On the Sale Docket: Oil and Gas Leases in Adobe Town
Monday, March 16, 2009
Green River, WY – Part of Adobe Town is headed for the auction block next month. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to sell oil and gas leases in the Red Desert, Kinney Rim and Big Horn Basin. The 3,000 acres in Adobe Town is a proposed wilderness area, and Sweetwater County Commissioner Randy Walker is calling for the BLM to reconsider.
"To think that we would be ruining the sanctity of that beautiful area – I was very surprised, and disappointed."
The leases are being promoted as a means of securing more domestic energy supplies. The Biodiversity Conservation Alliance notes that the oil and gas industry already has a surplus of unused leases, and that many producing wells are being shuttered because demand has fallen.
Although the State of Wyoming has designated Adobe Town a special place because of sensitive geological, scenic and fossil features, the state designation won't stop drilling rigs, Walker points out.
"In many other states, this would be a national park, and that’s how I see it. It’s all rare and uncommon."
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