The Issue: The Bridger-Teton National Forest will host public meetings on the oil and gas leasing proposal in the Hoback Basin of the Wyoming Range located in Sublette County, Wyoming. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for 136 wells on 17 well pads proposed by Plains Exploration and Production Company (PXP) became available to the public in December 2010. The plan is titled: Eagle Prospect and Noble Basin MDP DEIS.

Three public meetings will be held net week to ask questions and discuss the proposal:

January 18, 2011 7-9 pm Jackson at Snow King Resort

January 19, 2011 7-9 pm Bondurant at the Bondurant School Auditorium

January 20, 2011 7-9 pm Pinedale at Sublette County Library

The meetings will consist of an open house forum here information on the DEIS will be available. Representatives from the Forest Service and from PXP will be present to answer questions.

Background: The Bridger-Teton National Forest, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the State of Wyoming, have prepared a DEIS that analyzes the potential impacts of an exploration and production plan submitted for federal oil and gas leases in the Eagle-Prospect and Noble Basin areas. The Forest Service has identified Alternative C as the preferred alternative.

What Can You Do? A 90-day comment period has opened to gather public comments which runs through March 10, 2011. Electronic comments must be submitted in a format such as an email message, plain text (txt.), rich text format (.rtf), or Word (.doc) to: comments-intermtn-bridger-teton-big-piney@fs.fed.us with the subject line "Eagle Prospect and Noble Basin MDP DEIS".

A copy of the Draft EIS is available on the Bridger-Teton website at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/btnf/projects/.