BLM cuts energy leasing in Wyoming range

The Bureau of Land Management has decided that thousands of acres in the Wyoming Range will be off-limits to oil and gas drilling, state BLM Director Don Simpson said. Energy companies had purchased 23 leases on 24,000 acres of the land in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, but the BLM held off on issuing the leases when conservation groups protested. Simpson did not elaborate on the BLM's decision, which he announced Sunday. Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, conservationists and hunting outfitters attended the announcement. Dustin Child, an outfitter whose camp is in the Wyoming Range, said he was happy with the decision. "It's great," Child said. "It gives me great hope. We've probably won the battle." An additional 20,000 acres are also part of that challenge by conservationists, and the U.S. Forest Service is expected to address that land next month after completing an air quality analysis as part of an environmental study...AP