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Western Watersheds Project and Ruby Pipeline LLC Establish a Multi-million Dollar Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund to Restore Sage-steppe Habitat by Buying and Retiring Public Land Grazing Permits From Willing Sellers !
~ Jon Marvel
Friends,
Western
Watersheds Project is well known for its ability to litigate bad
management decisions by the Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and the Bureau of Land Management. With our partners at
Advocates for the West and many other conservation groups, WWP has a remarkable history of
legal success that has catalyzed long-needed changes in management that
will protect western watersheds and wildlife.
However, Western Watersheds Project is not a one dimensional group.
Over the last several months Western Watersheds Project entered into talks with Ruby Pipeline LLC (Ruby), a subsidiary of El Paso Corporation, that has expressed interest in investing in meaningful ecological mitigation measures for its planned 680 mile Ruby natural gas pipeline to be built from Opal, Wyoming to Malin, Oregon.
 After much thoughtful negotiation, Western Watersheds Project and Ruby Pipeline, LLC have struck a deal establishing the Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund with a mission of buying and retiring federal grazing permits that are voluntarily offered. The Fund will receive $15,000,000 from Ruby over ten years. In return WWP has agreed not to litigate or seek delay in the construction of the Ruby pipeline.
Western Watersheds Project is confident that the Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund will prove to be part of a major shift in the way western public lands are managed. Having the financial support of a major American corporation will help shift the discussion about public lands ranching and help accomplish WWP’s mission to protect and restore western watersheds and wildlife.
Here is a link to the joint Ruby/WWP/ONDA News Release:
Read WWP, ONDA, and Ruby's joint News Release
And read a recent article in the Elko Daily Free Press:
El Paso Cuts Deal With Western Watersheds
ADELLA HARDING Free Press Staff Writer | Posted: Friday, July 16, 2010
11:11 pm |
ELKO — El Paso Corp. has reached a precedent-setting, $20 million
arrangement for habitat protection with two environmental organizations
that protested the company’s planned Ruby Pipeline that will extend from
Wyoming to Oregon.
The company will set up conservation funds with the Western Watersheds
Project and the Oregon Natural Desert Association, and the organizations
in turn are dropping objections to the natural gas pipeline.
“It’s something we didn’t have to do. We chose to do it,” El Paso
spokesman Richard Wheatley said Friday. “The bottom line is we think
it’s a preferable approach than being involved in litigation.”
Establishment of the funds also is in line with the company’s outreach
efforts to be good stewards of the land, he said. “There is the
potential to do really good work,” Wheatley said.
“We agreed not to try to delay or litigate Ruby Pipeline,” confirmed
Western Watersheds Project Executive Director Jon Marvel. He said El
Paso will set up a $15 million conservation fund for Idaho-based Western
Watersheds and a $5 million fund with the Oregon organization.
Marvel said the concept is new. He said he expects the Western
Watersheds fund to eventually be used to buy grazing permits from
willing ranchers, but the organization first wants Congress to approve
allowing federal agencies to permanently retire grazing permits in such
cases. “It’s unprecedented to have the support of industry to work for
the retirement of public grazing permits,” Marvel said, emphasizing that
the fund would only buy permits from willing sellers.
In the announcement, El Paso Western Pipeline Group President Jim Cleary
said the “partnerships reflect El Paso Corp.’s industry-leading
commitment to environmental stewardship and to this end represent a
significant component of the unprecedented voluntary mitigation efforts
being applied to Ruby’s construction and operation.” El Paso currently awaits a final notice to proceed from the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission and completion of memorandums with state
historical preservation offices before the company can begin the $3
billion, 680-mile project.
Western Watersheds filed a request in April asking FERC for a rehearing
on its initial approval of the pipeline project and was outspoken over
concerns about the pipeline. The Oregon Natural Desert Foundation was among the organizations filing
for a rehearing.
“Protecting the area around the Hart Mountain and Sheldon Refuges is
critical to ensuring the survival of high desert species like
sage-grouse and pronghorn antelope,” said Brent Fenty, ONDA’s executive
director. “Establishing the Greater Hart-Sheldon Conservation Fund will
create restoration and conservation opportunities on critical habitat
spanning over 5 million acres.”
The Oregon fund will promote restoration activities, including spring
restoration, fence removal, weed control, land acquisition and grazing
permit retirement, according to an announcement issued Thursday.
Both agreements provide incentives for the parties to seek additional
funding sources beyond Ruby’s contribution. “We hope to encourage other
private and public funders to contribute to the Funds’ efforts to
permanently protect and restore large areas of high desert in the region
the Ruby Pipeline will pass through,” said Cleary.
Wheatley said the funds will be administered by three-member boards.
Each includes a representative of El Paso, a representative of the
conservation organization and a third party. “It remains to be seen how
this will all unfold,” he said.
Western Watersheds and the Oregon organization won’t receive any funds
directly from El Paso, but the Texas-based company will donate $20
million to the new conservation funds over a 10-year period.
Wheatley said the plan is to protect and restore large areas of the high
desert where the Ruby Pipeline will pass through, and help El Paso
carry out FERC’s restoration requirements.
Marvel said the agreement designates the counties through which Ruby
Pipeline will pass and any counties adjacent to them for the first five
years of conservation efforts, including Elko County, but the fund can
cover anywhere with sagebrush habitat after the five-year period.
“The money also can be used to purchase private property or conservation
easements, but our priority is grazing permits,” he said. “It’s time to
end public lands grazing.”
Western Watersheds maintains that an end to grazing on public lands
would be better for wildlife, water quality, recreation and the
environment.
Wheatley said that while the new funds are something different, El Paso
entered into three conservation agreements last year valued at a
combined $16 million show the company’s commitment to the environment.
Those agreements were for protection of sage grouse and pygmy rabbits,
migrating birds and endangered species and to meet Oregon regulatory
requirements.!
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Banner photo : Lake Creek, Idaho Department of Lands
North Fork Big Lost River Watershed
photo © Brian Ertz, WWP
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