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JonahWorld next draw
By Angus M. Thuermer Jr.
Jackson Hole Daily
Residents of Jackson Hole have long criticized oil and gas wells proposed in the area, saying no tourist would come to Teton County to see one.
But the BLM doesn’t quite see it that way, according to the Wilderness Society. A staffer at the conservation organization says the federal agency intends to offset the impact to recreation caused by oil and gas development by offering tourist stops at the Jonah oil field about 70 miles southeast of Jackson.
"We’re not making this up," Peter Aengst said in an e-mail Thursday. "BLM promotes tourism to offset air quality, wildlife loss."
In reading through a study of a proposal to add 3,100 wells to the 610 in the Jonah field, Wilderness Society workers stumbled upon a clause describing how the agency intends to address at least some loss to the quality of recreation caused by the industrialization of the landscape. The BLM proposes a driving tour and interpretive sites for the public to learn the wonders of modern gas field drilling, Aengst said.
He quoted from the study.
"The following actions could minimize adverse project effects to [Jonah-area] recreation by providing a new tourism opportunity," the study says. The plan would be to "provide one or more quality interpretive sites with public access and/or publications with public distributions to provide the general public and interested parties educational information regarding [Jonah] developments and management actions for other area-specific natural resource values."
"This is like telling the citizens of Butte, Mont., that they should [not] worry about quality of life issues because there now will be interpretive tours of the Berkeley Pit or saying that Exxon should put an interpretive center on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound," Aengst wrote.
The additional wells are planned on 30,000 acres and will diminish antelope and grouse habitat. The Jonah infill project also is expected to affect air quality in the Bridger Wilderness in the southern Wind River Range.
By Angus M. Thuermer Jr.
Jackson Hole Daily
Residents of Jackson Hole have long criticized oil and gas wells proposed in the area, saying no tourist would come to Teton County to see one.
But the BLM doesn’t quite see it that way, according to the Wilderness Society. A staffer at the conservation organization says the federal agency intends to offset the impact to recreation caused by oil and gas development by offering tourist stops at the Jonah oil field about 70 miles southeast of Jackson.
"We’re not making this up," Peter Aengst said in an e-mail Thursday. "BLM promotes tourism to offset air quality, wildlife loss."
In reading through a study of a proposal to add 3,100 wells to the 610 in the Jonah field, Wilderness Society workers stumbled upon a clause describing how the agency intends to address at least some loss to the quality of recreation caused by the industrialization of the landscape. The BLM proposes a driving tour and interpretive sites for the public to learn the wonders of modern gas field drilling, Aengst said.
He quoted from the study.
"The following actions could minimize adverse project effects to [Jonah-area] recreation by providing a new tourism opportunity," the study says. The plan would be to "provide one or more quality interpretive sites with public access and/or publications with public distributions to provide the general public and interested parties educational information regarding [Jonah] developments and management actions for other area-specific natural resource values."
"This is like telling the citizens of Butte, Mont., that they should [not] worry about quality of life issues because there now will be interpretive tours of the Berkeley Pit or saying that Exxon should put an interpretive center on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound," Aengst wrote.
The additional wells are planned on 30,000 acres and will diminish antelope and grouse habitat. The Jonah infill project also is expected to affect air quality in the Bridger Wilderness in the southern Wind River Range.
