Limiting energy company access to sensitive wildlife areas and fine-tuning requirements for after-drilling cleanup led discussion Wednesday as the Colorado Wildlife Commission hammered out a resolution to send to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

The final resolution will be adopted today at the wildlife commission meeting beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn, 755 Horizon Drive.

House Bill 1298 requires the oil and gas commission to balance energy development with wildlife conservation and to consult with the wildlife commission on ways to minimize the affect of development on wildlife.

The oil and gas commission already has a set of draft regulations on the table, and the wildlife commission Wednesday tackled what it saw as shortcomings in the oil and gas commission draft.

Chief among those concerns are timing restrictions, surface-occupancy limitations and reclamation.

The wildlife commission wants reclamation, particularly the reseeding of disturbed land including well pads and pipelines, done quickly, using a proper seed mix of wildlife-favorable forbs, shrubs and grasses.

“Reclamation and restoration are critically important,” said wildlife commission member Dennis Buechler, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist. “Reclamation has to be done as soon as possible, and industry’s record on reclamation is not good.”

The stand of the oil and gas commission draft on reclamation has “a lot of stuff missing,” said Tom Burke, wildlife commission chairman.

Several commissioners advised looking at the state’s coal mine reclamation regulations, which have done “great things for wildlife” in northwest Colorado, Commissioner Roy McAnally of Craig said.

“Under the current regulations, (the energy industry) is not required to do things for wildlife,” said Mike King, assistant director of the state Department of Natural Resources.

The timing stipulations, which would limit when and how long an energy company can operate in sensitive areas, centered on impacts to greater sage grouse and mule deer.

Affects on mule deer include displacement and habitat fragmentation and loss. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the status of greater sage grouse to determine whether the bird is eligible for Endangered Species Act protection.

“Sage grouse already are a significant issue with or without energy development,” said Rick Kahn, acting Division of Wildlife state terrestrial section manager.

Timing restrictions are “one area the energy companies pushed back real hard,” DOW Director Tom Remington said. “These directly affect their profitability. Bureau of Land Management (timing stipulations) are routinely waived. We want to find a way to keep some. They are our leverage to get industry to come to the table to discuss other impacts.”

Some of the DOW recommendations, including timing and areas of limited or no surface occupancy, are less restrictive than the BLM seeks, something Remington said was part of the compromises between the DOW and energy companies.

But that didn’t sit well with some commissioners.

“To have less time than the federal government would be unacceptable and not do ourselves or wildlife a favor,” Commissioner Tim Glenn of Salida said.

The commission also is concerned about “sacrificing one species over another” when differences in timing restrictions occur.

“Currently there’s nothing in statute” about timing restrictions, King said. “The regulation only calls for balance.”

HB 1298 requires the oil and gas commission have its regulations in place by July 16.

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E-mail Dave Buchanan at dbuchanan@gjds.com.