Mule Deer Foundation Thanks Department of the Interior, State of Wyoming for Action on Leases in SW Wyoming

Mule Deer Foundation Thanks Department of the Interior, the State of Wyoming for Action on Leases in SW Wyoming

Salt Lake City, Utah: The Mule Deer Foundation today thanked Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and Wyoming Governor Matt Mead for the federal/state cooperation that led to a decision to minimize the impacts of oil and gas development within a key mule deer migration corridor in southwest Wyoming. The Department of the Interior announced today that the Bureau of Land Management would defer leases on three parcels totaling nearly 5,000 surface acres where 90 percent of the parcel is located within the corridor for the Sublette mule deer herd. Remaining parcels that are less than 90 percent within the corridor will have additional lease stipulations to address potential impacts to habitat within the corridor. The decision was the first action taken under Secretarial Order 3362 in response to a state identified priority corridor.

“The Mule Deer Foundation commends Secretary Zinke and the State of Wyoming for working together to develop a reasonable balance between conservation of big game corridors and energy development,” said MDF President/CEO Miles Moretti. “Secretarial Order 3362 called for cooperation between states and the Department of the Interior and this is an excellent example of how the state and federal agencies can collaborate for big game conservation across the West. MDF and our local chapters look forward to working on habitat restoration projects within priority corridors, stopover areas and winter range identified by the 11 western states through the Secretarial Order.”