Energy Development

The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s natural...

The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s natural...

The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s natural...

USGS scientists and colleagues have designed a hierarchical monitoring framework for greater sage-grouse in Nevada, Wyoming, and northeastern California that will provide land managers with a monitoring and detection system to identify sage-grouse breeding locations (known as leks), clusters of leks, and populations where intervention may be necessary to sustain populations and to evaluate...

Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world and represents an important step toward reducing dependence on nonrenewable sources of power. However, widespread deployment of industrial wind turbines is having unprecedented adverse effects on certain species of bats that roost in trees and migrate. Bats are beneficial consumers of agricultural insect pests and migratory species...

The use of uranium is an alternative energy source to petroleum products and some of the United States’ highest quality ore is located on the Colorado Plateau. However, some regions where suitable mining efforts are conducted include areas that are near important environmental resources such as National Parks that provide viewscapes and habitat for wildlife.

As the Nation strives to lessen its dependence on foreign oil, domestic energy production has increased dramatically. This is especially true for renewable energy sources such as wind: from 2007 to 2009, for example, wind energy development increased 341 percent in Wyoming (Fig. 1, Science tab), and it continues on that trajectory today. However, the effects of renewable energy development on...

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) have partnered to create the Surface Disturbance Analysis and Reclamation Tracking Tool (SDARTT). SDARTT is to be the national repository for and analysis tool of disturbance data pertaining to public land operations for the BLM. Users will upload disturbance and reclamation data to SDARTT to map, analyze, and...

USGS and university researchers analyzed changes in male sage-grouse lek counts in Wyoming from 1984 through 2008, measuring disturbance owing to oil and gas development.

USGS has developed Greater Sage-grouse habitat-selection models for the nesting, summer, late brood rearing, and winter life stages in Wyoming to assess habitat quality and responses change across large landscapes.

USGS scientists investigated the impact of oil and gas development on distribution of pygmy rabbit in Wyoming.