Don't Frack the Hoback
More than 350 people turned out recently in Jackson, Wyoming, for the "Don't Frack the Hoback" Wild & Scenic Film Festival.
The Sierra Club took the lead in organizing the event and recruiting other conservation partners to join in and raise awareness about a proposed natural gas field in the middle of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, just 35 miles from Grand Teton National Park.
The area targeted for drilling is the Upper Hoback Basin, below, part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—the largest intact temperate ecosystem in the northern hemisphere. But if Texas-based Plains Exploration and Production Company (PXP) has its way, the basin will be subjected to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The project would involve 136 wells, 17 well pads, pipelines, waste treatment plants, and 30 miles of industrial roads.
Photo by Dan Heilig, courtesy of the Wyoming Outdoor Council
The "Don't Frack the Hoback" Wild & Scenic Film Festival featured an array of adventure- and conservation-oriented films and a powerful lineup of community leaders who spoke out against PXP's proposal. That's Republican state legislator Keith Gingrey, below at left, talking with a local outfitter.
The event garnered media coverage in the Jackson Hole Weekly, Teton Valley News, The Mountain Pulse, and on Jackson Hole Radio.
"It was a very inspiring evening, a great way to get our message out there," says Sierra Club organizer Zack Waterman. "I'm confident that when they get the call, many of the attendees will join us at public hearings that will take place in the Jackson area later this spring."
