Hunters and Anglers Commend Interior Secretary Salazar For Sorely Needed, Common-Sense Oil and Gas Reforms

Sportsmen coalition says restoring balance to energy development will help ensure that what happened in the Gulf doesn’t occur onshore and jeopardize irreplaceable wildlife habitats

May 17, 2010 (DENVER) – A coalition of hunters and anglers today praised Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for recommending common-sense reforms that will restore balance to the way America’s public lands are managed and no longer allow oil and gas companies to drill wherever and however they want.

The coalition – the Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development – represents more than 500 businesses, organizations and individuals dedicated to conserving important habitats so future generations can hunt and fish on public lands. Here are statements about today’s announcement from the three groups leading the coalition: Trout Unlimited, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and the National Wildlife Federation.

Trout Unlimited

"These changes represent a good first step toward restoring balance to the leasing and drilling practices on public lands where sportsmen and women are most affected by industrial development,” said Brad Powell, energy director for Trout Unlimited. “We're looking forward to working with the BLM and Secretary Salazar to identify where problems might still exist in order to best protect fish and game habitat, and hunting and fishing opportunity."

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

"Sportsmen long have maintained that energy development is a viable use of our federal public lands, as long as development projects are pursued in consideration of the needs of fish and wildlife and the interests of citizens, such as hunters and anglers," said TRCP Energy Policy Manager Steve Belinda. "The leasing reforms announced today by Secretary Salazar should help ensure that true, multiple-use land management is achieved and that comprehensive environmental review of potential project sites is undertaken before leasing and development occur. These changes in protocol should benefit industry, fish and wildlife and the American public in general."

National Wildlife Federation

“This is a sorely-needed course correction,” said Steve Torbit, the National Wildlife Federation’s executive director for the Rocky Mountain region. “Now when we develop energy on America’s public lands, the focus will be on doing it the right way and in the right places. “Secretary Salazar’s policies bring back a semblance of law and order to the oil and gas drilling process and will help ensure that what happened in the Gulf doesn’t happen onshore and jeopardize irreplaceable wildlife habitats,” Torbit said.