• There are three general stages of a well's life on US public land: 1) the permitting process to drill, 2) active extraction of fossil fuel resource, and 3) plugging and abandonment of well.
• There is no national standard for oil and gas reclamation in the United States similar to mining and therefore current reclamation practices and standards fail to achieve long-term effectiveness across the western United States.
• A reclaimed well pad's land potential is determined by 3 properties: static (e.g., climate), dynamic (e.g., soil stability), and process (e.g., water retention).
• Understanding a reclaimed well pad's land potential enables federal land agencies to outline surface reclamation goals and requirements consistently and clearly.
• Monitoring for land potential increases the capacity of the private industry to practice adaptive management by enabling companies to respond to plant community changes while maintaining long-term progress toward recovery.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 2021 |
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Title | Oil and gas reclamation on US public lands: How it works and improving the process with land potential concepts |
DOI | 10.1016/j.rala.2021.10.004 |
Authors | Sean Di Stéfano, Jason W. Karl, Michael C. Duniway, Robert Heinse, April Hulet, J.D. Wulfhorst |
Publication Type | Article |
Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Series Title | Rangelands |
Index ID | 70227105 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
USGS Organization | Southwest Biological Science Center |