The
Crestone Eagle, June 2008:
Forest Service defers 145,000 acres
from gas & oil lease sale
3 Crestone parcels still under protest
by Ceal Smith
In March, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
announced plans to offer 144,249-acres of public lands in
the San Luis Valley at its quarterly oil and gas lease sale
on May 8. The proposal included 142,373 acres of Rio Grande
National Forest lands in Rio Grande and Saguache counties
and 1,876 acres of private and BLM lands near the town of
Crestone. Until recently, the San Luis Valley has not been
a target for the gas and oil industry. The proposed BLM lease
sale follows ongoing efforts by the Canadian wildcat company,
Lexam Explorations, to exploit the Baca National Wildlife
Refuge for gas and oil.
In the weeks following the BLM announcement, ninety-seven
formal protests were filed on the lease sale. According to
state office employees, BLM has never seen such a dramatic
public response to a gas and oil lease sale. Rio Grande and
Saguache County Board of Commissioners filed protests, as
did the towns of Del Norte and Crestone. Citizens from around
the San Luis Valley sent letters that reflected a deeply felt
connection to the land and concerns that oil and gas development
would permanently alter the quality of life and the environment
in the San Luis Valley.
Citizens throughout the Valley were concerned about degradation
of water and air quality, wildlands and wildlife and conflicts
with the traditional farming, ranching and recreation-based
economy. San Luis Valley native and ranchers Greg and Suzanne
Gosar spoke for many when they wrote, “we believe that
any activities connected with oil and gas extraction in the
area will deprive our family of our constitutional right to
pursue happiness and to enjoy the use of our private property,
which has taken the work of three generations to acquire.
These activities could very well endanger our health, our
well-being, and our livelihood.”
In response, the Salazar brothers (Senator Ken and Representative
John) submitted a letter to State Director Sally Wisely urging
the BLM to “grant the requests of Rio Grande and Saguache
Counties and the Towns of Del Norte and Crestone to defer
all parcels offered in those counties on the May 8th lease
sale on grounds particular to their communities.”
Later the same day, the BLM announced in their press release
that it would defer offering 144,000 acres of the Rio Grande
National Forest at the May 8th sale. According to State Director
Wisely, “Based on information we received from the public,
local governments and our own internal review, [BLM] will
defer offering these Forest Service parcels until additional
analysis can be completed.”
Intense efforts were made to convince BLM to defer the three
remaining parcels near the town of Crestone. The Saguache
Board of County Commissioners sent a follow-up letter to their
protest and Commissioner Sam Pace prepared to make an emergency
trip to appeal directly to BLM State Director Sally Wisely
in Denver. Ms. Wisely refused to grant him a meeting.
Two of the three Crestone parcels (1,556 of 1,876-acres)
were purchased by Lamancha Enterprises, LLC. Crestone resident
Parvin Johnson is the CEO and President of this company. Private
funds and contributions from the community were used to purchase
the leases. The remaining 320-acre Rito Alto parcel was purchased
by the Denver-based Land Energy, Inc. Before surrendering
lease rights, the BLM must first resolve the protests and
could still withdraw the lease on these parcels.
Three regional environmental law groups filed protests on
the San Luis Valley parcels. Western Resources Advocates filed
a protest on behalf of the Center for Native Ecosystems, San
Luis Valley Ecosystem Council and Citizens for San Luis Valley
Water Protection Coalition on the basis that USFS and BLM
would be in violation of the 2001 Roadless Conservation Rule,
the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species
Act and the National Historic Preservation Act if they lease
these lands without conducting additional analysis.
The Western Environmental Law Center (WELC) filed a ground-breaking
protest based on BLM’s failure to address global warming
and climate change. This is the first time climate change
has been included in a BLM lease protest in Colorado. The
protest was filed on behalf of eight regional environmental
groups including Citizens for San Luis Valley Water Protection
Coalition and the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council. While
the Rito Alto parcel was not included in the WELC protest,
the Center for Native Ecosystems included it in an additional
protest based on endangered species concerns. All three of
these protests have the potential to lead to litigation.
The BLM and U.S. Forest Service are currently undergoing
a review to determine what additional analysis is needed to
address the concerns of the protests. At a recent meeting
in Saguache, Forest Service/BLM Supervisor Dan Dallas agreed
that affected counties, towns, organizations and citizens
would be consulted in this process. Debbie Lewis, attorney
for Western Resources Advocates commented, “we will
continue to press the Forest Service and BLM to act on their
legal obligations under environmental protection laws including
NEPA to update their 1996 Forest Management Plan that analyzed
impacts of only 23 oil and gas wells anticipated at that time.
The proposed leases open the door for drilling in the San
Luis Valley on a much more massive scale. Likewise, the impacts
to residents of the Valley threaten to be equally as massive.”
Back to Archives
Page
Subscribe
to the Eagle! |
