www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html#Forest20%Service
Roadless: The Forest Service published today its Notice of Intent in the Federal Register for the draft environmental impact statement for Colorado. This step begins the federal rule-making process for the Colorado petition to prescribe management of roadless areas in national forests located in Colorado. Governor Ritter submitted the petition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in spring 2007.
Evan Dreyer, 720.350.8370,
evan.dreyer@state.co.us deb.frazier@state.co.us Ensuring protection for critical fish and wildlife habitat, such as by expanding the size of
¢
protect the environment and properly pace future development;
Exploring the concept of phased or incremental leasing to increase state revenues, better
¢
Achieving sustainable economic prosperity for local communities and industry;
¢
receives bonus payments from future leasing on the Roan; and
Exploring a possible amendment to the 1997 federal Transfer Act to ensure that the state
¢
œDuring this period of discussions with the Interior Department, we will continue to actively
engage all those with a stake in the future of the Roan Plateau, Gov. Ritter said. œThis will
include local officials and community leaders, energy industry representatives, conservationists,
sportsmen, state lawmakers and members of Colorado’s congressional delegation.
Incorporating state-of-the-art technology to minimize environmental disturbance.
STATE OF COLORADO
136 State Capitol Building
Denver, Colorado 80203
(303) 866 – 2471
(303) 866 – 2003 fax
Bill Ritter, Jr.
Governor
2
Facts about the Roan Plateau
What is the Roan Plateau?
¢
of Denver with significant recoverable natural gas resources.
A federally and privately owned plateau in northwest Colorado about 180 miles west
¢
acres, including surface acres and subsurface mineral rights.
The federally owned portion of the Roan Plateau Planning Area (RPPA) is 73,602
¢
sides and the base.
The federal acreage includes 34,758 acres on top of the Roan and 38,844 acres on the
¢
energy companies and ranchers, own the remaining 42 percent.
The BLM owns 58 percent of the surface of the RPPA and private entities, including
¢
Colorado River at its base.
The Roan Plateau rises to more than 9,200 feet and is 4,000 feet higher than the
¢
of roads and thousands of acres without roads. This includes 157 miles of unpaved
roads on the federal land on top of the Roan.
The Roan includes scenic areas, varied and rich wildlife habitat, more than 200 miles
¢
TCF on the top and 4.7 TCF on the cliffs and below the rim. That is enough natural gas
for Colorado’s 1.5 million residential customers for 34 years.
The recoverable resources are estimated at 8.9 trillion cubic feet (TCF), including 4.2
What’s happening today on the Roan Plateau?
¢
private land on the top.
There are more than 1,300 producing natural gas wells in the RPPA, including 10 on
¢
bottom.
There are 876 permits to drill new wells, including 161 on the top and 715 on the
¢
federal land.
On the bottom of the Roan, there are 980 wells on private land and 333 wells on
What is the federal government’s current plan for leasing on the Roan?
¢
be developed over the next 20 years, including 210 wells and 13 drilling pads on the top
of the Roan.
BLM has estimated that under the current plan up to 1,560 wells on 193 well pads would
¢
The BLM would lease the available acres all at once.
¢
bottom) and allow for recovery of 90 percent of the natural gas resources.
The BLM said the management plan will protect 51 percent of the Roan (top, sides and
3
¢
than 350 acres at a time and wells must be clustered on multi-well pads at least a half
mile apart.
Surface disturbances, including well pads and equipment, would be limited to no more
¢
to 1 percent at any time.
All drilling would be done in phases with well pads clustered to limit surface disturbance
¢
used. Directional drilling is currently used on over 98% of new wells in the Piceance
Basin.
To access the natural gas resources with a minimum of wells, directional drilling will be
¢
Drilling would not be allowed on slopes with greater than a 20 percent angle.
Geography of the Roan Plateau
¢
pure strains of the Colorado River cutthroat trout, bald and golden eagles, deer, elk,
puma, black bear, peregrine falcon and sage grouse
Four œAreas of Critical Environmental Concern are home to wildlife such as genetically
¢
The four areas total 21,032 acres:
ô???
Anvil Points — 4,955 acres
ô???
East Fork of Parachute Creek — 6,571 acres
ô???
Magpie — 4,696 acres
ô???
