims that drilling the Arctic Refuge would have any significant effect on gas prices or oil imports.
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Factsheet: Federal Onshore and Offshore Oil & Gas Leasing and Development (07/07/2006)
More than 75 million acres of federal onshore lands and lands within the Outer Continental Shelf are currently under lease for oil and gas development. Moreover, most identified federal oil and gas resources are located within areas that are currently available for leasing and development.
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How the "Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act Of 2006" (H.R. 4761) Would Accelerate Rocky Mountain Drilling (06/30/2006)
The Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006 (H.R. 4671), passed by the U.S. House on 6/29/06, would not only repeal the 25-year-old moratorium on off-shore oil and gas drilling, but also would dangerously accelerate oil shale and tar sands development in the Rocky Mountain West and provide industry with a new and unmerited entitlement program to taxpayer funds, and could lead to thousands of improvidently issued drilling permits.
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Factsheet: BLM White River Field Office Amendment Process Flawed (06/26/2006)
BLM agrees to let oil and gas industry hire a contractor to prepare a critical document that seeks
to justify more oil and gas development without considering the other values of these public
lands. With valuable resources at stake, the public deserves a process it can trust.
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| Preliminary Analysis of the National Park Service's Revised Draft Management Policies |
