Lawsuit Filed Over Wyoming Migration Corridors

Conservation groups have wasted no time taking the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to court when the bureau leased 179 square miles in Wyoming to oil and gas developers.

Their argument before the court is that the agency violated the law governing deer and pronghorn migration routes.

The Wilderness Society said that they want to protect migration routes and the big game hunters that rely on them.

Numbers are indeed lower than desired, due to some harsh winters followed by drought. Full recovery has been long and hard.

Pronghorn herds are up to 66% below what is desired in some areas. Mule deer numbers can be up to 62% below desired numbers, according to the lawsuits.

Hanna May via Unsplash

The Petroleum Association of Wyoming argues that full reviews of situations like this are always assessed before any drilling begins. Therefore, the lawsuit is pointless.

At the same time, it can be argued that groups like The Wilderness Society never file lawsuits when it comes to constructing wind and solar farms, which take up massive swaths of land. In some cases, far more land than if drilling were to happen on it.

Wyoming enforces specific state policies and regulations for both wildlife migration corridors to protect big game and human immigration enforcement governing local jurisdictions and state identification. (State of Wyoming Legislation).

Wyoming takes great care to protect migration in Wyoming, including steps to ensure that wildlife has a hard time getting onto our interstate highways, but building tall fences with walk-through corridors over and under those highways.