# # #
Trapper/Northwater — 4,810 acres
Deb Frazier, 303.866.5887,
1
STATE, FEDS TO CONTINUE ROAN PLATEAU DISCUSSIONS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gov. Bill Ritter announced today that his administration and the U.S. Department of the Interior
are engaged in productive discussions about the future of the Roan Plateau and will continue the
dialogue over the coming weeks.
œWe are making steady progress on what I believe is a uniquely Colorado solution – a solution
that strikes an important balance and will benefit our environment, economy, communities and
energy industry, Gov. Ritter said. œI’m pleased that Interior is working with us in reviewing the
environmental, economic and technical issues pertaining to the Roan. I look forward to
continuing these discussions to reach a mutually agreeable means of developing the energy
resources on the Roan while also serving as responsible stewards of Colorado’s future.
œThe Roan Plateau is a very special place, and we have only one chance to get it right, Gov.
Ritter said. œThe state and federal governments owe it to present and future generations to do
everything we can to accomplish our goals. Gov. Ritter said he hopes to achieve several
objectives during the ongoing conversations, including:
THURSDAY, DEC. 20, 2007
¢
the four wildlife-protection zones, known as œAreas of Critical Environmental Concern;
Evan Dreyer, 720.350.8370,
evan.dreyer@state.co.us deb.frazier@state.co.us Ensuring protection for critical fish and wildlife habitat, such as by expanding the size of
¢
protect the environment and properly pace future development;
Exploring the concept of phased or incremental leasing to increase state revenues, better
¢
Achieving sustainable economic prosperity for local communities and industry;
¢
receives bonus payments from future leasing on the Roan; and
Exploring a possible amendment to the 1997 federal Transfer Act to ensure that the state
¢
œDuring this period of discussions with the Interior Department, we will continue to actively
engage all those with a stake in the future of the Roan Plateau, Gov. Ritter said. œThis will
include local officials and community leaders, energy industry representatives, conservationists,
sportsmen, state lawmakers and members of Colorado’s congressional delegation.
Incorporating state-of-the-art technology to minimize environmental disturbance.
STATE OF COLORADO
136 State Capitol Building
Denver, Colorado 80203
(303) 866 – 2471
(303) 866 – 2003 fax
Bill Ritter, Jr.
Governor
2
Facts about the Roan Plateau
What is the Roan Plateau?
¢
of Denver with significant recoverable natural gas resources.
A federally and privately owned plateau in northwest Colorado about 180 miles west
¢
acres, including surface acres and subsurface mineral rights.
The federally owned portion of the Roan Plateau Planning Area (RPPA) is 73,602
¢
sides and the base.
The federal acreage includes 34,758 acres on top of the Roan and 38,844 acres on the
¢
energy companies and ranchers, own the remaining 42 percent.
The BLM owns 58 percent of the surface of the RPPA and private entities, including
¢
Colorado River at its base.
The Roan Plateau rises to more than 9,200 feet and is 4,000 feet higher than the
¢
of roads and thousands of acres without roads. This includes 157 miles of unpaved
roads on the federal land on top of the Roan.
The Roan includes scenic areas, varied and rich wildlife habitat, more than 200 miles
¢
TCF on the top and 4.7 TCF on the cliffs and below the rim. That is enough natural gas
for Colorado’s 1.5 million residential customers for 34 years.
The recoverable resources are estimated at 8.9 trillion cubic feet (TCF), including 4.2
What’s happening today on the Roan Plateau?
¢
private land on the top.
There are more than 1,300 producing natural gas wells in the RPPA, including 10 on
¢
bottom.
There are 876 permits to drill new wells, including 161 on the top and 715 on the
¢
federal land.
On the bottom of the Roan, there are 980 wells on private land and 333 wells on
What is the federal government’s current plan for leasing on the Roan?
¢
be developed over the next 20 years, including 210 wells and 13 drilling pads on the top
of the Roan.
BLM has estimated that under the current plan up to 1,560 wells on 193 well pads would
¢
The BLM would lease the available acres all at once.
¢
bottom) and allow for recovery of 90 percent of the natural gas resources.
The BLM said the management plan will protect 51 percent of the Roan (top, sides and
3
¢
than 350 acres at a time and wells must be clustered on multi-well pads at least a half
mile apart.
