Category: News (Older posts)

  • Sec. Salazar Announces DOI will offer new RD&D OIl Shale Leases

    On October 20, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Ken Salazar, announced that the Department will invite submission of applications for a second round of RD&D oil shale leases.  A notice will be published soon in the Federal Register.  Companies will have 60 days to submit their applications for up to 160 acres.  During round one, 5 RD&D leases were granted in Colorado’s Piceance Basin.   Lessees would need to demonstrate feasibility for commercial development  to qualify for an additional 480 contiguous acres.

  • Rifle Raffle Drawing Dec. 21, 2009

    Colorado Wildlife Federation Rifle Raffle Drawing  — Raffle License #2009-0849

    Your opportunity to win one limited edition Winchester Model 92 High Grade .44-40 rifle.  The John Wayne 100th Anniversary Commemorative Rifle.  Alternative prize is $1,000 cash.

    Ticket prices are $10 each or 3 tickets for $25.  Mail the form below with a check.  Colorado Secretary of State’s office does not allow credit card purchases of raffle tickets.  Purchasers must be 18 years of age or older to enter the raffle.

    CWF’s rifle raffle drawing will be held on December 21, 2009 at 3:30 at the CWF office, 1410 Grant Street, Suite C-313, Denver CO  80203

    Purchasers need not be present to win.  Winner must pass NICS background check.  Proceeds benefit Colorado wildlife.

    To enter, download the form below and mail with check to CWF, 1410 Grant Street, Suite C-313, Denver CO  80203.

    We will mail the confirmation of purchase and stub to you.

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    Rifle Raffle Purchase Form

     

    Name _________________________________________________

    Address ________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________

     

    Telephone / cell number _______________________________________

     

    Number of Rifle Raffle Tickets _____________

     

    Amount of check for the Rifle Raffle Tickets ________________

     

     

    ———————————————————————————————————————————

  • Rifle Raffle Drawing Dec. 21, 2009

    Colorado Wildlife Federation Rifle Raffle Drawing  — Raffle License #2009-0849

    Your opportunity to win one limited edition Winchester Model 92 High Grade .44-40 rifle.  The John Wayne 100th Anniversary Commemorative Rifle.  Alternative prize is $1,000 cash.

    Ticket prices are $10 each or 3 tickets for $25.  Mail the form below with a check.  Colorado Secretary of State’s office does not allow credit card purchases of raffle tickets.  Purchasers must be 18 years of age or older to enter the raffle.

    CWF’s rifle raffle drawing will be held on December 21, 2009 at 3:30 at the CWF office, 1410 Grant Street, Suite C-313, Denver CO  80203

    Purchasers need not be present to win.  Winner must pass NICS background check.  Proceeds benefit Colorado wildlife.

    To enter, download the form below and mail with check to CWF, 1410 Grant Street, Suite C-313, Denver CO  80203.

    We will mail the confirmation of purchase and stub to you.

    ____________________________________________________________________________

    Rifle Raffle Purchase Form

     

    Name _________________________________________________

    Address ________________________________________________

    ________________________________________________

     

    Telephone / cell number _______________________________________

     

    Number of Rifle Raffle Tickets _____________

     

    Amount of check for the Rifle Raffle Tickets ________________

     

     

    ———————————————————————————————————————————

  • Draft CO Roadless Rule will open to public comment

    On  July 13, Governor Ritter announced that the draft Colorado roadless rule will be released soon and be opened to public comment.  The initial draft rule was published by the US Forest Service in July 2008 and public comment closed in October. Since then work on the draft continued.  Now the public will have another opportunity to comment on the current version of the draft.   It is expected that the draft will be released close to August 1 and that the comment period will extend 60 days from its release.  CWF will public our comments on this website and at www.coloradowildlifeactionnetwork.org during August.

  • Draft CO Roadless Rule will open to public comment

    On  July 13, Governor Ritter announced that the draft Colorado roadless rule will be released soon and be opened to public comment.  The initial draft rule was published by the US Forest Service in July 2008 and public comment closed in October. Since then work on the draft continued.  Now the public will have another opportunity to comment on the current version of the draft.   It is expected that the draft will be released close to August 1 and that the comment period will extend 60 days from its release.  CWF will public our comments on this website and at www.coloradowildlifeactionnetwork.org during August.

  • CWF Comments on Oil Shale RD&D Program

    Oil shale and tar sands development poses a huge threat to wildlife, including species that already are on the verge of disappearing. Hundreds of thousands of acres of vital wildlife habitats for big game and sage-grouse may be œoccupied by oil shale and tar sands projects to the exclusion of all other uses, including wildlife, perhaps for generations. Tremendous quantities of water will be required to extract and produce oil from shale and tar sands. In the arid environs of the Rocky Mountain West, the dedication of scarce water to oil shale and tar sands development poses significant risks to other important water uses including fish and wildlife.

    The Wildlife Federations support Secretary Salazar’s decision to withdraw the second round of research, development and demonstration (RD&D) oil shale leasing that the Bush Administration proposed in January 2009. The critical question the Department of the Interior (DOI) must now address is whether a second round of RD&D leases should be issued at this time, and if so under what terms and with what goals. The Wildlife Federations assert that no additional federal public lands should be dedicated to this oil shale œexperiment, at least until more is known about the success or failure of the RD&D projects already authorized.

