Library
Browse our resource library for studies, reports, letters, and other documents concerning the Wyoming Range. All documents are in PDF format and require free Adobe Reader for viewing. Click the Adobe icon for the latest free downloadable version. 
Factsheets
New Drilling Project Threatens Wyoming Range: Need your Comments Today
Plains Exploration and Production Company (“Plains”), a Houston-based company with no experience drilling on national forest land, is seeking permission to drill 136 wells from 17 well pads and construct or upgrade 29 miles of roads in the Hoback Basin located in the northern reaches of the Wyoming Range. Drilling would displace roadless values as well as traditional multiple uses that are now a key driver of western Wyoming’s recreation-based economy. You have until February 7th to comment on this proposal.
Proposed Drilling in the Upper Hoback: What's at stake for Wyoming's namesake mountains
The Hoback River pours out of the Wyoming Range near Bondurant, into a valley treasured for its beauty and outdoor recreation. For generations, people have come to hunt, fish, boat, hike and ride horses. Now the energy industry is coming in search of natural gas. A drilling proposal under consideration by the Bridger-Teton National Forest could pave the way to industrial development in the northern Wyoming Range, degrading the character of these scenic public lands forever. (128K)
Citizens Protecting the Wyoming Range
On the western edge of Wyoming lies a stunning mountain range that is often overlooked by tourists, but remains a prime destination for the locals. Here, ridgelines give way to limestone cliffs towering over shimmering aspen groves and rivers run clear and cold, teeming with native cutthroat trout. And yet, the Bridger-Teton National Forest is willing to trade some of the range's exceptional natural and recreational values by opening it to new oil and gas drilling. Local landowners, sportsmen, outfitters and business owners banded together to form Citizens Protecting the Wyoming Range, which seeks to block new leasing and drilling here. We support responsible energy development, which means keeping drill rigs out of special landscapes. (100K)
Too Wild to Drill
The Wyoming Range is among 17 special landscapes under threat of oil and gas development highlighted in a report by The Wilderness Society. According to a TWS analysis, Bush-era development plans call for drilling 50,000 new wells on Wyoming public lands in the coming decade, which could result in a tripling in the number of wells. (185K)
Bridger-Teton energy Leasing: Wrong place, wrong time
The Bridger-Teton National Forest’s Wyoming Range is one of Wyoming’s unsung natural gems. While tourist crowds descend on nearby National Parks and Wilderness areas, these mountains provide places for locals to explore, hunt and fish. The Wyoming Range also may become a place to prospect for fossil fuels. In April 2005, the Forest Service announced its intent to lease 44,600 acres, thereby laying the groundwork for extending the West’s natural gas boom into this cherished range. (40K)
The Wyoming Range and Energy Development
The Bridger-Teton National Forest has made a recent string of decisions to expand energy development without seeking any public input. This factsheet looks at new leasing, a unit agreement, proposed wildcat drilling and forest planning. (85K)
Protect the Wyoming Range: Write your Representatives
Elected officials carry great influence in land-use decisions involving Wyoming’s public lands. Personal calls and personalized letters are an effective means to motivate your elected representatives to step up to protect the Wyoming Range. Here is a list of local representatives and their phone numbers and email addresses. (40K)
Letters and Comments
Eagle Prospect Comments II: Conservation Groups
Eagle Prospect Comments II: Governor Dave Freudenthal
Letter: Plains asks the Forest Service to expand Eagle Prospect review
In this letter to the Forest Service, Plains Exploration and Production Co. seeks to greatly expand the ongoing environmental review of a exploratory drilling proposal in the upper Hoback to include production on its numerous leases. The letter reveals what the conservation community has suspected: That the so-called Eagle Prospect is not really about wildcat drilling, but about intensive energy development in the pristine northern reaches of the Wyoming Range. This letter further highlights the need for Congress to move forward with legislation, prepared by the late Sen. Thomas, that would withdraw portions of the range from future leasing. (700K)
Wyoming Game and Fish Commission: Shield the Wyoming Range from energy devvelopment
Wyoming wildlife officials have added their voice to the chorus of citizens and officials calling on federal land managers to suspend drilling plans in the upper Hoback and endorsed federal legislation to withdraw the Wyoming Range from future energy leasing. In a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wyoming Game and Fish Commission president Bill Williams asked that leases sold since December 2005 be rescinded and existing leases be voluntarily retired. "We fully support responsible oil and gas development in Wyoming, but we also believe there are certainly places in Wyoming where this kind of development does not mesh well with other interests and resources," wrote Williams, a Thermopolis veterinarian. "With three subspecies of native cutthroat trout, outstanding moose, mule deer and elk herds, and virtually limitless recreational opportunities for our nation's hard-working people, the Wyoming Range is such a place."
Eagle Prospect comments: Gov. Dave Freudenthal
Fearing a "Jonah in the trees," the governor voices concern that "wildcat" drilling in the upper Hoback could be "the first domino that fell toward the industrialization of over 150,000 acres of oil and gas leases within the Wyoming Range."
Eagle Prospect comments: Wyoming DEQ
Eagle Prospect comments: Conservation groups
Eagle Prospect comments: Kirby Hedrick on potential large-scale development
Eagle Prospect comments: Hydrologist Brian Gerstle
Eagle Prospect comments: Biologist Brian Churchill
Eagle Prospect comments: Trout Unlimited
Eagle Prospect comments: Kirby Hedrick on heliportable drilling
Eagle Prospect comments: Stop Drilling--Save Bridger-Teton
Eagle Prospect comments: Tourism industry
Wyoming Division of Travel and Tourism opposes Hoback drilling
Letter from the Jackson Hole Chamber
The Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce went on record opposing oil and gas development in Bridger-Teton National Forest, which includes the Wyoming Range. The chamber, which represents 916 local and regional organizations, sent this letter to forest Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton stating that energy development would hurt recreational use of public land, a key part of the regional economy. (100K in pdf.)
Energy leasing in Bridger-Teton remains a concern to businesses and groups
In an April 2005 letter, a consortium of Wyoming conservation groups and businesses thanks National Forest officials for suspending leasing in the Wyoming Range. These citizens, however, remain concerned that leasing plans will resume without public involvement or environmental review. (35 KB)
Merna residents oppose Bridger-Teton leasing
2006-06-08 Letter to public officials: The Wyoming Range is a special place for all of us. Whether one enjoys horseback riding, fishing, camping or skiing, we cannot let drilling ruin the solitude of these activities. (582K)
Governor press release: Concern grows over Wyoming Range leasing
Concern over continued oil and gas leasing in the Bridger-Teton National Forest's Wyoming Range is growing, Gov. Dave Freudenthal told the BLM in lodging his own objections to the upcoming June 6 lease sale. (16K)
Resources Outside Our Website
Bridger-Teton National Forest
Located in Western Wyoming, the Bridger-Teton offers more than 3.4 million acres of public land for your outdoor recreation enjoyment. With its pristine watersheds, abundant wildlife and immense wildlands, the Bridger-Teton National Forest comprises a large part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem - the largest intact ecosystem in the lower 48 United States.