Surface disturbances, including well pads and equipment, would be limited to no more
¢
to 1 percent at any time.
All drilling would be done in phases with well pads clustered to limit surface disturbance
¢
used. Directional drilling is currently used on over 98% of new wells in the Piceance
Basin.
To access the natural gas resources with a minimum of wells, directional drilling will be
¢
Drilling would not be allowed on slopes with greater than a 20 percent angle.
Geography of the Roan Plateau
¢
pure strains of the Colorado River cutthroat trout, bald and golden eagles, deer, elk,
puma, black bear, peregrine falcon and sage grouse
Four œAreas of Critical Environmental Concern are home to wildlife such as genetically
¢
The four areas total 21,032 acres:
ô???
Anvil Points — 4,955 acres
ô???
East Fork of Parachute Creek — 6,571 acres
ô???
Magpie — 4,696 acres
ô???
# # #
Trapper/Northwater — 4,810 acres
Deb Frazier, 303.866.5887,
1
STATE, FEDS TO CONTINUE ROAN PLATEAU DISCUSSIONS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gov. Bill Ritter announced today that his administration and the U.S. Department of the Interior
are engaged in productive discussions about the future of the Roan Plateau and will continue the
dialogue over the coming weeks.
œWe are making steady progress on what I believe is a uniquely Colorado solution – a solution
that strikes an important balance and will benefit our environment, economy, communities and
energy industry, Gov. Ritter said. œI’m pleased that Interior is working with us in reviewing the
environmental, economic and technical issues pertaining to the Roan. I look forward to
continuing these discussions to reach a mutually agreeable means of developing the energy
resources on the Roan while also serving as responsible stewards of Colorado’s future.
œThe Roan Plateau is a very special place, and we have only one chance to get it right, Gov.
Ritter said. œThe state and federal governments owe it to present and future generations to do
everything we can to accomplish our goals. Gov. Ritter said he hopes to achieve several
objectives during the ongoing conversations, including:
THURSDAY, DEC. 20, 2007
¢
the four wildlife-protection zones, known as œAreas of Critical Environmental Concern;
MOUNTAIN MAYORS An Alliance for Cooperation & Action
December 14, 2007
Jim Sims & Greg Schnacke
Americans for American Energy
350 Indiana Street, Suite 640
Golden, CO 80401
Dear Mr. Sims and Mr. Schnacke,
We are writing to express our growing dismay over the misrepresentations promoted by Americans for American Energy in service of your industry’s effort to open the public lands on the Roan Plateau for irresponsible energy development.
Contrary to your statements to the public and the press, a broad and diverse group of western Coloradans are concerned about industry’s plans for drilling the only part of the Roan Plateau where your supporters have not already secured the right to drill, the portion that’s owned by the public. As elected officials, it is our responsibility to represent these citizens. They are not only our constituents, but also our friends and our neighbors. We share their concerns about the lack of balance between natural gas development and the need to protect the clean air, clean water and abundant wildlife that make our communities wonderful places to live.
We object in the strongest terms possible your repeated attempts to equate any questioning of your industry’s agenda to abetting terrorists. This is a scurrilous and irresponsible effort to muddy the waters and avoid discussion of the real issues and real values at stake.
As you well know, there has been overwhelming public support for protecting the public lands on the Roan Plateau. More than 74,000 comments were submitted during the comment period for the Roan Plateau Environmental Impact Statement asking for protection of the top and cliffs of the Roan and for responsible development of area that had already been leased.
In addition, a poll of 400 voters in the 3rd Congressional District this spring found that more than seven in 10 supported additional restrictions on oil and gas drilling. Just under half wanted drilling limited to existing sites near the base, with the upper plateau protected. Almost a quarter opposed any additional drilling. Almost seven in 10 hunters supported restrictions on drilling, as did three quarters of anglers, hikers and campers.
What most western Coloradans want is a balanced plan for the Roan Plateau that avoids the need for drilling on the public lands on top. For the health of our long-term economy, these lands must remain available for other uses such as hunting, fishing, camping, backpacking, mountain biking, wildlife viewing, scenic drives and encounters with solitude.
