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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - Environmental groups are blaming loss of wildlife habitat and fewer hunting spots in the West on Bush administration energy policies that spurred a boom in oil and gas drilling.
Drilling on federal lands in five Western states doubled over the past decade to more than 2,000 wells per year, according to a report to be released Wednesday by the Environmental Working Group and the National Wildlife Federation.
The "rush to drill" in Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Colorado and New Mexico is squeezing hunters off public land and destroying crucial habitat for species including pronghorn antelope, mule deer, elk and sage grouse, the report says.
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