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Powder River Basin Restoration A Cooperative Approach to Restoring

Sage-grouse Habitat within the

Powder River Basin

April 2013

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Powder River Basin

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Powder River Basin Restoration

Objectives include but are not limited to:

• Coordinate partnership efforts to restore large landscape

or watershed areas

• Leverage funding to enhance sage-grouse habitat

restoration implemented by landowners, industry, and

agency partners.

• Facilitate sharing of data – what’s working, what’s not

working and best adaptive management practices with

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Goal: Restoration of greater sage-grouse habitats through the coordinated efforts of interested and participating individuals and entities.

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Powder River Basin Restoration

Management Challenges and Demands on the Landscape

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Coalbed Natural Gas • United States Geological Survey estimated

over 14 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas resource in PRB. Largest coalbed natural gas (CBNG) play in Wyoming.

• About 21,000 CBNG wells drilled between 2002-2010. The Buffalo Field Office (BFO) permitted an average of 2200 wells annually.

• In 2011, 819 wells were drilled and BFO permitted 2100 APDs.

• In 2012, 126 wells were drilled and BFO processed 654 APDs.

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Other Landscape Energy Demands

• Shale Oil – conventional drilling /fracking

• Coal – mines located in Campbell County

• Uranium – nuclear energy – Pumpkin Buttes

• Bentonite – south of Kaycee

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• Largest coal-producing region in the world

• Largest coal surface mine operations in the world

• Produces approximately 40% of all coal mined in U.S.

• Powder River Basin Coal Revenue:

• All revenue split with the State of Wyoming (51% U.S. Treasury; 49% State)

Powder River Basin Coal

Year Bonus Bid Revenue

Royalty Revenue Total Revenue

2011 $1,001,101,203.82 $625,840,577.29 $1,626,941,780.75

2012 (Jan-June) $1,239,302,174.80 $284,005,407.34 $1,523,307,584.14

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THEIR HABITAT IN THE WEST

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• Western Governor's Task Force • Wyoming Governor's Sage-Grouse

Implementation Team • NE Wyoming Sage-grouse Working Group • NRCS Sage-grouse Initiative (SGI) Program • BLM and Forest Service effort to revise

current management plans • Powder River Basin Restoration and CDs • Others

Current Sage-grouse Efforts

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Current Status of Greater

sage-grouse and How did we

get here?

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Potential Impacts of Listing vs. Not Listing

Not Listed Federal policy: ensure actions

do not contribute to the need to list a species.

Conservation Measures are discretionary and may be tailored to local area considerations.

Authorized actions may take a little longer, but not as long as consultation would

No restrictions on private land Conservation is the right thing

to do.

Listed

ESA: Consult on any discretionary actions that are authorized, funded or carried out, ensure species is not jeopardized and critical habitat is not modified.

Conservation Measures are mandatory to minimize “take”

Actions could take 30 -135 days to complete consultation

Private land actions may require preparation of HCP.

Management of GSG will shift from WGFD to USFWS

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Sage-grouse Habitat in the Powder River Basin

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Habitat Needs

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Habitat Needs • Sage-grouse need sagebrush • Not all sagebrush has sage-grouse • Sage-grouse have an ‘fidelity’ to an

area • Once hatched, chicks feed

primarily on insects for 2-3 weeks • Sage-grouse diet is about 95%

sagebrush from Nov - March

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Threats to Greater Sage-grouse Habitats

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Landowner Considerations • Envision removal of energy infrastructure including

power lines, roads, and impoundments; also weed management, livestock and wildlife water well conversion from electric to solar power

• Work with PRE Corp and landowners to promote removal of energy-development related power lines. PRE Corp offers cost-share incentives for conversion of electric to solar

• Grazing management – ‘water management’, mark fences for visibility, forage height for cover April– June, improving tame pastures/CRP fields

• Treatment of noxious and invasive plants (cheatgrass)

• Planting of grasses/forbs/sagebrush in disturbed areas

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Landowner Considerations cont… • Removal of storage/staging materials or get it off the

ground, cap ends of pipe

• Distribution and installation of bird ramps to allow wildlife to escape stock tanks

• Restoration of wildfires

Assistance is available through the following:

NRCS – Natural Resource Conservation Service

CDs – local Conservation District

BLM – Bureau of Land Management

PRBR – Powder River Basin Restoration

USFS – US Forest Service

WGFD – Wyoming Game & Fish Department

NEWSGWG – NE Wyoming Sage-grouse Working Group

*WO&GCC – Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission

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?

Cheryl Mandich

Questions

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Janelle Gonzales (307) 684-1148 [email protected]