Oil and gas activity is booming all over Garfield County, with thousands of wells currently in production, about 1,000 new wells permitted each year, and tens of thousands of new wells expected to be drilled in the
next 20 years. Despite the huge area leased to your industry, less than 30 percent is in production. Your industry is sitting on an enormous backlog of drilling opportunities.
Meanwhile, directional drilling technology is rapidly advancing. Just a few years ago, your industry claimed that having to drill multiple directional wells from a single pad was burdensome and costly. Then, your industry realized directional drilling was cost-effective. It has since become the standard practice. Drillers’ ability to reach distant underground targets without compromising the land directly above continues to improve. Much of the gas under the Roan can already be reached with directional drilling. More of that gas will become available to directionally drilled wells in the future. That gas will also be more valuable in the future.
Yet judging from the email that Mr. Schnacke sent to your supporters in October, AAE appears not to care that industry could quite possibly access the gas under the Roan without destroying the public lands and wildlife habitat on top. Instead, your group appears to be motivated by a very narrow and self-serving principle: That no place is too special for your drilling rigs.
It appears to the Mayors of the Roaring Fork Valley and the Colorado River Valley that you have decided to make the sacrifice of the Roan Plateau an example of your political influence and the ruthlessness of your effort to secure every advantage for your industry supporters.
So you have mounted a smear campaign that insists anyone who suggests we balance our need for energy with our obligation to protect our communities is unpatriotic or interested in a œweaker America. Gentlemen, this is not true and you know it. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
We mayors write to reject your efforts to misrepresent the truth.
Sincerely,
Roaring Fork & Colorado River Valley Mayors & Elected Officials (See Page 3 for signatures)
Keith Lambert – Mayor, City of Rifle
Frank Breslin – Mayor, Town of New Castle
Dave Moore – Mayor, Town of Silt
Roy McClung – Mayor, Town of Parachute
Bruce Christensen – Mayor, City of Glenwood Springs
Michael Hassig – Mayor, Town of Carbondale
Leroy Duroux – Mayor, Town of Basalt
Mick Ireland – Mayor, City of Aspen
Doug Mercatoris – Mayor, Town of Snowmass Village
Ken Brenner – Former City Council Member, Steamboat Springs
MOUNTAIN MAYORS An Alliance for Cooperation & Action
December 14, 2007
Jim Sims & Greg Schnacke
Americans for American Energy
350 Indiana Street, Suite 640
Golden, CO 80401
Dear Mr. Sims and Mr. Schnacke,
We are writing to express our growing dismay over the misrepresentations promoted by Americans for American Energy in service of your industry’s effort to open the public lands on the Roan Plateau for irresponsible energy development.
Contrary to your statements to the public and the press, a broad and diverse group of western Coloradans are concerned about industry’s plans for drilling the only part of the Roan Plateau where your supporters have not already secured the right to drill, the portion that’s owned by the public. As elected officials, it is our responsibility to represent these citizens. They are not only our constituents, but also our friends and our neighbors. We share their concerns about the lack of balance between natural gas development and the need to protect the clean air, clean water and abundant wildlife that make our communities wonderful places to live.
We object in the strongest terms possible your repeated attempts to equate any questioning of your industry’s agenda to abetting terrorists. This is a scurrilous and irresponsible effort to muddy the waters and avoid discussion of the real issues and real values at stake.
As you well know, there has been overwhelming public support for protecting the public lands on the Roan Plateau. More than 74,000 comments were submitted during the comment period for the Roan Plateau Environmental Impact Statement asking for protection of the top and cliffs of the Roan and for responsible development of area that had already been leased.
In addition, a poll of 400 voters in the 3rd Congressional District this spring found that more than seven in 10 supported additional restrictions on oil and gas drilling. Just under half wanted drilling limited to existing sites near the base, with the upper plateau protected. Almost a quarter opposed any additional drilling. Almost seven in 10 hunters supported restrictions on drilling, as did three quarters of anglers, hikers and campers.
What most western Coloradans want is a balanced plan for the Roan Plateau that avoids the need for drilling on the public lands on top. For the health of our long-term economy, these lands must remain available for other uses such as hunting, fishing, camping, backpacking, mountain biking, wildlife viewing, scenic drives and encounters with solitude.