    NO ADDITIONAL RD&D LEASES ARE REQUIRED

    The Wildlife Federations note that DOI is under no legal obligation to issue additional leases. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) contained several provisions aimed at analyzing the future potential of oil shale and tar sands. EPAct does specifically direct BLM to make limited areas of land available for RD&D projects. That congressional directive has been met. In 2006, BLM issued six leases for RD&D projects in Colorado and Utah. Ground has yet to be broken on any of these projects. Further, we do not believe access to more federal public lands for oil shale RD&D is necessary. Billions of tons of oil shale are privately held, much of it by the very same companies that nominated parcels in BLM’s last round of RD&D leasing. Federations suspect that the push for additional leasing of federal oil shale resources is less about serving the public’s interest in researching new sources of energy and more about these companies’ private interests in securing control over potentially valuable public mineral reserves.

    Finally, while the Wildlife Federations recognize that the extraction of energy fuels is an important component of federal public lands management, these multiple-use lands must be managed for other values as well. BLM has a duty to protect the diversity of all  native wildlife on public lands.  Protecting biological diversity can only be dealt with appropriately at the programmatic or planning level. This is the only way to ensure biological diversity is preserved and that ecosystem attributes are not œnickel and dimed to death by individually small but cumulatively significant site-specific projects. The project level is simply too small a scale for adequate exploration of impacts to the health of large ecosystems. Yet, this is precisely the course of action pursued thus far with respect to leasing for oil shale RD&D.

    The Wildlife Federations remain concerned about any commitment of public lands and resources to oil shale development without a full awareness on the part of both DOI and the public of the environmental consequences of doing so. Late last year BLM released its final programmatic environmental impact statement on proposed oil shale and tar sands Resource Management Plan amendments. See BLM, Proposed Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resource Management Plan Amendments to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, (September 5, 2008) [hereinafter PEIS].  The PEIS, which professes to open millions of acres of federal lands to oil shale and tar sands extraction, was “programmatic” in name only.  Its examination of environmental impacts was limited to a discussion of what one oil shale extraction project might entail.  Before DOI dedicates additional public resources, DOI must have a much better understanding of the broader public costs of developing oil shale on a commercial scale.

     

     

     

    National Wildlife Federattion

    Rocky Mountain Regional Center

    2260 Baseline Road, Suite 100

    Boulder, Colorado 80302

    303-786-8001

     

    Here are excertps of the text of the comments submitted on May 28, 2009 to the BLM by National Wildlife Federation, Colorado Wildlife Federation and the Wyoming Wildlife Federation re the OIl Shale Research, Development and Demonstration Program and request for Public Comment.

    MAY 28, 2009

    Bureau of Land Management

    Attn: Nick Douglas

    Minerals and Realty Management

    Mail Stop: LS 807

    1849 C Street, NW

    Washington, DC  20240

    Dear Mr. Douglas:

    The following comments on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Withdrawal of the Call for Nominations – OIl Shale Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Program and Request for Public Comment (RD&D Comments) are submitted on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation and its state affiliates, the Colorado Wildlife Federation and the Wyoming Wildlife Federation [hereinafter Wildlife Federations].  As an organization, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) represents the power and commitment of four million members and supporters joined by affiliated organizations in 47 states and territories.  NWF and its affiliates have a long history of working to conserve the wildlife and wild places on federal public lands in the West. Many members of NWF and its affiliates use the lands and resources that could be impacted by oil shale and tar sands extraction on federal public lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The Wildlife Federations appreciate this opportunity to submit these comments to the Bureau of Land Management.

  • CWF Comments on Oil Shale RD&D Program

    Oil shale and tar sands development poses a huge threat to wildlife, including species that already are on the verge of disappearing. Hundreds of thousands of acres of vital wildlife habitats for big game and sage-grouse may be œoccupied by oil shale and tar sands projects to the exclusion of all other uses, including wildlife, perhaps for generations. Tremendous quantities of water will be required to extract and produce oil from shale and tar sands. In the arid environs of the Rocky Mountain West, the dedication of scarce water to oil shale and tar sands development poses significant risks to other important water uses including fish and wildlife.

    The Wildlife Federations support Secretary Salazar’s decision to withdraw the second round of research, development and demonstration (RD&D) oil shale leasing that the Bush Administration proposed in January 2009. The critical question the Department of the Interior (DOI) must now address is whether a second round of RD&D leases should be issued at this time, and if so under what terms and with what goals. The Wildlife Federations assert that no additional federal public lands should be dedicated to this oil shale œexperiment, at least until more is known about the success or failure of the RD&D projects already authorized.

