Barbecue draws large crowd

by Rhonda Swain

Close to 300 people showed up at Pinedale Entertainment Center Thursday afternoon in a display of support for the oil and gas industry in the area. Hosted by companies operating in the Jonah Field south of Pinedale, the resource providers barbecue preceded that evening's public scoping meeting.

According to emcee/EnCana consultant Steve Reynolds, the event was meant to "bring resource providers together for food, visiting and a good time." Reynolds said it was especially important with servicemen seeing military action in Iraq.

After everyone feasted on a delicious meal provided by Sue Eversull and Kathy Almquist, Gary Gardener, vice president of EnCana Oil and Gas USA, one of the area's newer oil and gas companies, spoke to the crowd about the Jonah Field, what he called a "world-class gas field" with 10 trillion cubic feet of gas on 29,200 acres.

EnCana came to Jonah through the acquisition of McMurry Oil Company, and is the product of two Canadian companies, AEC and Pan Canadian, that merged to become EnCana.

Gardener encouraged everyone to attend the scooping meeting set to follow the barbecue, saying, "Don't sit on the sidelines with your hands in your pockets and complain."

Betty Wilkinson of Rock Springs talked about how good it was to see a large crowd, remarking on a meeting in Lander attended by approximately 130 people, five of whom were in the oil and gas industry; the rest were mostly opposed to oil and gas production.

She, too, told people to be heard, "Defend your lifestyles, in mining, timbering, drilling and livestock," she said. "Don't let someone else come in and decide your future and the future of generations," she commented after talking about the industry doing a good job, with Wyoming having lands so pristine they want to turn them into wilderness areas.

"We intend to stay here," Wilkinson said. "We know we can do it right."