powder river basin restoration a cooperative approach to...
TRANSCRIPT
Powder River Basin Restoration A Cooperative Approach to Restoring
Sage-grouse Habitat within the
Powder River Basin
April 2013
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Powder River Basin
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Powder River Basin Restoration
Objectives include but are not limited to:
• Coordinate partnership efforts to restore large landscape
or watershed areas
• Leverage funding to enhance sage-grouse habitat
restoration implemented by landowners, industry, and
agency partners.
• Facilitate sharing of data – what’s working, what’s not
working and best adaptive management practices with
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Goal: Restoration of greater sage-grouse habitats through the coordinated efforts of interested and participating individuals and entities.
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Powder River Basin Restoration
Management Challenges and Demands on the Landscape
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Coalbed Natural Gas • United States Geological Survey estimated
over 14 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas resource in PRB. Largest coalbed natural gas (CBNG) play in Wyoming.
• About 21,000 CBNG wells drilled between 2002-2010. The Buffalo Field Office (BFO) permitted an average of 2200 wells annually.
• In 2011, 819 wells were drilled and BFO permitted 2100 APDs.
• In 2012, 126 wells were drilled and BFO processed 654 APDs.
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Other Landscape Energy Demands
• Shale Oil – conventional drilling /fracking
• Coal – mines located in Campbell County
• Uranium – nuclear energy – Pumpkin Buttes
• Bentonite – south of Kaycee
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• Largest coal-producing region in the world
• Largest coal surface mine operations in the world
• Produces approximately 40% of all coal mined in U.S.
• Powder River Basin Coal Revenue:
• All revenue split with the State of Wyoming (51% U.S. Treasury; 49% State)
Powder River Basin Coal
Year Bonus Bid Revenue
Royalty Revenue Total Revenue
2011 $1,001,101,203.82 $625,840,577.29 $1,626,941,780.75
2012 (Jan-June) $1,239,302,174.80 $284,005,407.34 $1,523,307,584.14
BLM
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THEIR HABITAT IN THE WEST
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• Western Governor's Task Force • Wyoming Governor's Sage-Grouse
Implementation Team • NE Wyoming Sage-grouse Working Group • NRCS Sage-grouse Initiative (SGI) Program • BLM and Forest Service effort to revise
current management plans • Powder River Basin Restoration and CDs • Others
Current Sage-grouse Efforts
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Current Status of Greater
sage-grouse and How did we
get here?
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Potential Impacts of Listing vs. Not Listing
Not Listed Federal policy: ensure actions
do not contribute to the need to list a species.
Conservation Measures are discretionary and may be tailored to local area considerations.
Authorized actions may take a little longer, but not as long as consultation would
No restrictions on private land Conservation is the right thing
to do.
Listed
ESA: Consult on any discretionary actions that are authorized, funded or carried out, ensure species is not jeopardized and critical habitat is not modified.
Conservation Measures are mandatory to minimize “take”
Actions could take 30 -135 days to complete consultation
Private land actions may require preparation of HCP.
Management of GSG will shift from WGFD to USFWS
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Sage-grouse Habitat in the Powder River Basin
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Habitat Needs
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Habitat Needs • Sage-grouse need sagebrush • Not all sagebrush has sage-grouse • Sage-grouse have an ‘fidelity’ to an
area • Once hatched, chicks feed
primarily on insects for 2-3 weeks • Sage-grouse diet is about 95%
sagebrush from Nov - March
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Threats to Greater Sage-grouse Habitats
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Landowner Considerations • Envision removal of energy infrastructure including
power lines, roads, and impoundments; also weed management, livestock and wildlife water well conversion from electric to solar power
• Work with PRE Corp and landowners to promote removal of energy-development related power lines. PRE Corp offers cost-share incentives for conversion of electric to solar
• Grazing management – ‘water management’, mark fences for visibility, forage height for cover April– June, improving tame pastures/CRP fields
• Treatment of noxious and invasive plants (cheatgrass)
• Planting of grasses/forbs/sagebrush in disturbed areas
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Landowner Considerations cont… • Removal of storage/staging materials or get it off the
ground, cap ends of pipe
• Distribution and installation of bird ramps to allow wildlife to escape stock tanks
• Restoration of wildfires
Assistance is available through the following:
NRCS – Natural Resource Conservation Service
CDs – local Conservation District
BLM – Bureau of Land Management
PRBR – Powder River Basin Restoration
USFS – US Forest Service
WGFD – Wyoming Game & Fish Department
NEWSGWG – NE Wyoming Sage-grouse Working Group
*WO&GCC – Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
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