Public outcry and action help hold off drilling near Mesa Verde National Park and Dinosaur National Monument

2013-02-8

The Colorado Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced that it will defer the sale of eight controversial oil and gas leases (10,839 acres) near Mesa Verde National Park from its upcoming February 14th lease sale. State Director Helen Hankins has also announced that BLM will defer three leases and portions of two others (2,626 acres) near Dinosaur National Monument from its May 2013 sale. The decisions come just days after the Colorado BLM office deferred oil and gas leases in the North Fork Valley.

“We’re glad to see Colorado BLM finally applying common sense to leasing decisions. But, that doesn’t change the fact that a lot of red tape – to say nothing of residents’ and local business owners’ time and anguish – could have been saved if Dir. Hankins had applied the Department of Interior’s leasing reforms in the first place. These deferrals are a band-aid, not a cure. Dir. Hankins must modernize her leasing policies and include other agencies, like the National Park Service, residents and business owners in her planning as much as oil and gas executives, or we’ll be back to square one for the next lease sale,” said Ellynne Bannon, Checks and Balances Project western energy and lands program manager.

  • According to a recent analysis by The Wilderness Society, Dir. Hankins’ policies have resulted in protests against 85 percent of Colorado leases in fiscal year 2012, compared to 33 percent throughout the rest of the Rocky Mountain region.
  • Even after the deferrals, the upcoming February 14th sale is the biggest lease sale in Colorado under the Obama Administration – at 68,692 acres and 138 parcels.
  • Deferral of the February and May leases follows former superintendent of Dinosaur National Monument Denny Huffman’s Denver Post column, in which he wrote that Dir. Hankins was promoting “irresponsible” drilling proposals near national parks.
  • The National Park Service (NPS), Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and La Plata County, in addition to San Juan Citizens Alliance, all raised concerns about the Mesa Verde lease parcels.