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Rethinking the Roan Plateau |
By The Daily Sentinel
Friday, November 13, 2009
We at The Daily Sentinel were never thrilled with the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to allow natural gas leasing and drilling on the 35,000 acres of federal lands atop the Roan Plateau.
However, as it became clear that was going to be the decision, we gave credit to the BLM for crafting a drilling plan that went a long way toward protecting critical biological and recreational resources on top of the Roan.
But that plan was premised on the notion that, whichever company leased the Roan, it would probably drill just over 200 gas wells there during the next 20 years.
Turns out the BLM underestimated just a tad. The actual number of wells could be 15 times that.
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Last Updated ( November 17, 2009 )
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A court ruling on the Roan Plateau lawsuit may be close. A coalition of 10 environmental groups sued the Federal government last summer, after public lands on the Roan had been leased by the Bush administration. In the past few weeks, several new developments have thrown a wrench into settlement talks. Aspen Public Radio's Victoria Foley reports.
Listen to the story here |
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Natural Wonders of Roan Plateau |
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Last Updated ( April 02, 2009 )
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Fight for Protection of the Roan Plateau Continues! |
Coalition Protects Roan from New Drilling until Legal Challenges are Decided in Federal Court The fight for protection of the Roan Plateau continues, with some good news to report from recent weeks. You may recall that in September, the Bureau of Land Management issued leases for the public lands on the Roan Plateau, and dismissed over 15,000 protests filed by concerned parties ranging from local citizens to the State of Colorado. On the same day, a team of sportsmen, recreation and conservation groups filed for an injunction in federal court to prevent full-scale drilling of the Roan Plateau and protect its important natural values as they are today. Last Friday, all parties involved, including the Bureau of Land Management and the oil and gas companies holding the new leases on the Roan, agreed to a ban on surface disturbance on the Roan Plateau until June 2009. This ensures that the concerns expressed in our litigation will be heard and carefully considered before any development will be contemplated. It has been a long time since we began our work to protect the Roan Plateau, and it is as a result of the tenacity (and patience!) of the citizens and communities of Colorado that the public lands in the Roan planning area still remain undeveloped. As we move into this next phase, it is important that citizens continue to advocate for the protection of the Roan. Remember that conservation successes are often not won in single moments, but in a series of small wins that add up, over time, to save the places that we cherish. Despite this administration’s best efforts to fast-track drilling on the Roan, we have built a powerful alliance that has succeeded in preventing new drilling until we get our day in court. And, there is no doubt that the tremendous effort built around protecting the Roan has helped change the dynamics of citizen involvement in energy and environmental issues in Colorado, regardless of the outcomes of our fight for the Roan Plateau. Thank you so much for your efforts on behalf of the Roan! |
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Last Updated ( October 22, 2008 )
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