Oil and gas activity is booming all over Garfield County, with thousands of wells currently in production, about 1,000 new wells permitted each year, and tens of thousands of new wells expected to be drilled in the
next 20 years. Despite the huge area leased to your industry, less than 30 percent is in production. Your industry is sitting on an enormous backlog of drilling opportunities.
Meanwhile, directional drilling technology is rapidly advancing. Just a few years ago, your industry claimed that having to drill multiple directional wells from a single pad was burdensome and costly. Then, your industry realized directional drilling was cost-effective. It has since become the standard practice. Drillers’ ability to reach distant underground targets without compromising the land directly above continues to improve. Much of the gas under the Roan can already be reached with directional drilling. More of that gas will become available to directionally drilled wells in the future. That gas will also be more valuable in the future.
Yet judging from the email that Mr. Schnacke sent to your supporters in October, AAE appears not to care that industry could quite possibly access the gas under the Roan without destroying the public lands and wildlife habitat on top. Instead, your group appears to be motivated by a very narrow and self-serving principle: That no place is too special for your drilling rigs.
It appears to the Mayors of the Roaring Fork Valley and the Colorado River Valley that you have decided to make the sacrifice of the Roan Plateau an example of your political influence and the ruthlessness of your effort to secure every advantage for your industry supporters.
So you have mounted a smear campaign that insists anyone who suggests we balance our need for energy with our obligation to protect our communities is unpatriotic or interested in a œweaker America. Gentlemen, this is not true and you know it. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
We mayors write to reject your efforts to misrepresent the truth.
Sincerely,
Roaring Fork & Colorado River Valley Mayors & Elected Officials (See Page 3 for signatures)
Keith Lambert – Mayor, City of Rifle
Frank Breslin – Mayor, Town of New Castle
Dave Moore – Mayor, Town of Silt
Roy McClung – Mayor, Town of Parachute
Bruce Christensen – Mayor, City of Glenwood Springs
Michael Hassig – Mayor, Town of Carbondale
Leroy Duroux – Mayor, Town of Basalt
Mick Ireland – Mayor, City of Aspen
Doug Mercatoris – Mayor, Town of Snowmass Village
Ken Brenner – Former City Council Member, Steamboat Springs
Rocky Mountain News
Monday, December 10, 2007
Regulators, environmentalists, sportsmen and citizens have cited numerous worries about the oil and gas industry’s impacts to the environment, both realized and potential. Here’s an overview of five major categories of concern:
2. THREATS TO WILDLIFE
Habitat fragmentation
Gas drilling has expanded into remote parts of the state, bringing with it roads, wells and other facilities that are fragmenting what have been wide- open regions where animals could migrate freely and gain access to winter nourishment.
What’s known: Northwest Colorado is home to some of the largest deer and elk herds in the United States, and is a magnet for hunters nationally.
Research on how the fast-expanding oil and gas industry might affect those herds is still in the early stages, with no conclusions drawn yet, say officials at the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
But they cautiously point to research in Wyoming, much further along, that has shown elk, mule deer and sage grouse tend to avoid energy development areas.
Mule deer in Wyoming have stayed away from winter range that once provided critical nourishment during the colder months and sage grouse have avoided traditional mating sites.
Both animals saw major population declines in the regions under study, which researchers believe is tied in part to habitat loss from gas development.
Other factors, including drought, fires and disease, also affect wildlife, said DOW spokesman Randy Hampton, so the agency needs more data before declaring a direct relationship between gas development and any wildlife disruption.
œWe want to have sound science, but we’re concerned, he said.
Hampton and other wildlife experts fear animals are suffering from a thousand cuts because oil and gas regulators focus too much on the small picture associated with individual energy proposals.
œPeople look at us and they’re like, ˜This is only three wells. There won’t be that much impact,’ Hampton said. œBut it’s three wells, and the three next to them, and the three next to them, and three more and suddenly there’s 10,000 wells. And that’s a different impact.
Colorado has yet to see sage grouse declines, according to DOW specialist Tony Apa, but the species is in enough trouble regionally that it could become listed as endangered, meaning federal protection and barriers to further development.
Apa notes that gas development is only beginning to enter the sage grouse’s Colorado territory.
œUnfortunately, this bird is extremely sensitive to development (and) to disturbances, Apa said. œIt’s going to be a struggle to preserve this species.
