GRAND JUNCTION – Many are calling for protections against oil and gas drilling in some parts of western Colorado.

The Bureau of Land Management has received thousands of comments on its draft resource management plan for it Uncompahgre Field Office, with many of the comments focused on drilling in North Fork Valley. Activists worry that drilling in the North Fork could cause environmental contamination.

The draft plan addresses energy development, travel management, livestock grazing, recreation and other issues on about 1,055 square miles of BLM-administered lands and more than 1,500 square miles of subsurface federal minerals in Delta, Gunnison, Mesa, Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel counties.

The draft plan would open about 1,300 square miles of federal minerals for oil and gas leasing.