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Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed an emergency order blocking conservation groups from participating in state oil and gas auctions. The order came at the request of oil and gas companies that were upset after the Wyoming Outdoor Council (WOC) tried to buy a lease on a parcel in the "path of the pronghorn" migration corridor last year.
Under Wyoming's rules, WOC was a qualified bidder when it bid on tract 194 in an attempt to protect the pronghorn migration route. WOC bid $18 an acre for the parcel, but was outbid by oil developer Kirkwood Cos., which won the auction at $19 an acre.
When Kirkwood learned it was bidding against a conservation group rather than other oil companies, it complained to the legislature, which passed a bill making it harder for conservation groups to bid on state land without the intention of drilling on it. The Board of Land Commissioners put a new definition of a "qualified bidder" out for public comment, designed to prevent Wyoming Outdoor Council from using the free market to protect wildlife.
But with the new definition still incomplete, Governor Mark Gordon stepped in to make sure WOC couldn't enter this week's state oil and gas auction, and signed the emergency order blocking conservation groups from bidding against oil and gas companies.
Wyoming Outdoor Council is asking Kirkwood to give up its claim to tract 194 until the state game and fish department finishes its maps on pronghorn migration.
“Our involvement in the oil and gas lease sale was an effort to prevent development of one parcel (out of 197 parcels) that was located in critical wildlife habitat, while also respecting the revenue generating model of our state trust lands,” said WOC program director Alec Underwood. “It was not to ‘play shenanigans’ or start a ‘bidding war’ or ‘drive up prices.’”
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It’s said we got lucky on this one. But that’s not actually true. It’s actually quite calculated. This fuel break was here for a reason.”
