{"id":108239,"date":"2015-11-16T19:06:14","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T02:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/left-meets-right-on-master-lease-plan\/"},"modified":"2015-11-16T19:06:14","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T02:06:14","slug":"left-meets-right-on-master-lease-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/left-meets-right-on-master-lease-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Left meets right on master lease plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"BLM<br><br>The
BLM<br><br>The proposed BLM master lease plan for oil and gas development in Montezuma and La Plata counties is defined by the blue line. Areas bordered by red are off limits to development.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Is the Wilderness Society against oil-and-gas development in Montezuma County?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s been a concern of the county commissioners since they learned the environmental group was part of a lobby effort that persuaded the BLM to consider a master lease plan for energy development.<\/p>\n

A master lease plan would outline additional management to BLM rules already in place for oil-and-gas extraction.<\/p>\n

But during a well-attended public meeting with the commissioners, Wilderness Society attorney Nada Culver rejected the notion that their intent is a ban on drilling.<\/p>\n

Culver said the group supports the plans because they require more BLM planning when granting leases and drilling permits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen 92 percent of (local) public land is open to oil-and-gas leasing, there needs to be more specific planning on where and when to develop,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Are you for multiple use? the commissioners asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaster leasing plans are an example of multiple use,\u201d Culver said. \u201cThey are leases for drilling. Multiple use also includes wildlife, recreation, and grazing; it does not mean every use in every place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed MLP boundary includes BLM lands and federally controlled minerals in western La Plata County and eastern Montezuma County. A year of public meetings will determine if the added management plan is needed. If implemented, it will be the only stand-alone master lease plan in the nation. The other seven plans are within resource management plans of land agencies.<\/p>\n

Culver said an MLP is warranted to try and mitigate inevitable local conflicts with oil and gas earlier, before leases and drilling permits are issued. Areas of concern are potential oil-and-gas fields near Hesperus, around Phil\u2019s World bike park, on BLM hunting grounds and the edge of Menefee Wilderness Study Area, and along the BLM escarpment of Mesa Verde.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know there are going to be conflicts, we know there is industry interest. Let\u2019s come up with a more detailed plan instead of waiting and having fight after fight, drilling permit by drilling permit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Keenan Ertel pressed for details, saying, \u201cI\u2019m still trying to find where the resource management plan in place now is neglectful or misses the mark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Culver responded that they want changes to the BLM\u2019s \u201cwaiver, exception and modification\u201d policy on industry stipulations designed to mitigate impacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no restrictions on where and how the BLM can modify them,\u201d she said. \u201cAn operator can go to BLM and say they would like to remove a stipulation from my lease, and it is the BLM discretion,\u201d whereas the Forest Service has more strict conditions on when that can happen.<\/p>\n

When contacted on the matter, Connie Clementson, BLM\u2019s Tres Rios field manager, said the \u201cwaiver, exception, modification\u201d policy is not taken lightly, must comply with federal environmental laws, and includes public comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe BLM feels it is useful,\u201d she said. \u201cFor example, an area could be off-limits due to a map that shows it is 35-degree slope, or because of a geologic hazard. If the company goes on the ground and proves an area does not meet that criteria, then that could qualify as an exception.\u201d<\/p>\n

The policy could also be used to make stipulations more strict, she said, such as to protect riparian areas that are larger than first realized.<\/p>\n

The county said local public land officials need to be trusted to protect local interests and resources. Culver admitted that the BLM has to have discretion in their decisions for energy development, but that an MLP puts up needed \u201csideboards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA master lease is helpful because it provides more clarity and gets down to the level of (drilling site) conditions for pits, casings, and roads to protect water quality, air quality and wildlife habitat,\u201d Culver said. \u201cFor oil-and-gas companies, they know exactly what they are buying into.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commissioners challenged the claim that 92 percent of federal public lands are available for lease when it comes to Montezuma County.<\/p>\n

\u201cMenefee and Weber Wilderness Study Areas are off-limits, Mesa Verde is off-limits. That does not leave very much land for development,\u201d said commissioner James Lambert. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to understand what\u2019s got you so worried. To me, the expense of trying to make plans firmer is a rip-off to the taxpayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are three public land areas in Colorado with master lease plans for oil-and-gas development. They are North Park, near Kremmling; Shale Ridges, near Grand Junction; and Dinosaur Trail near Dinosaur National Monument.<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

First MLP meeting<\/h4>\n

The first working group meeting for a proposed BLM master lease plan for local oil-and-gas development will take place on Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. at the Dolores Public Lands Office, 29211 Colorado Highway 184, Dolores.
\n A public comment period will begin at 11 a.m. To sign up to comment, please contact Barbara Sharrow at (970) 240-5300, or Shannon Borders at (970) 240-5300 by Wednesday, Nov. 18.
\n Local representatives from Montezuma and La Plata counties sit on the committee, which is a sub-group of the Southwest Resource Advisory Committee that advises the BLM on citizen concerns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wilderness Society discusses energy plan with county<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[21,876,13,109,195],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-108239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-cortez","tag-energy-resources","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-montezuma-county-commissioner","tag-u-s-bureau-of-land-management"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108239"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=108239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}