Environmentalists are criticizing plans by an Oklahoma company to drill up to 17 natural gas wells from five well pads near the Adobe Town badlands in southwestern Wyoming.
Adobe Town is a remote maze of colorful small canyons and hoodoos resembling the better-known Badlands of South Dakota.
Erik Molvar with the groupWildearth Guardians says Adobe Town is among the "crown jewel landscapes" of all federal lands overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
The wells proposed by Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Samson Resources would be as close as 1,000 feet from the Adobe Town Wilderness Study Area. The Casper Star-Tribune reports the BLM protects wilderness study areas in case someday they're designated as recognized wilderness.
BLM officials say they've begun analyzing the development proposal. Attempts to reach Samson Resources for comment were unsuccessful.
_______________________________________
KGOU produces journalism in the public interest, essential to an informed electorate. Help support informative, in-depth journalism with a donation online, or contact our Membership department.
