The Bureau of Land Management is planning to take a closer look at the future of oil and gas development in Montezuma and La Plata counties.
A Master Lease Plan will be drawn up for energy development on leasable BLM lands between Dolores, Cortez, Mancos, Hesperus and Durango. Interest from the public, including La Plata County, triggered the additional review, said Connie Clementson, field manager for the BLM’s Tres Rios Office.
“We’re initiating a Master Lease Plan process to determine if this area warrants additional stipulations or strategies for future leasing,” Clementson said during the Southwest Resource Advisory Council meeting last week in Durango. “We want to capture areas of public concern on a more finite geographic scale.”
The new plan could tighten up oil and gas restrictions in the two-county area and will be in addition to rules already outlined in the BLM’s overall Resource Management Plan passed earlier this year.
Officials will study the potential effects more oil and gas development could have on BLM lands, wildlife, public-recreation areas, air quality and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and Mesa Verde National Park. The draft planning area includes BLM land in Montezuma and La Plata counties.
Careful planning or delay?
The BLM’s decision to move toward developing a Master Lease Plan is getting mixed reviews.
During a public comment at the meeting, conservationists and recreationists praised the BLM for the additional scrutiny and urged development controls.
“A Master Lease Plan is extremely important to protect public lands,” said Shelley Silbert, executive director of Great Old Broads for Wilderness. “Well pads and roads cause habitat fragmentation, and this plan gives us a chance for better planning and to say which areas need protection.”
Jimbo Buickerood of San Juan Citizens Alliance said a closer look is warranted to avoid overdevelopment of oil and gas.
“To the south (in New Mexico), planning did not go so well, and I blame the Farmington BLM office. Rangeland has been degraded, air quality is degraded and wildlife has been degraded,” he said. “It is not anti-oil and gas, it is more careful planning.”
Eric Sanford, a Resource Advisory Council member representing the oil and gas industry, opposed the additional planning, saying more regulations are redundant, cost the taxpayer and cause further delays for new leases.
“It seems like another delay for the industry,” Sanford said. “You say you do not know yet if it is necessary, yet the decision has been made to do it.”
A previous BLM plan to lease an area in western La Plata County for oil and gas development drew opposition from environmentalists. The sale was deferred and is on hold pending the results of the Master Lease Plan.
Potential leases areas
Many BLM areas in both counties already have been excluded from oil and gas leasing, including Weber and Menefee Mountain wilderness study areas south of Mancos.
BLM lands along the Mesa Verde escarpment in Montezuma County have a no-surface occupancy standard for oil and gas development because of cultural resources.
The Perins Peak, Animas City Mountain and Lake Nighthorse areas near Durango also are withdrawn from mineral leasing.
Several BLM areas potentially available for oil and gas leasing include western La Plata County, subsurface minerals above Dolores, the Phil’s World mountain bike area, BLM land south of Summit Lake and the Mud Springs area in McElmo Canyon.
At their Monday meeting, Montezuma County commissioners said they want more coordination with the BLM on the lease plan.
“It affects more of our BLM lands, but it was never discussed directly with us,” said commissioner Keenan Ertel. “Officials from La Plata County were involved who do not reside here.”
Two or three meetings are being planned to gather community comment about the effect of oil and gas leasing by the BLM in the area.
jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com
