Nevada groups celebrate temporary oil, gas ban in Ruby Mountains
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The Biden-Harris administration is taking another step to protect northeast Nevada's Ruby Mountains - by putting them temporarily off-limits to oil, gas and geothermal development.
The U.S. Forest Service submitted the petition and application to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
If approved, it would initiate a two-year halt on new oil, gas and geothermal development on about 264,000 acres. Mining and commercial operations would continue.
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Russell Kuhlman, executive director of the Nevada Wildlife Federation, said this mandatory pause would help researchers determine why wildlife populations - like mule deer, bighorn sheep, and sage grouse - have been declining in the region.
"That is what, in my opinion, is textbook sound scientific wildlife management," said Kuhlman. "The first step you need to do is limit variables - and one of those variables, over the last five or 10 years, has been the threat of oil and gas companies wanting to do exploratory drilling."
When the petition is approved and published in the Federal Register, it will initiate the two-year moratorium in what's called Nevada's Swiss Alps.
A 90 day public comment period will then follow on a proposed longer withdrawal.
Federal agencies will consult with Tribes on an environmental analysis to decide if the moratorium should be extended up to 20 years.
Kuhlman said the state does a good job of not only hearing everyone's concerns, but building coalitions and rallying behind solutions to protect public lands for future generations.
But he said those who may not know much about the state's oil and gas history could hold misconceptions.
"When I talk to people not engaged in this space, they believe that just because oil and gas is banned somewhere that there is a motherlode of oil and gas ready to be tapped, and then someone is not allowing that to happen," said Kuhlman. "That is not the case for the Ruby Mountains. It's really trying to find water in sand."
Kuhlman added that putting a stop to oil and gas development in the Rubies can help determine how it's affecting the ecosystem, and whether it should be part of the "multiple use" doctrine for public lands.
