Effects of Energy Development on Ungulates

Increased energy consumption and overreliance of the United States on foreign energy has led to an increase in the development of domestic resources. This national policy manifested in western North America especially through the late 1990s and 2000s. For example, between 2002 and 2006 in Montana, oil production increased by 213 percent, the number of oil wells by 17 percent, and the number of natural gas wells by 34 percent (Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation 2006). Increases are similar to the nearly 60 percent increase in the number of permit applications throughout the West in the last decade (American Gas Association 2005). Although this relative growth is impressive, comparison with the heavily developed oil and gas fields of Alberta reveals that Montana production is less than 10 percent of currently active oil and gas wells in Alberta. Thus, from an energy development perspective, energy impacts on wildlife in the conterminous United States are just getting started.