"How would they like us to come into their churches and desecrate their religion? The government needs to understand these sites are spiritual... But, we're not involved in protecting them." - Alonzo Moss, Northern Arapaho Elder and culture teacher

Campaign Details

Jack Morrow Hills/Northern Red Desert

Ancient rock rings, Jack Morrow Hills

The Jack Morrow Hills Record of Decision Released

The Jack Morrow Hills encompasses approximately 622,430 acres, which is predominantly managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

On July 20, 2006, the Bureau of Land Management released their Record of Decision (ROD) for the Jack Morrow Hills located in the northern Red Desert of Wyoming. The ROD called for an initial development of 255 natural gas and coalbed methane wells. This number is NOT a cap. It is an estimate. The BLM admits in the plan that it does not know the true scope of development since the energy reserve potential is controversial and largely unknown. As we have seen across Wyoming, if the mineral extraction industry “hits” many more wells will be drilled in addition to more roads and pipelines.

Burrowing Owl

The public asked for no new oil and gas development in the Jack Morrow Hills (JMH) and despite more than 80,000 people who commented to protect this area the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) decided to ignore our requests and support the industry. These lands are public and the BLM didn’t adequately respond to the public’s desires. We want long term protection for the JMH and a solution is for the area to be designated as a National Conservation Area.

Currently, FRD is asking people to write letters to Senator Craig Thomas asking for the Jack Morrow Hills to be designated as a National Conservation Area. Letters to the editor also aid us in this campaign and the contact information can be found in How you can help.

If you want to learn more about the campaign or for more ways to help, please contact Joy Owen at 307.335.8633, Bruce Pendery at 435.752.2111, or Erik Molvar at 307.742.7978.

Oregon Butte, Jack Morrow Hills

FRD desires permanent protection for some portions of the Red Desert that remain wild. After thorough research, we have concluded that National Conservation Area Designation, for specific portions, of the Red Desert will provide a true multiple use approach towards protecting these wild open spaces, while providing a balanced solution to the controversial oil and gas development through a buyout or trade of mineral leases in specific areas. National Conservation Areas are set aside by Congress to protect the outstanding cultural, ecological and scientific values of specific landscapes for the benefit of current and future generations of Wyoming and America.

Specifically, for the Red Desert, this means:

Management priorities will seek to maintain the Red Desert’s remote and wild character, to safeguard habitat for plants and animals, and to protect historic, cultural and archeological sites.
Off-road vehicle use will continue on designated roads and trails and existing motorized use areas.
The state of Wyoming will continue to manage wildlife and hunting.
Native American people will continue to exercise their tribal rights to pursue spiritual, cultural and food-gathering activities.
Livestock grazing will continue under BLM management.
Many miles of county roads will remain open to public use and visitor facilities to enhance recreation opportunities may be provided.
New oil and gas and new mining activity will be prohibited.
The BLM will acquire all existing mineral leases and claims on public lands within the National Conservation Area using funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The Wilderness Study Areas currently contained within the National Conservation Area will remain in their present status.
Within three years of designation, the BLM in conjunction with the public, will develop a comprehensive plan for the long-term protection and management of the conservation area.

Adobe Town

Adobe Town Rim - Biodiversity Conservation Alliance

The Landscape
One of the largest parcels of wild desert remaining in Wyoming, Adobe Town encompasses spectacular badlands, lofty rims, vast deserts, and stabilized sand dunes. It harbors an abundance of wildlife, including pronghorn, wild horses, golden eagles, ferruginous hawks, and burrowing owls. Of almost 181,000 acres that possess wilderness qualities, some 85,000 acres currently receive interim protection as the Adobe Town Wilderness Study Area.

Adobe Town accolades:

Nationally known for its fossil resources including titanotheres (giant ground sloths) and uintatheres (wooly rhinoceroses); an important dig site for the Chicago Field Museum.
“The greatest natural value of this area is that it is still a ‘howling wilderness.’” – National Park Service, 1973.
Contains a high density of archaeological sites from early human settlement.
“...the most remarkable example of the so-called bad-land erosion within the limits of the Fortieth Parallel Exploration…” – General A.A. Humphreys, 1869.
Has “a high degree of national significance, recommended without reservation” as a National Natural Landmark by a National Park Service Study, 1976.
Heralded as a “national park quality landscape” in the book Wild Wyoming.

The Threat
The northern part of Adobe Town was the subject of recent seismic exploration by Anadarko Petroleum, indicating interest in future drilling. The Desolation Flats Natural Gas Project, proposed by Marathon Oil, would turn 50,000 acres of the proposed wilderness on the eastern flank into a fully industrialized gas field, eliminating the wild character of the landscape.

The Solution
Protection for this fragile landscape begins with the revision of the Great Divide Resource Management Plan (RMP), currently underway at the Rawlins Field Office. The new RMP should at minimum withdraw the proposed wilderness from oil and gas leasing, it might expand the existing WSA to incorporate unprotected wilderness-quality lands, and/or it might designate this landscape as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. This would automatically remove these lands from the Desolation Flats project.

Outside the RMP process, long-term protection could take the form of congressionally designated Wilderness status, perhaps in concert with designation as a National Conservation Area, National Preserve, or National Monument.

South end of the Skull Creek Rim - Biodiversity Conservation Alliance

The Situation
Under the current Administration, the Red Desert is under siege, the onslaught of oil and gas drilling is threatening to overtake Adobe Town. The BLM has proposed to open 50,000 acres of Adobe Town to full-field gas development under the "Desolation Flats" project. (There actually is no feature named Desolation Flats in this part of the Red Desert; oil and gas projects are now given misleading names to fool the public into thinking that favorite landscapes will not be desecrated.) The cruel irony of the Desolation Flats project is that while it would give blanket approval for the drilling of 385 new wells, the corporation who holds the mineral rights - Marathon Oil - has no plan to develop their leases, and instead is looking to sell its interests in the area. The most rational explanation for this bizarre situation is that Marathon seeks a blank check to drill the leases, hoping that the pre-approval will raise their sale value.

But the prognosis for this spectacular wilderness is not all bleak. The BLM has identified 40,000 acres of unprotected land in Adobe Town that it concedes has all of the attributes of wilderness, and the agency has promised to consider adding these lands to the existing Wilderness Study Area when it rewrites its Great Divide Resource Management Plan. While this promise may now be complicated by the Interior Department's recent position that it lacks the legal authority to create new WSAs, there is still the possibility that these lands will be withdrawn from industrial use under the new Plan. And if this occurs, there is a clause in the Desolation Flats project that would withdraw the wilderness lands from drilling.

And there is a growing recognition that Adobe Town is one of America's priceless national treasures that we cannot afford to squander for the sake of a trickle of natural gas. Wyoming's political leadership, ranging from Democratic Governor Dave Freudenthal to Republican Senator Craig Thomas, have recognized the irreplaceable value of Adobe Town and the need to protect it. And over 20,000 citizens wrote the BLM during the initial Great Divide comment period to call for protection for this magnificent landscape. But the true test still lies ahead - the Final version of the new Great Divide plan is being released this summer, and the BLM will take comments from a range of stakeholders, from the general public to the big oil companies, before they decide the fate of Adobe Town.

We are living in a watershed moment. On one hand, this could be the year that the crown jewel of Wyoming's high desert wilderness gets the protection it deserves. On the other, ours could be the generation that squandered one of the Red Desert's signature landscapes for the sake of a handful of marginal gas deposits. We must make a wise choice.

(The Adobe Town information was prepared by Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.)