    NO ADDITIONAL RD&D LEASES ARE REQUIRED

    The Wildlife Federations note that DOI is under no legal obligation to issue additional leases. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) contained several provisions aimed at analyzing the future potential of oil shale and tar sands. EPAct does specifically direct BLM to make limited areas of land available for RD&D projects. That congressional directive has been met. In 2006, BLM issued six leases for RD&D projects in Colorado and Utah. Ground has yet to be broken on any of these projects. Further, we do not believe access to more federal public lands for oil shale RD&D is necessary. Billions of tons of oil shale are privately held, much of it by the very same companies that nominated parcels in BLM’s last round of RD&D leasing. Federations suspect that the push for additional leasing of federal oil shale resources is less about serving the public’s interest in researching new sources of energy and more about these companies’ private interests in securing control over potentially valuable public mineral reserves.

    Finally, while the Wildlife Federations recognize that the extraction of energy fuels is an important component of federal public lands management, these multiple-use lands must be managed for other values as well. BLM has a duty to protect the diversity of all  native wildlife on public lands.  Protecting biological diversity can only be dealt with appropriately at the programmatic or planning level. This is the only way to ensure biological diversity is preserved and that ecosystem attributes are not œnickel and dimed to death by individually small but cumulatively significant site-specific projects. The project level is simply too small a scale for adequate exploration of impacts to the health of large ecosystems. Yet, this is precisely the course of action pursued thus far with respect to leasing for oil shale RD&D.

    The Wildlife Federations remain concerned about any commitment of public lands and resources to oil shale development without a full awareness on the part of both DOI and the public of the environmental consequences of doing so. Late last year BLM released its final programmatic environmental impact statement on proposed oil shale and tar sands Resource Management Plan amendments. See BLM, Proposed Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resource Management Plan Amendments to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, (September 5, 2008) [hereinafter PEIS].  The PEIS, which professes to open millions of acres of federal lands to oil shale and tar sands extraction, was “programmatic” in name only.  Its examination of environmental impacts was limited to a discussion of what one oil shale extraction project might entail.  Before DOI dedicates additional public resources, DOI must have a much better understanding of the broader public costs of developing oil shale on a commercial scale.

     

     

     

    National Wildlife Federattion

    Rocky Mountain Regional Center

    2260 Baseline Road, Suite 100

    Boulder, Colorado 80302

    303-786-8001

     

    Here are excertps of the text of the comments submitted on May 28, 2009 to the BLM by National Wildlife Federation, Colorado Wildlife Federation and the Wyoming Wildlife Federation re the OIl Shale Research, Development and Demonstration Program and request for Public Comment.

    MAY 28, 2009

    Bureau of Land Management

    Attn: Nick Douglas

    Minerals and Realty Management

    Mail Stop: LS 807

    1849 C Street, NW

    Washington, DC  20240

    Dear Mr. Douglas:

    The following comments on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Withdrawal of the Call for Nominations – OIl Shale Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Program and Request for Public Comment (RD&D Comments) are submitted on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation and its state affiliates, the Colorado Wildlife Federation and the Wyoming Wildlife Federation [hereinafter Wildlife Federations].  As an organization, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) represents the power and commitment of four million members and supporters joined by affiliated organizations in 47 states and territories.  NWF and its affiliates have a long history of working to conserve the wildlife and wild places on federal public lands in the West. Many members of NWF and its affiliates use the lands and resources that could be impacted by oil shale and tar sands extraction on federal public lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The Wildlife Federations appreciate this opportunity to submit these comments to the Bureau of Land Management.

  • Habitat Stamp reauth Bill passes General Assembly

    The Habitat Stamp reauthorization bill, S 09-235, passed the General Assembly on May 1. Earlier it passed House Appropriations on April 29 and House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee on April 22, with an amendment 10-1.  The amendment unfortunately provides that the legislature may pass a different bill by June 1, 2010 in lieu of this bill.  The bill differs from the Senate bill. The current habitat stamp will expire at the end of 2010 and therefore, a reauthorization bill is necessary.  The bill can be found by clicking the Legislation tab on the CWF home page.

  • Habitat Stamp reauth Bill passes General Assembly

    The Habitat Stamp reauthorization bill, S 09-235, passed the General Assembly on May 1. Earlier it passed House Appropriations on April 29 and House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee on April 22, with an amendment 10-1.  The amendment unfortunately provides that the legislature may pass a different bill by June 1, 2010 in lieu of this bill.  The bill differs from the Senate bill. The current habitat stamp will expire at the end of 2010 and therefore, a reauthorization bill is necessary.  The bill can be found by clicking the Legislation tab on the CWF home page.

  • CO Oil and Gas Rules Bill Signed by Gov. Ritter

    The oil and gas rules review bill was signed by Governor Ritter on April 22.  The bill had passed the General Assembly on March 25.      Congratulations to all who have worked so hard and effectively for a very long time.

    On March 6 the Colorado General Assembly’s Committee on Legal Services approved the oil and gas rules and moved them forward to the House Floor.   The rules passed 2nd reading on the House Floor on March 12 and  3rd reading on the 13th.  Now the rules move to the Senate.  The rules  passed Senate Committee on the 18th.  the bill passed the Senate Floor second reading on March 24 by a vote of 22-12.  The bill passed on third reading on  March 25.

    The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission adopted the rules on December 11, 2008.   The Rules are posted on the Commission website.