The State - News from Feb. 21, 1985

A Phillips Petroleum Co. request to seek geothermal deposits on more than 20,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service land in the southern Sierra is opposed by state Fish and Game Department officials, who believe that it would endanger a mule deer herd. “We’re upset by the whole thing,” said Bob Ehlers, Fish and Game environmental services supervisor in Fresno. The Forest Service is preparing an environmental assessment of the proposal, and public comment must be submitted by March 1, said Inyo National Forest spokesman Bob Schaaf. Only if the plan generates “significant controversy” will the Forest Service hold public meetings or prepare an environmental impact statement. Most of the lease area--in Tulare County, with some in Inyo County--is accessible only by four-wheel-drive vehicles. Developing it would “impact the herd severely,” Ehlers said, adding, “It has the holding areas, the fawning areas, even some wintering areas.”