As a longtime resident, historical geographer, recreational guide and outfitter in the Four Corners region, I constantly see how our public lands are managed. Unbalanced multiple uses do not serve the public interest.
I have taken clients to world-class landscapes such as Vermillion Cliffs, Bandelier National Monument, Grand Gulch, La Garita Wilderness and the Uncompahgre Plateau. These trips help people overcome challenging access to experience the wilderness with all the valuable resources within. But my guests and I cannot fail to notice an alarming trend of both increased gas and oil development combined with disregard for restoration once the drilling ceases.
Oil and gas development is not new to the Four Corners region, but must it be expanded without care for the consequences? The San Juan Basin area in New Mexico and Colorado has produced nearly 38 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and over 370 million barrels of oil. Currently, there are more than 20,000 producing wells in the area with forecasts of up to 5,000 new natural-gas wells coming in the next few years.
A landscape riddled with drill pads, thousands of miles of roads and pipelines, compressor stations and associated traffic to support these activities is no longer a wilderness. Former well sites and accesses are rarely if ever cleaned up and restored to an “as-it-was” standard, so these scars endure indefinitely, negatively affecting our community’s health and economy long after the rigs leave.
Part of the problem is that many of the rules and regulations governing oil and gas development on public lands are incredibly old. Some haven’t been updated since Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. For example, oil and gas companies can get an acre of land for only $2, and they can keep that acre year after year for only $1.50. These prices are simply way too low and haven’t been updated in decades.
Companies must also be able to return the land they drill to its original state after development. While the government requires companies to put up bonds to ensure they can meet the obligation to reclaim the land they develop, the minimum requirements are inadequate and date back to the Eisenhower administration. Modernizing the minimum bonding requirements will help prevent oil and gas companies from abandoning sites while sticking taxpayers with the bill and local communities with the aftermath.
Fortunately, the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees energy development on our public lands, has announced that it intends to update the terms for federal oil and gas leases. This is a long overdue step in the right direction, and I applaud Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and BLM Director Neil Kornze for taking it.
My hope is that this agency acknowledges the realities of all our disparate wishes, clean air, enjoyable scenery, drinkable water, fine employment and incredible natural beauty.
If leases of federal public land parcels brought fair returns to the people with guarantees that reclamation be done fast and right, the better off we would be in the short and long term. Moreover, taxpayers and the local communities affected by gas and oil development must be made whole for the use of their resources and the impacts to their communities. A slight increase in the 12.5 percent royalty rate would go a long way in achieving that goal.
I hope the administration recognizes the value in ensuring that reclamation restores our public landscapes and controls are needed to minimize costs that all too often fall on the American taxpayer. An update is overdue. It is time the BLM protected the public interest; I am confident that the oil and gas industry interest will do much to protect its own.
Chris Maschino lives in Durango. His recreational company, Peaks and Canyons Wilderness Trekking, leads adventures in the Four Corners, sharing ancient culture, wilderness and ecology with diverse groups. Reach him at chris@peaksandcanyons.com.
