Understanding the
Issues
For more information on conserving wildlife and habitat
while developing new energy resources on federal public lands,
see Recommendations for Responsible
Oil and Gas
Development, published by Sportsmen for Responsible
Energy Development. This report explains how energy resources
are developed on public lands, offers several case
studies, and discusses the issues from the American
sportsman's point of view. The report is available here (1MB PDF).
Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development is a
coalition of more than 350 conservation organizations,
businesses, and individuals, including Trout Unlimited, the
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and the National
Wildlife Federation, working to balance energy development in
the American West. For more information, visit their website.
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 WITH THE WORLD ECONOMY IN
TURMOIL and growing concern about U.S.
dependence on foreign sources of energy, there has been
increased focus on development of new domestic sources
of oil and gas in the United States. Energy resources
extraction on federal public lands, especially
activities managed by U.S. government agencies in
sensitive wildlife and habitat areas of the American
West, involves difficult questions regarding priorities
and sometimes diametrically opposed goals.
One group that is greatly affected by these issues
is American sportsmen, many of whom participate in
hunting and fishing on these public lands. To determine
what sportsmen think about issues
surrounding energy resource extraction
activities on public lands, Responsive Management
recently conducted a study for Sportsmen for Responsible
Energy Development to determine hunters' and anglers'
opinions on oil and gas extraction activities in the
Rocky Mountain West, including the effect these
activities would have on hunting and fishing
participation. |
 Licensed
hunters and anglers in the Rocky Mountain West states of
Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming were surveyed
by telephone and were asked questions in several subject
areas, including where they hunted and fished, the
quality of their hunting and fishing experiences,
opinions on land use in general, opinions on regulation
and methods of energy extraction, and willingness to
take specific actions regarding extraction activities.
Major findings of the survey included the
following:
-- Public land figures prominently in
hunting activities among Rocky Mountain West sportsmen.
From 49% (in Montana) to 79% (in New Mexico) of hunters
hunt mostly on public land, and 16% (in New Mexico) to
36% (in Montana) hunt on both public and private land
about equally. Only 5% (in New Mexico) to 15% (in
Montana) hunt mostly on private
land. |
-- Public land figures even more prominently in
fishing than in hunting. In the four states surveyed,
76% (in Montana) to 85% (in Colorado, New Mexico, and
Wyoming) of anglers fish mostly on public land, and 9%
(in Colorado) to 12% (in Montana and Wyoming) fish on
both public and private land about equally. Only 3% (in
New Mexico) to 8% (in Montana) fish mostly on private
land.
-- From 59% (in New Mexico) to 67% (in Montana)
of hunters and anglers think that public lands in their
state should be managed with fish and wildlife habitat
and oil and gas extraction being considered about
equally. From 29% (in Montana) to 35% (in New Mexico)
think that public lands should be managed more for fish
and wildlife habitat. And 0% (in Montana) to 5% (in New
Mexico) think that public lands should be managed more
for oil and gas
extraction.
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 --
Large majorities of sportsmen in the four states agree
that the federal government should take more steps to
protect fish and wildlife on lands that have been leased
for oil and gas extraction (from 71% to
78%).
-- Large majorities agree that the federal
government should take more steps to protect hunting and
fishing opportunities on lands that have been leased for
oil and gas extraction (from 67% to
83%).
-- In all four states surveyed, hunters and anglers
named increased poaching and loss of access among
the top concerns they had regarding the impact of
oil and gas extraction on lands where they hunt and
fish.
-- Hunters and anglers give high importance to
being included in the decision-making process regarding
oil and gas extraction activities on public lands: in
each of the states surveyed, a majority of respondents
(58% in New Mexico and Wyoming, 62% in Colorado, and 63%
in Montana) rate that importance at a 9 or 10.
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 -- The large
majority of hunters and anglers in the states surveyed
(from 80% in New Mexico to 88% in Montana) oppose the
exclusion of sportsmen from the decision-making process
regarding oil and gas extraction activities on public
lands.
-- Overwhelmingly, sportsmen do not
want the oil and gas extraction industry to be exempted
from regulations to protect rivers and streams -- the
majority of sportsmen in each state (from 76% to 84%)
strongly or moderately oppose such exemptions.
-- The large majority of sportsmen (74% to 83%)
oppose exempting the oil and gas extraction industry
from the requirement to conduct an analysis of the
effects of extraction activities on fish and wildlife
and hunting and fishing before leases are granted for
extraction activities on public
lands. |
 -- The large
majority of sportsmen (74% to 83%) oppose exempting the
oil and gas extraction industry from the requirement to
conduct an analysis of the effects of extraction
activities on fish and wildlife and hunting and fishing
before leases are granted for extraction activities on
public lands.
The complete report, including
explanations of the study's methodology and more
detailed results and analysis, is available here (334KB PDF). A slide
presentation of the results can be viewed here (1.67MB PDF). A printable
version of this article is available here
(887KB PDF). | |
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