FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oil and Gas Drilling Threatens Endangered Utah Cactus

Coalition Acts to Save Native Wildflower

A Bureau of Land Management proposal for more than 900 new oil and gas wells in Utah's Uinta Basin threatens the endangered Pariette cactus with extinction. Center for Native Ecosystems and the Utah Native Plant Society filed a formal "emergency listing petition" seeking immediate protection for this spectacular native wildflower.

A Bureau of Land Management proposal for more than 900 new oil wells in Utah's Uinta Basin threatens the endangered Pariette cactus with extinction, asserts a legal petition filed today. Center for Native Ecosystems and the Utah Native Plant Society filed a formal "emergency listing petition" seeking immediate protection for this spectacular native wildflower.

"In the face of intense oil and gas drilling, the Pariette cactus is just hanging on," noted Tony Frates of the Utah Native Plant Society. "It is critically important that we protect it under the Endangered Species Act."

The proposed oil and gas drilling would irreversibly damage the only known habitat for Pariette cactus - a single drainage in this part of eastern Utah - as well as the Pariette Wetlands Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

This native plant's precarious status is well known, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been considering adding Pariette cactus to the Endangered Species Act list for over a decade. The Bureau of Land Management refers to the Uinta Basin as "Utah's oil patch" for good reason. In 2004, 1,006 permits to drill were approved by the state in Uintah and Ducshesne Counties (the counties where Pariette cactus occurs), and these accounted for over 91% of the permits issued that year. The BLM estimates that over 6,500 more wells will be drilled in the Uinta Basin in the next 15 years.

"The Fish and Wildlife Service and the BLM know that Pariette cactus is at risk of extinction, but they keep permitting drilling in its habitat," said Erin Robertson, Staff Biologist for Center for Native Ecosystems. "Extinction is not sound stewardship. The Service must act immediately to protect this rare plant."

Pariette cactus has beautiful pink flowers and short spines which make it unique.

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