Poaching/Roadkill
Oil and gas workers in remote locales have been caught poaching wildlife, and the building of new roads in once hard-to-reach areas has improved access for would-be poachers and joy-riders. Fast-growing and fast-moving truck traffic is leading to increases in roadkill.
What’s known: Wildlife authorities in Colorado and Wyoming have linked gas workers to several poaching incidents, including a case this year where a worker was fined $10,000 and received a lifetime suspension of hunting privileges in Colorado for killing a trophy buck, cutting off its head and leaving the body to rot.
But authorities said it’s not necessarily energy workers that are the problem, but increased access.
œThere’s 30-foot-wide dirt highways in some of these places, said DOW spokesman Hampton. œThat kind of access puts a lot of people into areas where we didn’t have people before.
Wildlife officers covering 800-square- mile areas now must patrol twice as many roads for poachers, Hampton said.
Wildlife officials say they saw significant increases in poaching during the Western Slope energy boom of the 1980s as well and feel more prepared this time to combat the problem. Even so, the number of headless carcasses found has risen in the last few years.
Vehicles also are killing more animals.
One major artery for oil- and gas-related traffic is Colorado 13 between Rifle and Craig. Ron Velarde, DOW’s northwest regional manager, said traffic on the highway has risen œtenfold.
œIt’s increased the roadkill tremendously, especially when (animals) are in migratory patterns, he said.
Loosening rules
The Bureau of Land Management often grants exceptions to rules known as œstipulations, which are designed to protect wildlife from oil and gas development on public lands. The agency says it grants exemptions only when it won’t harm wildlife, but wildlife advocates say the stipulations are routinely waived.
What’s known: A review of BLM records by advocacy groups found that rules to protect animals, birds and fish were waived in most cases in southwestern Wyoming.
Between 2001 and 2004, 86 percent of raptor protections, 90 percent of sage grouse protections and 88 percent of protections for winter wildlife range were waived, according to federal data analyzed by The Wilderness Society.
Data for federal lands in Colorado isn’t as complete, but in fiscal year 2006, the BLM granted changes to protections 50 times out of 77 requests, but issued no outright waivers.
In the BLM’s controversial proposal to permit drilling atop Colorado’s Roan Plateau, the agency acknowledged it œcannot reasonably preclude granting of exceptions … if the proponent can demonstrate that the exception would not cause injury to the resource.
Green groups complain that granting such waivers is a way of quietly watering down protections for wildlife. But BLM spokesman Jim Sample said broadly applied stipulations might not make sense in some specific cases.
He cited the example of a warm spring that melts snow early, which leads elk herds to move off winter range early. The BLM could verify the elk have moved and allow a company to begin work earlier than a stipulation had allowed, he said.
Rocky Mountain News
Monday, December 10, 2007
Regulators, environmentalists, sportsmen and citizens have cited numerous worries about the oil and gas industry’s impacts to the environment, both realized and potential. Here’s an overview of five major categories of concern:
2. THREATS TO WILDLIFE
Habitat fragmentation
Gas drilling has expanded into remote parts of the state, bringing with it roads, wells and other facilities that are fragmenting what have been wide- open regions where animals could migrate freely and gain access to winter nourishment.
What’s known: Northwest Colorado is home to some of the largest deer and elk herds in the United States, and is a magnet for hunters nationally.
Research on how the fast-expanding oil and gas industry might affect those herds is still in the early stages, with no conclusions drawn yet, say officials at the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
But they cautiously point to research in Wyoming, much further along, that has shown elk, mule deer and sage grouse tend to avoid energy development areas.
Mule deer in Wyoming have stayed away from winter range that once provided critical nourishment during the colder months and sage grouse have avoided traditional mating sites.
Both animals saw major population declines in the regions under study, which researchers believe is tied in part to habitat loss from gas development.
Other factors, including drought, fires and disease, also affect wildlife, said DOW spokesman Randy Hampton, so the agency needs more data before declaring a direct relationship between gas development and any wildlife disruption.
œWe want to have sound science, but we’re concerned, he said.
Hampton and other wildlife experts fear animals are suffering from a thousand cuts because oil and gas regulators focus too much on the small picture associated with individual energy proposals.
