BLM Investigates Allegedly Unauthorized Copper Line Excavation Near Wyoming Sage Grouse Habitat and Historic Trails
Why It Matters
A federal investigation is underway in Wyoming after a contractor allegedly conducted unauthorized excavation through protected sagebrush habitat near active sage grouse leks and historically significant trail corridors. The probe raises questions about oversight of copper line removal operations on federal public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
The site’s proximity to nesting sage grouse — a species that has long been at the center of federal land-use debates across the West — and to trails protected under the National Historic Preservation Act gives the case significance beyond a routine land violation.
What Happened
Lander resident John Coffman was volunteering as a sage grouse counter in early April 2026 when he came across an active excavation project in the sagebrush near South Pass. Coffman, who has made the springtime ritual a routine, was driving between leks — the open areas where male sage grouse perform mating displays — when he encountered heavy equipment and a freshly disturbed stretch of land.
“I came around the corner, in between a bunch of different leks I was counting, and was like, ‘What the heck is this!?'” Coffman said, in remarks reported by WyoFile. On the morning of April 10, Coffman documented a CAT 316E excavator — weighing approximately 40,000 pounds — sitting idle, with roughly 100 yards of soil and sagebrush ripped from the ground in front of it.
Trucks at the site were labeled with the name National OnDemand, Inc. Coffman contacted ranching friends with grazing allotments in the area, as well as BLM employees, but none could explain the activity. His inquiries triggered a federal law enforcement investigation into the excavation, which BLM is treating as allegedly unauthorized.
BLM-Wyoming spokeswoman Allegra Keenoo confirmed to WyoFile that the matter is under active investigation and that the agency could not provide further comment. National OnDemand, Inc. did not respond to requests for comment.
By the Numbers
- 40,000 lbs: Approximate weight of the CAT 316E excavator documented at the South Pass site
- 100 yards: Length of sagebrush and soil disturbed at the documented location
- 0.6 miles: How close the excavation reportedly came to some sage grouse leks, according to retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department sage grouse coordinator Tom Christiansen
- 1.1 million acres: Size of a rights-of-way exclusion zone included in BLM’s resource management plan for the area, which covers some historic trail corridors
- 50+ years: The National Historic Preservation Act, which protects nearby Continental Divide Trail corridors, has been in effect for more than half a century
Habitat and Heritage Concerns
Tom Christiansen, a retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department sage grouse coordinator, said the excavation reportedly took place within territory covered by BLM’s Rock Springs and Lander field offices, and possibly the Pinedale Field Office as well. He noted that the proximity to active leks during nesting season would typically be prohibited under standard wildlife protections.
“Obviously, it’s during the nesting time,” Christiansen said, in remarks reported by WyoFile. Coffman noted that the equipment he observed was not “terribly close” to the specific leks he was monitoring, and birds at those locations showed no signs of distress.
The site is also close to the Continental Divide Trail near South Pass — a historically significant corridor used by Oregon-bound emigrants during the 1840s and 1850s. Those trails carry federal protections under the National Historic Preservation Act, adding a second layer of legal exposure to the investigation. BLM’s own resource management plan for the region includes a 1.1-million-acre rights-of-way exclusion zone that encompasses portions of those historic corridors.
Zoom Out
The Wyoming case is part of a broader national pattern. Major telecommunications companies have been excavating and removing legacy copper lines across the country, driven in part by the scrap value of the copper and, in some cases, environmental concerns. Lead-coated cable degradation, for example, has raised contamination worries near Lake Tahoe in California. The Wyoming situation, however, highlights the particular complexity of operating in public lands managed under multiple overlapping federal mandates — a tension that has also emerged in debates over federal land management workforce disruptions in Wyoming following recent federal restructuring efforts.
What’s Next
BLM’s law enforcement division is continuing its investigation into the excavation. The agency has not publicly identified what specific violations may be charged or how many sites are involved across the three field offices. National OnDemand, Inc. has not responded publicly to the allegations.
The outcome of the case could have implications for how copper removal contractors operate on federal lands in Wyoming and other western states, particularly in areas overlapping sage grouse habitat management zones and protected infrastructure corridors. No timeline for the conclusion of the investigation has been announced.