Miracles are performed in the
gas-drilling fields of Wyoming every day by roustabout and frac
crews, drillers, hot-shot crews, water-truck drivers, office
managers and others at all levels. No one in Sublette County
— no rancher, waitress, sheriff’s deputy, newspaper
editor, Bureau of Land Management employee — works harder,
and we ought to respect that.
It’s common for
someone working in the Jonah or Pinedale Anticline fields, which
hold more gas than the entire Powder River Basin, to put in 16-hour
days for eight weeks straight. And it’s common for hands to
work 24, 36, 48 hours straight when problems arise. Sure, gas field
workers make a lot of money. But they pay for it in pressure to
perform, physical discomfort, danger, incredibly long days and time
away from home and family.
We need to know about Sublette
County’s proud oil and gas tradition and history. Just
because the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline fields are relatively new,
that doesn’t mean oil and gas is new to Sublette County or
even Pinedale. The first well on the mesa was drilled in the early
1960s, and there has been an active oil and gas industry here since
the 1920s. Many Pinedale and Big Piney natives have worked in the
fields for years, and the industry has always been a huge
contributor to our economy. The idea that oil and gas began in
Pinedale with the discovery of the Jonah Field 10 years ago is
nonsense.
Let’s realistically acknowledge some of
the impacts of gas drilling. Certainly, Pinedale is changing, but
not drastically. I still get caught up visiting with people at the
post office. By 8 p.m. on winter nights, Pine Street is still empty
of traffic, and by 10 p.m. on weeknights, three of four bars are
usually closed. We still have a beautiful library, great schools
and an amazing array of community events. I’ve heard
complaints about the new people changing the quality of hunting,
fishing and the outdoors, but I haven’t seen it. It
doesn’t take long to escape people and civilization by
hitting the hills: There is plenty of wilderness to go around.
We had problems with drugs, domestic violence, traffic
and affordable housing long before the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline
fields started booming. The idea that Pinedale was a perfect little
town before the current boom is inaccurate. Yes, the boom is
affecting Pinedale, but not in the doom-and-gloom way some people
describe it.
Let’s try to keep an open mind.
Sometimes, industry does put the environment and safety first.
Sometimes, industry does take action that costs the company money
but is good for the wildlife, the company’s employees and our
community. Just as we hope parachuting-in industry representatives
won’t stereotype us as bumpkins, let’s not stereotype
them. Terms like “oilfield trash” and “gashole” don’t help
anything. There are good and bad people working in the gas
industry, just as there are good and bad long-time residents of
Pinedale.
Let’s also not see oil and gas companies
as moneybags. It’s not respectful of them and doesn’t
speak well of us.
It’s up to us to be
forward-thinking about what local government needs. It’s hard
for industry to respond to concerns about affordable housing when
the Pinedale Town Council and Sublette County Commissioners
don’t approve small-lot subdivisions close to Pinedale.
It’s hard for industry to address concerns about traffic when
the Pinedale Town Council and Sublette County Commissioners
aren’t dogged enough to get a new access road built where we
need it.
We can be gracious, welcoming newcomers with a
handshake and a smile. It can be difficult for new people to move
here, and we can be a closed, judgmental town. This is wrong, and
it is not the Western way.
I know this is hard, but
let’s appreciate this latest boom. Yes, it’s going to
end as all booms do; yet while there are plenty of problems
associated with booms, they are nothing compared to the pain
that’s coming with the eventual bust. Meanwhile, our economy
is booming, the real estate market is on fire, jobs are plentiful
and schools and government are flush with money.
We have
an incredible opportunity because of the gas boom. Let’s not
squander it with sniping. I sometimes miss the slower pace of town
we enjoyed 10 years ago, but I don’t miss the lean times that
went along with it. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Rob Shaul is a contributor to Writers on the
Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org).
He is the publisher of the Pinedale Roundup in
Wyoming, a small town at the epicenter of Wyoming’s gas
boom.
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