It’s nearly impossible to live in Southwest Colorado and not feel a daily appreciation for our spectacular backyard. We have unparalleled access to some of the best public lands in the West, including beloved places like the La Plata Mountains, Mesa Verde, Canyons of the Ancients, Phil’s World and the lands at the doorstep of our own homes. As much as we enjoy these places, we also have a responsibility to actively engage in shaping public lands policy that affect these lands for the benefit of current and future generations. There’s an opportunity to get involved and show your appreciation for our public lands and our community.
Last year, the local Bureau of Land Management finalized a resource management plan to determine how public lands and natural resources will be managed in the coming decades. The plan opens up the majority of BLM public lands to oil and gas development, yet fails to provide our communities, split-estate landowners or elected officials with adequate tools to alleviate impacts from oil and gas development. There’s a tool that exists, a master leasing plan, to help anticipate potential oil and gas impacts and try to make development as responsible as it can be. The BLM can implement the MLP to fill in gaps in the original RMP, putting safeguards in place to minimize impacts to private property rights, water and air quality, sensitive habitat and climate instability. We need this tool, but it will only be put in place if the public demands it. Please urge the BLM to craft a master leasing plan to protect our lands, homes and communities that we hold so dear.
Shelley Silbert, Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Durango
