Existing gas fields

The Wyoming Range’s future? This is a portion of the Riley Ridge Natural Gas Project, approved for 238 wells in 1985. Much of this gas field, which has yet to be fully developed, lies above 9,000 feet in elevation on a string of ridges off the southeast slope of the Wyoming Range. Photo by Lloyd Dorsey.

The southeastern flanks of the Wyoming Range have been producing limited amounts of natural gas for years from gas fields such as Big Piney-LaBarge and Riley Ridge. But now with escalating energy prices, industry’s interest in this area really stepped up. The Riley Ridge project was approved for 238 wells in 1985, but only a handful were drilled. The Forest Service is resisting industry’s attempts to drill new wells, arguing that declining air quality due to drilling in the Upper Green will necessitate further environmental review.

We deal daily with the impacts of such development in the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline areas. We don't want to see the character of the Wyoming Range changed forever from similar impacts.     —Ben and Barb Franklin, Daniel residents

These existing gas fields are where future development should take place in the Wyoming Range. But some oil and gas activities in these areas suggest the Forest Service will not hold operators to high environmental standards. A new drilling project in Fish Creek, for example, has sparked a probe into possible Clean Water Act violations. While constructing a large well pad near the creek in 2006, ExxonMobil filled in riparian areas without seeking approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And local residents have documented messy conditions at producing wells in the North Cottonwood drainage. Dark oily liquids fill open tanks and leaks appear to be darkening the soil around unsecured equipment.