For Immediate Release
September 25, 2007

News Teleconference
12:00 pm. Mountain, Tuesday, September 25, at (641) 297-5330; enter PIN 7427978
Participants: Kim Floyd, Wyoming AFL-CIO; Erik Molvar, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance; Chuck Mollica, Rawlins Resident; Sharon Buccino, Natural Resources Defense Council; Bruce Pendery, Wyoming Outdoor Council

Conservation Groups Pursue Legal Action to Protect Atlantic Rim Wildlife Habitats from Coalbed Methane Drilling

LARAMIE – A coalition of conservation groups today sought to protect sensitive wildlife habitats and potential wilderness lands along the Atlantic Rim from a 2,000-well coalbed methane project. To achieve this they filed  a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and asked the court to halt development in this area until an appropriate environmental analysis is conducted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  The groups filing the case were Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, Wyoming Outdoor Council, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Western Watersheds Project, and the Wyoming Wilderness Association.  NRDC attorneys are representing the groups in the case.

The Atlantic Rim, along the eastern edge of Wyoming’s Red Desert, is an area prized by sportsmen due to its abundant wildlife. Key habitats found here support great herds of elk, mule deer, and pronghorn, as well as one of the two largest sage grouse lek (dancing and breeding ground) concentration areas in Wyoming.

"The Atlantic Rim is one of Wyoming's prime hunting areas, and working men and women from across the state appreciate the need to protect the important wildlife habitats that are found there," said Kim Floyd, Wyoming’s top-ranking representative for the AFL-CIO. "The heavy-handed style of coalbed methane drilling that is occurring on the Atlantic Rim right now is unacceptable to our union members, and it needs to be stopped before it destroys this important part of Wyoming's wildlife heritage." <!-- D(["mb","\u003cbr\>\n\u003cbr\>\nThe Bureau of Land Management analyzed the impacts of the project across\na quarter million acres of mostly public land, and found that the 2,000 coalbed\nmethane and gas wells, coupled with 1,000 miles of new road, would cause\nmajor ha