Hunting, fishing groups alarmed at BLM focus on oil and gas

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunters and anglers are raising concerns on Capitol Hill about the Bush administration’s focus on oil and gas drilling in the West, saying it is opening hundreds of thousands of acres to drilling at the expense of fish and wildlife habitat.

They are particularly worried in light of oil and gas lease sales in Colorado and Utah this month, which put record numbers of acres on the auction block.

The sportsmen, who generally are more conservative than other environmental activists, argue that the administration’s priorities are out of whack and want Congress to revise President Bush’s proposed 2007 budget, increasing funds for wildlife programs to the same level as oil and gas permitting.

“The funding allocation is just very skewed,” Steve Moyer, a lobbyist for Trout Unlimited, said Monday. “We’re seeking some balance.”

Trout Unlimited, the American Sportfishing Association and eight other groups wrote the leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees this month arguing that the Bureau of Land Management’s emphasis on developing oil and gas “has caused a funding shortfall and workload crisis.”

While BLM officials say they are doing the best they can under a tight budget, the hunting and fishing groups say BLM employees are so busy with oil and gas drilling requests they can’t keep up with the environmental effects.

Two oil and gas lease sales in Colorado and Utah this month, offering leases on hundreds of thousands of acres combined, are examples of the problem, said Brian O’Donnell, director of Trout Unlimited’s public lands initiative

An auction in Utah Tuesday will be the largest government lease sale in state history. Another in Colorado last week was one of the largest on record there. Both push into sensitive lands, including habitat for endangered ferrets in Colorado and parcels in Utah known for Indian rock art and scenic views.

The BLM, an agency within the Interior Department, is responsible for managing energy and mineral rights, wilderness, wildlife habitat and historical and archaeological sites on millions of acres of public lands, mostly in the West.

Hunting and fishing groups say energy development shouldn’t be the BLM’s dominant activity. But while Bush’s proposed 2007 budget asks for $25.4 million in new money for the oil and gas program, including $9.2 million to expedite energy permits, it seeks no increase for caring for riverbanks and other wildlife habitat, they say.

BLM spokeswoman Celia Boddington said the agency supports the president’s budget.

“We believe we are doing the best possible job of attending to our various responsibilities in accordance with our multiple use mandate,” Boddington said.

Hunting and fishing groups are trying to make the case in Congress that the BLM could do better.

In their letter, they argue drilling is intensifying the stresses on key fish and wildlife populations in the West.

“With thousands of wells planned in habitats that support fish and game populations, more attention is essential,” the letter reads.

Some lawmakers already are pressing the BLM to take care when it selects parcels for drilling.

“What I have seen in Colorado ... is cause for alarm,” said Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo.
But with energy prices soaring, many others are pressing for more domestic oil, not less.

“I’m a proponent of alternative fuels and energy, but in the short term, if we want to bring down the price of gas, we need to get more of it out of the ground,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

“Our nation has some very tough regulations in place to protect our environment and our wildlife, which allows us to meet our energy needs and be responsible stewards at the same time,” he said.