Interior Secretary Zinke & Governor Mead Work to Conserve Big Game Migration Corridor

WASHINGTON –  -(AmmoLand.com)-  U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and Wyoming Governor Matt Mead today announced the Department will prioritize the conservation of a mule deer migration corridor in southwest Wyoming through both deferred lease sales and lease stipulations.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will defer nearly 5,000 surface acres from potential oil and gas developments that intersect the designated Red Desert to Hoback big game migration corridor in southwest Wyoming. Additionally, a special lease notice will be attached to the remaining parcels.

”Some North American big game travel over a hundred miles on their migration routes every year, and more often than not, those routes traverse Federal, State, and private lands. This is why it’s important that the Federal government work with the State to adjust management and development plans where necessary if they overlap migratory corridors or winter range,” said Secretary Ryan Zinke. “By combining lease deferrals, and lease stipulations, we can achieve the right balance on Federal lands. Thanks to innovations in technology, many times resource development can be done with little to no surface occupancy. Balancing the conservation of habitat and the responsible development of resources ensures the best outcome for the people and wildlife that rely on our Federal lands. I’m thankful to Governor Mead for his commitment to my vision for protecting big game corridors and multiple use of Federal lands.”

“I thank Secretary Zinke for working with me and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to defer these parcels and to develop a special notice to companies leasing the remaining parcels that intersect the migration corridor,” Governor Matt Mead of Wyoming said. “This decision gives the public and those involved in the Rock Springs Resource Management