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Pics:
http://www.wilderness.org/Library/D...-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Roan Pleateau
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Story:
http://www.wilderness.org/NewsRoom/Release/20040429.cfm
Oil and gas lease sale threatens proposed wilderness and National Forest roadless lands.
April 29, 2004 (Denver, CO) - The Bush Administration's relentless efforts to open the West's remaining wildlands to oil and gas drilling will accelerate next month, when a staggering diversity of Colorado wildlands will be auctioned off to the oil and gas industry. On May 13, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to sell 74 parcels in Colorado that include proposed BLM wilderness, National Forest roadless lands, imperiled species habitat, and lands along a popular scenic byway -- lands that are highly valued for wildlife, recreation and other economic values.
Thirty-one of the parcels to be sold on May 13 are in the Colorado Citizens' Wilderness Proposal, a statewide initiative endorsed by more than 300 citizen organizations, businesses, and local governments, which has also been introduced as legislation by Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette. The Colorado sale follows recent contentious lease sales in Colorado and Utah, and represents the latest direct on-the-ground impact of last year's secret deal cut by Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton and former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, which prohibited BLM from protecting future wilderness on any of its land in any state, and which is now being challenged in court.
"It is not a coincidence that these lands were offered for drilling, and I intend to fight to protect them," said Congresswoman DeGette. "I understand the need for increased energy production and support drilling in areas that are not environmentally sensitive. But a recent report verifies what many of us have suspected -- many existing gas and oil leases have not been tapped. It is unconscionable when more suitable acreage is simply lying fallow to pursue a single use strategy for these remarkable areas."
The lease sale also would impact four roadless areas in the White River National Forest, including the spectacular Thompson Creek Roadless Area. This special place includes the largest concentration of old growth spruce-fir on the White River Forest and perhaps the largest aspen forest in the world, together providing important habitat for elk, goshawk, lynx, and cutthroat trout.
"All Coloradans recognize that oil and gas drilling is a fact of life," said Dorothea Farris, commissioner from Pitkin County, which overlaps with the White River National Forest. "But with more than 90 percent of the federally managed gas in northwest Colorado already available for leasing, it is not necessary to let industrial activity destroy our last top-notch natural areas. We should be protecting these increasingly rare places for our children."
It is unclear why the BLM is rushing to sell leases in controversial and sensitive lands, when there is a backlog of already-leased and already-permitted lands waiting to be drilled. A recent Wilderness Society analysis of oil and gas leases and drilling permits in Rocky Mountain States, including Colorado, found that 68 percent of the land leased in the region is not producing gas or oil. Of 54,000 BLM oil and gas leases, just 40 percent are producing gas or oil. In addition, there is a backlog of over 6,000 already-approved drilling permits -- representing year's worth of drilling -- that the industry has yet to develop.
"Why is the BLM sacrificing proposed wilderness areas and other special places for energy development when the gas industry has a backlog of several years-worth of drilling permits and leases they have yet to develop?" stated Suzanne Jones, Regional Director of The Wilderness Society. "These wildlands are essential for wildlife, recreation, clean water and other important public values that the administration is simply ignoring."
The May 13 lease sale would also impact wildlife and imperiled species in Colorado. Fifty of the proposed lease parcels pose threats to important habitat for plant and animal species that are already under stress from reduced or damaged habitat. Examples include sage grouse (for which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently determined Endangered Species Act protection may be necessary), Colorado River cutthroat trout, white-tailed prairie dog, ferruginous hawk, midget faded rattlesnake, Uinta Basin hookless cactus and Piceance twinpod (two plants already listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act), and several other plants designated by BLM as sensitive. Important habitat for mule deer, elk pronghorn and other game species will also be degraded. Nearly all of the habitats and locations of these plants and animals affected by the proposed gas leases are subject to no protective stipulations.
"The inevitable consequences of this oil and gas lease sale is that these lands which currently provide critical winter range for elk, deer and pronghorn, important sage grouse habitat and critical habitat for other species, will be carved by roads, power lines, pipelines, fences and other incidents of human development," said Steve Torbit of the National Wildlife Federation. "The resulting fragmentation of habitat will likely lead to a decrease in population for some species and overall ecosystem degradation."
The May leases also include a 91-acre parcel located along the spectacular West Elk Scenic Byway at the popular Paonia State Recreation Area. This riparian parcel is at the scenic confluence of Anthracite Creek and North Fork, and adjacent to the Crystal Meadows Resort. Roadbuilding, well pads, and pipelines, along with noise, lights, and pollution from such gas development would spoil visitors' experience and the economic values of resorts, fishing, scenic driving, and other outdoor recreation in this renowned area.
"Several million dollars has been invested to establish this business that relies on tourism," stated Bill Tennison, owner of the Crystal Meadows Resort. "The drilling of oil and gas wells next to the property would inflict irreparable economic damage to this business. Additionally, it would damage the market value of the property." |
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