Powder River Releases Video Series on Oil & Gas Development Impacts
February 18, 2019 (Sheridan, WY) The Powder River Basin Resource Council has released a new series of videos featuring Wyoming residents whose lives have been upended by nearby oil and gas development. From living with the legacy of contaminated groundwater in Pavillion to addressing booming oil and gas development in Laramie and Converse Counties, the […]
Let’s bury “crimes against critical infrastructure” once for all
(Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle on January 17, 2019.) Last year we witnessed one of the strangest legislative battles Wyoming has ever seen, the fight over SF-74, “crimes against critical infrastructure.” Last year’s bill not only sparked the ire of Native Americans and nonprofit groups around Wyoming who believed it would chill free speech, but […]
Powder River’s 2018 Annual Report
November 4, 2018 This is Powder River Basin Resource Council’s 2018 Annual Report. To read the full report, please download the PDF.
Powder River Breaks September – October 2018
September – October 2018, Volume 46, Number 5 Award-winning conservation photographer and author Michael Forsberg will highlight Powder River’s 46th Annual Meeting, Our Water, Our Land, Our Legacy, on Saturday, Nov. 3rd at the Sheridan Holiday Inn. Forsberg will present his work on Great Plains conservation. Additionally a selection of his photographs will be on […]
Scientists to present on Pavillion area oil & gas contamination
October 8, 2018 Three independent scientists who have investigated the oil and gas contamination in the Pavillion area will present their analysis on Thursday, October 18 from 6:00 to 8:30 pm at the Central Wyoming College, Intertribal Center, Room 125, in Riverton. The scientists presenting at the forum are: Mike Wireman, a hydro-geologist and former […]
Updated Tax Report Shows Mineral Tax Delinquency Growing
(Sheridan, WY) An updated report shows that mineral extraction companies owe Wyoming counties nearly $55 million in unpaid taxes throughout the state, up nearly $13 million since January. Today Powder River Basin Resource Council (Powder River) released a revised report “Ad Valorem Taxes in Wyoming: Proposed Improvements” providing updated data and suggests legislative actions to […]
Ad Valorem Taxes in Wyoming: Proposed Improvements
Our original report in January 2018 (Delinquent Mineral Taxes and Budget Deficits: A Case for Reform) detailed Wyoming’s heavy dependence on mineral taxes to fund state and local government services. We discussed the fact that Wyoming gets more than 70% of our total revenue from taxes on mineral extraction and the impacts to county services […]
Powder River Breaks July – August 2018
July – August 2018, Volume 46, Number 4 In July, Powder River released a new report that found only about 2.4% of approximately 206 square miles of land disturbed by 14 Wyoming coal mines has been fully reclaimed. “Reclaim Wyoming: Prioritize Reclamation” tracked reclamation statistics from these coal mines and investigated why the rate of […]
Government Watchdog Highlights Increasing Taxpayer Cost to Cleanup Orphaned Wells
June 5, 2018 Today, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report that finds the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is not accurately accounting for orphaned onshore oil and gas wells, or the risk that taxpayers will have to shoulder the cleanup risks. The report, Bureau of Land Management Needs to Improve Its Data […]
EOG withdraws permit for injection well in Laramie County
February 27, 2018 Powder River Basin Resource Council (Resource Council) and its affiliate, Cheyenne Area Landowners Coalition (CALC), welcomed the announcement Thursday that EOG Resources has withdrawn its application for a wastewater injection well in Laramie County. The Pole Creek 148-25H well would have injected roughly 25,000 barrels of toxic wastewater per day into the […]
