American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2017 - 107

ConventionCoverage: Petroleum Association of Wyoming
considered. "We are losing our young
people at an alarming rate, so we must
provide additional opportunities outside
resources, tourism and agriculture."
The governor outlined a plan that included a number of emphases, including:
* Improving the state's regulatory
climate;
* Working with the federal government to balance state and federal regulations;
* Encouraging innovation;
* Taking a leadership position among
states on wildlife and environmental issues;
* Facilitating worker safety initiatives
across industries;
* Providing Wyoming solutions to
challenges faced elsewhere, such as the
1,100 miles of shovel-ready pipeline corridor he has proposed; and
* Persevering in the face of misguided
federal sage grouse protection proposals.
"When I ran for governor, I had several
things I wanted to talk about. Sage grouse
was not number one on that list," Mead
quipped. "Managing the bird has been
an issue since before I took office.
Wyoming has a solid plan and we cannot
take for granted that the bird is not listed
under the ESA. The U.S. Department of
the Interior is making positive changes
to its management proposals, but-no
question-there is room for improvement."
Mead added that the time had arrived
for Congress to consider ESA revision.
As chairman of the Western Governors
Association, Mead noted he had pushed
ESA reform as one of the group's initiatives, despite knowing that many Americans feel the act "is as sacred as biblical
text."
However, the governor considered,
the ESA definitely has room for improvement. "With sound policy, we can stop
wasting time on species that clearly have
recovered and pay attention to those that
are only hanging on," Mead stated.

Bureau Perspective
At the state level, Bureau of Land
Management officials are working with
their federal counterparts to define and
execute the Trump administration's numerous policy revisions, said Mary Jo
Rugwell, Wyoming state director at BLM.
According to Rugwell, her office "stands
ready to work with the Trump administration."
Even so, she acknowledged a distinct

acres will be offered at auction," Rugwell
added.
She reported that, in August, there
were 1,926 approved APDs waiting to
be drilled in Wyoming. She added that
there also were 765 notices of staking
and APDs pending, half of which were
in the Casper office.
Rugwell indicated the bureau had completed a workforce review and, thanks to
legislation that reauthorized the BLM
pilot office program, Wyoming BLM administrators could move resources and
staff quickly between the Casper, Buffalo
and Newcastle field offices.
Mary Jo Rugwell, Wyoming state director
at BLM, discusses updates to the bureau's
Automated Fluid Minerals Support System.
According to BLM, notices, well completions and inspection platforms are among
the updates producers can expect in the
new edition.

shift away from policies issued under
President Obama. "Policies put in place
by the previous administration were further
from the center than many of us career
BLM'ers would like to have seen," Rugwell assessed. Since Trump took office,
she said, field staff had been "waiting
for clear direction on the policies that
are changing so we can begin implementing them."
The federal government holds the
lion's share of Wyoming's surface and
minerals, Rugwell noted. Therefore, efforts
to streamline federal mineral leasing tend
to be appreciated. As a former mineral
leasing staffer, Rugwell recalled the volumes of paper generated by a single application for a permit to drill. Therefore,
she suggested, systems that automate the
review process, improve accountability
and promote transparency are welcome.
One of those systems, the Automated
Fluid Minerals Support System, is being
updated, Rugwell noted. The revision
covers sundry notices, well completions
and inspection platforms and is due for
release this fall, a BLM report noted.
Regarding mineral leases, BLM and
the U.S. Forest Service are reviewing
parcels located in Wyoming's Thunder
Basin National Grassland that were nominated as expressions of interest for future
lease sales, she said. Once prioritized,
parcels in the grassland will be included
among those offered in the next four
Wyoming quarterly lease sales. "During
the next year, 540 parcels covering 600,000

Tribal Consultations
Another factor in the APD backlog at
the Casper field office relates to delays
from private landowners denying access
needed for tribal consultation, maintained
PAW Vice President of Public Lands
Esther Wagner. She mentioned an Aug.
7, 2017, letter PAW sent to Stephanie
Connolly, BLM manager for the High
Plains District.
In the letter, Wagner expressed concern
that the issue had delayed or deferred
APDs at the Casper office. The letter
noted that more than 150 applications
were deferred for as long as two years as
the bureau awaited tribal consultation
when landowners denied access to conduct
the consultation. When operators reconfigured development plans, BLM objected
and said doing so violated the tribes'
rights.
In other instances, "BLM required
miles of additional road on private land
to stay clear of the site even though the
landowners expressed preference for the
existing road," Wagner wrote.
When the sites are avoided, BLM still
requires tribal consultation, since the site
falls within the area of potential effects
(APE). Unfortunately, she indicated, the
bureau does not provide the operator with
information about the APE, including its
origin.
"BLM has made it clear that without
site access, the APD cannot move forward," Wagner observed.
PAW's letter asked BLM to provide
proof of authority or a guidance document
to clarify:
* The circumstances that trigger tribal
consultation and their rationales;
* The requirements operators must
meet to fulfill consultation requirements;
* Whether BLM has discretionary
authority to approve APDs even if
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American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2017

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