Oil, gas leases on block, despite protests

Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News

Thursday, August 10, 2006

The auction of oil and gas leases on 14,400 acres of roadless federal land in Colorado moves ahead today over protests from a U.S. senator, a Congress member and a candidate for governor.

Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. John Salazar, both Democrats, asked the nation's top federal land managers to stop the auction until the state enacts rules governing 4.1 million roadless acres.

"We haven't received a response," said Cody Wertz, Sen. Salazar's spokesman, late Wednesday.

"The ball is in their court to do the right thing."

Bill Ritter, the Democratic candidate for governor, also asked that the leases be withdrawn until the state's rules are completed - a process that could last two more years.

Conservationists involved in almost a year of drafting the new roadless rules said more energy leases are in the works, and the lack of protection could trigger a land rush.

"I think there is going to be a lot of emphasis by oil and gas and other interests in the next two years in doing things that will jeopardize the integrity of those roadless areas," said Eddie Kochman, a former Division of Wildlife biologist and a member of the 13-member task force drafting the rules.

He said he knew the leases would be offered, and pushed for protections prohibiting new roads.

The task force released the proposed new rules for public comment Wednesday and will review the rules before sending them to Gov. Bill Owens next month.

In 2005, the Bush administration asked each of the Western governors to set new rules for managing more than 58 million acres of unspoiled Forest Service land.

Conflicts over the fate of these vast tracts have escalated with the administration's drive to develop more of the West's energy resources .

Dave Petersen, a task force member, said some wanted interim protections, but were mollified by Mike King, the assistant director for lands, minerals and energy for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.

"I wasn't aware of these leases," said Petersen, the roadless coordinator for Trout Unlimited. "We predicted a land rush, and King told us the best reserves were already gone."

Russ George, head of the Department of Natural Resources, said the task force didn't have the authority to ban roads in the interim.

When the task force asked him to write Owens to recommend a ban on road building, he declined.

"We can still come back to interim restrictions," said Steve Smith, a task force member and Wilderness Society assistant regional director.

Today's leases, located in the White River, Gunnison, Uncompahgre and Grand Mesa National Forests, is a quarterly auction held by the Bureau of Land Management on BLM and Forest Service lands.

Energy companies nominate the parcels, and bids are open to all energy firms. The public can file protests that could prevent drilling.

Jim Maxwell, a spokesman for the regional office of the Forest Service, said the agency usually controls whether or not roads are built under terms of the leases.

In most cases, energy companies are limited to temporary roads that must be fully reclaimed and revegetated, he said.

"The number of leases in the pipeline has increased dramatically in the last year," he said.

"The potential spiderweb of drill pads and road networks is something we will have to handle very deftly."