Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

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A [pronghorn antelope] stands in front of a oil derrick 30 miles south of Pinedale, Wyo. The Bush administration has highlighted the Pinedale Anticline as a model for oil and gas exploration.

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Interior Department sued over Wyoming drilling
As President Bush called for increased oil and gas drilling in the Rocky Mountain West and offshore, an environmental group launched a legal battle Wednesday against the Interior Department, saying the agency broke its promise to limit environmental damage from natural gas and oil development on the Pinedale Anticline, one of the country's top reserves.

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a nonprofit coalition of hunting, fishing and other organizations, filed suit against the Interior Department and the Bureau of Land Management in U.S. District Court in Washington. The suit alleges the BLM, a division of the Interior Department, "failed unequivocally" to comply with its plans to monitor and mitigate the effects of gas and oil drilling on wildlife across the Anticline and violated the National Environmental Policy Act and Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

The project plan formulated eight years ago for the Anticline called for the development of about 700 well pads over a 10- to 15-year period. It included procedures to monitor and evaluate the effects of development. The suit alleges that a working group set up for that task held its first meeting in 2004, and has not met consistently thereafter.

"They haven't been following the processes that they put in place that would address impacts to the natural resources of the area and would comply with their obligations under federal law," said Katie McKalip, a spokeswoman for the conservation group.

Teresa Howes, a spokeswoman for the BLM, said she had not seen the lawsuit and could not directly address it, but added that the agency had been following procedures in the project plan.

A 2006 report showed the deer population declined 46% since 2000, the suit said. The study was industry-funded and performed by Western EcoSystems Technology Inc.

The suit does not ask the BLM to stop production in the Anticline. "We're not opposed to public lands' energy development," McKalip said, "as long as it adheres to efforts to sustain fish and wildlife resources throughout the course of development activities."


The lawsuit comes at a time when three companies, Shell Exploration & Production, Ultra Resources, and Questar Exploration and Production, have asked to have seasonal restrictions removed to allow for expanded year-round drilling. Rules require development be shut down during wildlife breeding and migration.

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