Ray Ring

Senior Editor

Anyone who has ever driven the two-lane between Jackson and Pinedale, Wyoming, knows the stunning vistas around the tiny settlement called Bondurant. A high valley sweeps upward to unbelievable peaks.

There are no more beautiful places on the planet, only some places that are equally beautiful in different ways.

And now, kind of predictably, natural-gas drillers want to do their thing around Bondurant. In my opinion, some places are fit for drilling, and some are not, and this one is entirely not.

So take a look: To spread an alarm, The Wilderness Society has hired SkyTruth (a wing of the enviro air force) to create visual displays of what the drilling might do to this irreplaceable, priceless landscape.

Begin with a few photos of the Bondurant area, in galleries here and here.

The Jackson Hole News & Guide has a succinct story about the drilling proposal, and the SkyTruth images, here.

Sky Truth displays the images on its home page. I recommend the large view of the map of the potential drilling, so you can see details, and the medium-range view of the map, for context, and an aerial topographical view.

The Wilderness Society has photos and its report on the drilling proposal, here.

For previous posts on SkyTruth’s cool projects, click here and here.

Keep in mind, no artwork can adequately communicate the real place, it can only hint.