œPeople look at us and they’re like, ˜This is only three wells. There won’t be that much impact,’ Hampton said. œBut it’s three wells, and the three next to them, and the three next to them, and three more and suddenly there’s 10,000 wells. And that’s a different impact.
Colorado has yet to see sage grouse declines, according to DOW specialist Tony Apa, but the species is in enough trouble regionally that it could become listed as endangered, meaning federal protection and barriers to further development.
Apa notes that gas development is only beginning to enter the sage grouse’s Colorado territory.
œUnfortunately, this bird is extremely sensitive to development (and) to disturbances, Apa said. œIt’s going to be a struggle to preserve this species.
Poaching/Roadkill
Oil and gas workers in remote locales have been caught poaching wildlife, and the building of new roads in once hard-to-reach areas has improved access for would-be poachers and joy-riders. Fast-growing and fast-moving truck traffic is leading to increases in roadkill.
What’s known: Wildlife authorities in Colorado and Wyoming have linked gas workers to several poaching incidents, including a case this year where a worker was fined $10,000 and received a lifetime suspension of hunting privileges in Colorado for killing a trophy buck, cutting off its head and leaving the body to rot.
But authorities said it’s not necessarily energy workers that are the problem, but increased access.
œThere’s 30-foot-wide dirt highways in some of these places, said DOW spokesman Hampton. œThat kind of access puts a lot of people into areas where we didn’t have people before.
Wildlife officers covering 800-square- mile areas now must patrol twice as many roads for poachers, Hampton said.
Wildlife officials say they saw significant increases in poaching during the Western Slope energy boom of the 1980s as well and feel more prepared this time to combat the problem. Even so, the number of headless carcasses found has risen in the last few years.
Vehicles also are killing more animals.
One major artery for oil- and gas-related traffic is Colorado 13 between Rifle and Craig. Ron Velarde, DOW’s northwest regional manager, said traffic on the highway has risen œtenfold.
œIt’s increased the roadkill tremendously, especially when (animals) are in migratory patterns, he said.
Loosening rules
The Bureau of Land Management often grants exceptions to rules known as œstipulations, which are designed to protect wildlife from oil and gas development on public lands. The agency says it grants exemptions only when it won’t harm wildlife, but wildlife advocates say the stipulations are routinely waived.
What’s known: A review of BLM records by advocacy groups found that rules to protect animals, birds and fish were waived in most cases in southwestern Wyoming.
Between 2001 and 2004, 86 percent of raptor protections, 90 percent of sage grouse protections and 88 percent of protections for winter wildlife range were waived, according to federal data analyzed by The Wilderness Society.
Data for federal lands in Colorado isn’t as complete, but in fiscal year 2006, the BLM granted changes to protections 50 times out of 77 requests, but issued no outright waivers.
In the BLM’s controversial proposal to permit drilling atop Colorado’s Roan Plateau, the agency acknowledged it œcannot reasonably preclude granting of exceptions … if the proponent can demonstrate that the exception would not cause injury to the resource.
Green groups complain that granting such waivers is a way of quietly watering down protections for wildlife. But BLM spokesman Jim Sample said broadly applied stipulations might not make sense in some specific cases.
He cited the example of a warm spring that melts snow early, which leads elk herds to move off winter range early. The BLM could verify the elk have moved and allow a company to begin work earlier than a stipulation had allowed, he said.
The Colorado Department of Natural Resources has released the Timeline for Adoption of COGCC Rules to Implement HB 1298 and 1341. CWF has been involved actively in submitting comments this fall and winter on process and wildlife content. See these comments under Our Stand [this home page]. Below is the link to view the Timeline and materials.
Please offer your comments to us!
The Colorado Department of Natural Resources has released the Timeline for Adoption of COGCC Rules to Implement HB 1298 and 1341. CWF has been involved actively in submitting comments this fall and winter on process and wildlife content. See these comments under Our Stand [this home page]. Below is the link to view the Timeline and materials.
Please offer your comments to us!
CWF learned of this BLM instruction memorandum on Saturday. We will watch closely to see how BLM implements the instructions issued by its Director.
|
Signed by:
|
Authenticated by:
|
|
James L. Caswell
|
Robert M. Williams
|
|
Director
|
Division of IRM Governance,WO-560
|