Roan Plateau opened to natural gas drilling

BLM's compromise includes restrictions to save environment

Todd Hartman And Ellen Miller, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 8, 2006 at midnight

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GLENWOOD SPRINGS - Federal land managers opened the door to drilling in one of Colorado's richest natural gas reserves Thursday, unveiling a compromise proposal that endeavors to reap the mineral riches under the Western Slope's Roan Plateau while protecting its wildlife and environment.

The long-awaited proposal caps years of contentious debate among industry, green groups and numerous public agencies on how to go about extracting natural gas from underneath 115 square miles of federal land within the ecologically diverse plateau region north of Interstate 70, bookended by the small towns of Rifle and Parachute.

The proposed "resource management plan," released by Bureau of Land Management and Colorado officials, comes with an array of conditions designed to limit the effect of drilling on wildlife and streams - even taking into consideration the views for drivers along I-70. A BLM spokesman described the proposal as "one of the most restrictive BLM has written to date."

Even so, environmentalists and some politicians, including U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., expressed disappointment and anger that the plan will open up the top of the 9,000-foot plateau region to drilling.

It's an outcome local communities had long pleaded against, fearing it would crimp the millions of dollars spent annually by hunters, anglers and outdoor recreation lovers who treasure the Roan region for its varied landscape which is home to elk, mule deer and mountain lions, lakes and waterfalls, and aspen forests and wildflowers.

"It's not as if we don't have a lot of drilling going on . . . the drilling in Garfield County is staggering. And the Roan was one of those areas where concerned citizens felt we should go a step further in protecting," said Clare Bastable, Western Slope conservation coordinator for the Colorado Mountain Club.

Under the BLM's preferred scenario, half of the plateau region would remain off limits to any drilling activity. Only small pockets of land - 350 acres - atop the plateau could be disturbed at any one time and wells would be clustered together on drill pads that would have to be at least one-half mile apart.

In addition, BLM officials say development would be limited to higher ridges "away from ecologically sensitive canyons and streams." And, in an unusual twist, to better monitor and control disturbance atop the plateau only one company will be allowed to conduct all the work on behalf of all the leaseholders, the agency said.

Leases will be available to any interested energy company but leaseholders will have to agree on a single firm to do the drilling and establish wells.

Industry officials said they supported the efforts to protect the Roan's environment, but were critical of the components of the proposal they said would drag the drilling process out over decades, and reduce "competitive interest" in acquiring leases to drill.

Kathy Hall, Western Slope representative for the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, said her first look at the plan shows "a lot is unknown. It's a new process." She questioned whether a single operator doing the work for all of the companies that eventually obtain leases would be practical.

"If you reduce competitive bidding, you reduce BLM revenues to the federal treasury," she said. "Why bid on something you can't control?"

Ken Wonstolen, general counsel for the association, called the BLM's ecological protection restrictions on the Roan "virtually unprecedented," and could cite only one other place, Otero Mesa in New Mexico, where the agency confines land disturbance to small blocks of land at a time, as called for atop the Roan.

The BLM's decision walks a fine line. On one side have been political pressures from Washington, D.C., to open more public lands to oil and gas exploration.

Vice President Dick Cheney has specifically cited the Roan for fast-track development.

On the other side are loud, local concerns that the region be left alone, or as unblemished as possible, in deference to an economy dependent on recreation and wildlife watching.

"This is not a perfect plan," said Russell George, executive director of Colorado's Department of Natural Resources and a man known for his ability to build consensus. "In government, our obligation is to balance things for all citizens to accommodate as many interests as possible."

George, who hails from Rifle, said he assigned 13 people from various divisions of the DNR to work on the plan with the BLM and locals in Garfield and Rio Blanco counties. He highlighted staged development "one ridge top at a time," clustering drilling facilities, setting aside more than 23,000 acres of wildlife security areas, forming a Parachute Creek Water Management Area to protect water resources and limiting development to one operator.

Even with such restrictions, George said, officials believe industry can recover 90 percent of the natural gas under the plateau.

That's important to energy advocates, who project that the nearly 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the plateau could heat more than two million homes for 20 to 30 years in a time of rising natural gas demand and prices.

Indeed, the Roan is estimated to be home to one-third of Colorado's natural gas reserves and represents more than 4 percent of the nation's 201 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves, according to figures provided by the BLM.

"It is, I think, an innovative plan and we realize not all the elements of the plan will please everybody," said Sally Wisely, director of BLM's state office.

"It will allow oil and gas development on top, but it will be tightly controlled.

"We're committed and obligated to follow our plan."

While environmentalists took pains to note that the BLM was in a difficult political position, serving conflicting masters, they were skeptical that the government would follow through with enforcing all the good intentions outlined in the plan.

"Does the BLM have the people and the resources to make it happen?" asked Steve Smith, with the regional office of the Wilderness Society.

Taking measure of the Roan Plateau

• Resources

115 square miles federal land in the BLM's Roan Plateau planning area; not including 126,000 acres (197 square miles) of public and private land also within the planning area.

8.9 trillion cubic feet estimated natural gas reserves, more than 4 percent of the nation's reserves.

75,000 number of public comments on BLM's 2004 draft presenting four development alternatives.

22,000 acres on the Roan with "wilderness characteristics."

1,570 estimated number of new wells that would be permitted in the planning area, with 210 atop the plateau, 1,360 below on a total of 193 pads over 20 years.

21,034 acres within four proposed areas of "critical environmental concern."

259 miles routes for motorized travel on federal land.

•Wildlife

33 species of mammals - including elk, mule deer, black bear and mountain lion - living on the Roan, in addition to 125 species of birds and 12 species of reptiles and amphibians.

The birds include the American peregrine falcon, a species removed from the federal endangered species list in 1999, the federally threatened bald eagle, and nesting golden eagles.

The Roan is also prime habitat for the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse and greater sage grouse, both listed as species of special concern by the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

8 number of streams on the Roan meeting requirements to be designated part of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The plateau's waterways are home to several populations of Colorado River cutthroat trout, which are distinguished by their genetic purity.

• What's next

The release of BLM's proposal is not a final decision. A so-called Record of Decision won't be signed until the completion of a 30-day period for the public to protest the proposal. Gov. Bill Owens also has 60 days to review the plan for consistency with state law.

Copies of the plan and additional information can be found at www.blm.gov/rmp/co/roanplateauSources: Bureau Of Land Management, The Environmental Working Group.

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048

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