{"id":35796,"date":"2023-02-13T10:50:02","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T17:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/fossil-fuel-drilling-threatens-air-and-wildlife-in-national-parks-advocacy-group-finds\/"},"modified":"2023-02-13T17:50:02","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T17:50:02","slug":"fossil-fuel-drilling-threatens-air-and-wildlife-in-national-parks-advocacy-group-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/fossil-fuel-drilling-threatens-air-and-wildlife-in-national-parks-advocacy-group-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Fossil fuel drilling threatens air and wildlife in national parks, advocacy group finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Elk
Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park, 2015. (Courtesy of National Park Service)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

WASHINGTON \u2013 A \u201cmassive\u201d methane cloud forming over Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico.<\/p>\n

Noxious air pollution fouling Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.<\/p>\n

Herds of mule deer and pronghorn at risk of decimation at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.<\/p>\n

Environmental problems like these already result from fossil fuel extraction near four federally protected lands and could become wider problems if the federal government doesn\u2019t bolster protections, the Coalition to Protect America\u2019s National Parks said in a recent report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Oil and gas development near parks could contaminate water and air, destroy habitat, hurt the visitor experience and exacerbate the impacts of climate change, Mike Murray, chairman of the coalition\u2019s executive council, said in a Feb. 2 statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Biden administration and Congress must take action to curb the adverse effects of energy extraction on parks, surrounding landscapes, gateway communities, park visitors, and national park resources,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Leasing of public lands to oil and gas developers grew significantly from 2016 through 2020, under the Trump administration, according to the report. During that time, the federal government leased 5.4 million acres to fossil fuel companies, according to a Wilderness Action report.<\/p>\n

The coalition said that while oil and gas leasing has slowed under the Biden administration, the U.S. Interior Department is still on track to lease thousands of acres to energy companies in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is imperative that the Biden administration complete much needed reforms to the federal oil and gas program,\u201d the authors said.<\/p>\n

\"A
A tri-wall structure at Pueblo del Arroyo in the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico, on Aug. 15, 2006. (U.S. National Park Service)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Unsafe air in New Mexico<\/div>\n

The coalition used four Western case studies to highlight the negative impacts of fossil fuel extraction on federally protected lands: Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico, Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand Teton National Park.<\/p>\n

The authors said in the region surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park, the Bureau of Land Management has leased more than 90% of public lands to oil and gas developers.<\/p>\n

They added that more than 37,000 oil wells were dug in the region, and a methane cloud covering more than 1,200 square miles<\/a> has formed over New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.<\/p>\n

The coalition recommended federal legislation to protect Chaco Canyon<\/a>, an area that\u2019s culturally significant to the area\u2019s Native American communities, and said the Bureau of Land Management was considering withdrawing roughly 10 square miles of public land<\/a> surrounding the region from mineral leasing.<\/p>\n

Finalizing that proposal is \u201cessential,\u201d Jerome Lucero, vice-chairman of the All-Pueblo Council of Governors, said in the report, as is legislation to permanently protect the area.<\/p>\n

Growing oil and gas development in the Permian Basin, near Carlsbad Caverns in southeastern New Mexico, are correlated with a rise in airborne ozone levels that violates National Ambient Air Quality Standards, the authors said.<\/p>\n

Ozone concentrations greater than 70 parts per billion can have detrimental effects on human health, including lung scarring and inflammation, according to the Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board, ozone levels at Carlsbad Caverns first rose to unsafe levels in 2018<\/a>, when they measured 71 parts per billion. These levels remained elevated into 2020, when they measured 73 parts per billion.<\/p>\n

As a large national park, Carlsbad Caverns has special air quality protections under the Clean Air Act. Yet the EPA paused its investigation to officially designate the area as violating those standards earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The top New Mexico environment official said<\/a> this week a federal designation would come eventually, according to public radio news station KUNM.<\/p>\n

An EPA spokesperson did not respond to a message seeking comment.<\/p>\n

Interior\u2019s decision to disallow mineral extraction on forest land surrounding the caverns and recent rewrites of state and federal methane laws are steps in the right direction, the report\u2019s authors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, a thorough assessment of the cumulative risks posed by oil and gas drilling on the wide-reaching cavern system connected to Carlsbad Caverns, and similar protections put in place, is greatly needed to protect these irreplaceable resources,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\"An
An oil pump jack is pictured in the middle of a traffic circle at a new residential development in Weld County on June 24, 2020. (Andy Bosselman for Colorado Newsline)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
A rocky future for Colorado, Wyoming wildlife<\/div>\n

In Colorado, the authors of the report found oil and gas drilling in Weld County has contributed to Rocky Mountain National Park falling out of compliance with regional haze standards<\/a> set under the Clean Air Act.<\/p>\n

The Bureau of Land Management plans to lease almost 60,000 acres of land west of the park for fossil fuel projects, which may interfere with overwintering elk populations, according to the National Parks Conservation Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The authors added that other impacts of climate change affecting the park include more aggressive invasive species and more devastating wildfires.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout additional planning and regulations to protect and improve air quality and manage the boom of oil and gas development near national parks, our climate and air remain at risk,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

In Wyoming, the authors found that impacts of oil and gas extraction were also affecting the survival of local wildlife.<\/p>\n

Oil and gas development in the western half of the state has led to a decline in mule deer habitat and dropped population numbers 46% below the state baseline for a healthy population<\/a>, the authors said. A proposed 250,000-acre leasing project could alter migration patterns for the mule deer, further decimating their population, they added.<\/p>\n

The authors added that pronghorn herds face similar challenges in Grand Teton National Park, in which a 3,500-well project could \u201cirrevocably alter the Path of the Pronghorn.\u201d Hundreds of pronghorn use the route to migrate seasonally.<\/p>\n

The authors cited a Center for Biological Diversity legal petition<\/a>, which asserted that the park\u2019s entire population of pronghorn could disappear with any alteration to the route.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to ensure that the mule deer and pronghorn of Grand Teton remain protected, oil and gas development should remain far from national parks and migration paths,\u201d the authors said.<\/p>\n

\"Mountains
Mountains in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. (Seth Tupper\/South Dakota Searchlight)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Protecting national parks<\/div>\n

The coalition proposed several legislative protections for national parks, including protecting animal migration routes from project development and enhancing community air monitoring.<\/p>\n

The group also recommended the federal government create a stronger mandate to force energy companies to pay for environmental cleanup costs before drilling.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo often, oil and gas companies fail to fully pay for cleanup costs that result from drilling on public lands, which can pollute our air and water while leaving taxpayers to pick up the tab,\u201d the authors said.<\/p>\n

In a tweet<\/a> promoting the report, the group urged movement from the federal government.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch stronger action is needed from the Biden administration and Congress to better protect these extraordinary places from the impacts of oil and gas development,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

To read more stories from Colorado Newsline, visit www.coloradonewsline.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A methane cloud covering more than 1,200 square miles including Colorado said to have formed over four parks in West<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1030,221,28,1362],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-35796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-environment","tag-gas-and-oil","tag-headlines","tag-southwest-life"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35796","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=35796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35796"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=35796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}