BLM Colorado: Public Has No Need to Know About Public Lands, Public Monies, Public Employees

Cross-posted from ColoradoPols

In a show of arrogance that has become too typical of the Colorado State Office of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the agency is ignoring a Federal judge, media requests, stakeholders, and the public in denying public information about public activities on the public lands, according to the Durango Herald:

“This isn’t a widespread issue of public concern. It is primarily press that are concerned about oil and gas leasing and activists that are opposed to oil and gas leasing.”

The state ‘Communications Director’, one might assume, has the job as a public employee working on public lands issues and spending public monies, of informing the public and managing media relations.  The ‘press’ and public are–this common-sense assumption goes–the PRIMARY purpose of his receiving a Federal salary as a taxpayer-funded public employee.

But apparently not for BLM Colorado–where public information is no such thing, and the public and media are merely distractions from what ever other self-determined more important things, like defending illegal agency actions perhaps, or intentionally seeking to divide communities.

Colorado’s North Fork Standing Up

This particular matter has its roots in the BLM Colorado State Office’s reckless oil and gas leasing policy that willfully ignores local communities, other federal agencies, state wildlife officials, local businesses and the public, to lease whatever public lands secret industry representatives nominate.  This is despite Colorado having the oldest land use plans in the Mountain West, many dating back to the 1980s–like that that governs the public lands in the North Fork–most of which fail completely to properly account for, describe, consider or protect the resources and uses that exist or depend upon these lands today.

Citizens for a Healthy Community–a Delta County based conservation group–partnered with the Western Environmental Law Center to file lawsuit seeking the names of the nominators who put forward the contentious leases in that valley.  They won that suit.

Here is what the judge wrote:

So, a Federal judge acknowledges that sharing information on public lands and public minerals is in the public interest and orders the public employees at a public agency to release that (public) information.

And the senior staff at BLM Colorado Office responds, to paraphrase: Make us (again).

Following the judge’s decision and the BLM Colorado’s clear loss in court, others–including the Durango Herald–have now sought identical information regarding contentious leases in their communities.  Such as those surrounding Mesa Verde National Park opposed by the BLM’s own sister agency in the Department of Interior, the National Park Service.

Now, the Colorado State Office of the BLM, our public employees spending our public monies to manage our public lands and minerals, is refusing to release that information. Again.  Because, apparently its Communications Director has better things to do than communicate.

Maybe like spending more time in court defending the indefensible, losing more lawsuits, and greasing the skids for oil and gas in violation of what the Federal courts have found to be in the public’s interest.

2012 record-breaking year for Colorado oil production; in last nine years, 2,000 new oil and gas wells added per year

Yet again, the oil and gas industry is crying wolf about stunted energy production. But, as Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Director, Matthew Lepore testified before a House subcommittee, the industry is achieving record growth in Colorado.

In testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy today, Lepore said:

“We have been adding at least 2,000 new wells per year for the past nine years, and expect 2013 to be similar. 2012 was a record-breaking year for oil production in Colorado; we expect production to top 47 million barrels when final numbers are tallied. We rank fifth in the nation in natural gas production and tenth in oil production.”

These facts haven’t stopped industry from claiming that energy production is stunted. Just last week, in response to the Colorado BLM’s decision to defer controversial drilling plans in North Fork Valley, West Slope COGA Executive Director David Ludlum argued that:

“the decision ‘threatens social justice and economic prosperity,’ by inhibiting energy production…” 

But the facts just don’t support COGA’s claim.

Production isn’t just up in Colorado – earlier this week we blogged about how oil and gas production has skyrocketed on public lands. In fact, the oil and gas industry has so much public land that they don’t seem to know what to do with it – one could even compare them to the subjects of A&E’s TV show, “The Hoarders”. Oil and gas companies are sitting on more than 20 million acres of leased public land that they’re not using for production or exploration, and thousands of idle drilling permits.