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In 2005 , regional gas consumption exceeded one-quarter of lower-48 natural gas production and represented one-third of lower-48 natural gas consumed by the electric power sector . Annual average Lower-48 natural gas wellhead prices are initially projected to decline from the high levels of 2001 , falling to $ 2.75 per thousand cubic feet ( mcf ) in 2002 ( 2001 dollars ) . Many qualified people will be needed , and either route will have to employ significant labor from Canada , Alaska , and the lower-48 . If Pombo 's version of the law had been enacted in 1973 in place of the Endangered Species Act , many of the species that were hanging on by a thread three decades ago - - including wolves , bald eagles , grizzly bears , manatees , and whooping cranes - - might already be gone from the lower-48 . Topics covered include end-use energy efficiency , industrial response to higher natural gas prices , lower-48 natural gas production and prices , expected trends in Canadian natural gas imports , the expanding role of LNG , future electric generation capacity needs , electricity transmission issues , electricity reliability , and renewable energy . Not only is it inconvenient to send the meat out-of-state for testing , none of the lower-48 facilities have testers who are trained in the subtleties of reindeer meat . Most of the coalbed methane in the United States is extracted from deposits in Rocky Mountain states ( see Figure 7 entitled , " U.S. Lower-48 Coalbed Methane Basins " ) . The Sierra Club is looking to expand this pilot program in the coming years to include other hunter education programs taking place near remaining grizzly bear habitat in the lower-48 United States . On January 31 , 2005 , gray wolf conservation won a victory when a federal district court ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the federal Endangered Species Act ( ESA ) when it reduced protections for gray wolves across most of the lower-48 United States .