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ASPEN DAILY NEWS - AUGUST 18, 2010

The Pitkin County commissioners expressed frustration and disappointment Tuesday with a Forest Service proposal that would protect 1.1 million acres of the White River National Forest from oil drilling but would likely allow continued and expanding operations in the Thompson Divide area of the county.
 
The exchange came at a quarterly meeting between the county board and U.S. Forest Service officials.
 
David Francomb, the White River’s leaseable minerals program manager, told the commissioners that the feds are leaning toward keeping Thompson Divide in their allowed area for drilling.
 
The backcountry area west of Carbondale currently hosts 36 existing leases. Were the Forest Service to change the existing oil- and gas-friendly designation of the area, the possibility of drilling there would dissolve when the leases expire. If the agency goes through with its current proposal, companies will be able to re-lease the land and keep their rights to drill it.
 
Following Francomb’s report, Commissioner Rachel Richards said, “I find what you just presented to us really disappointing.”
 
She highlighted the importance of the Thompson Divide area to wildlife migration and natural habitat, and urged the Forest Service to use its option to protect it. Francomb countered, “You can say it’s different. These areas exist all over the White River National Forest, that are unique.”
 
Commissioner Jack Hatfield lamented the oil and gas industry getting its way over local citizens and government.
 
“There’s too much industry influence here and I don’t like it,” Hatfield said.
 
Francomb then pointed to the Forest Service’s mission to allow multiple uses on its land, and said oil and gas exploration was a desirable use, so long as it is “sound and stable.”
 
Commissioner Michael Owsley responded by noting the oil industry’s history of boom-and-bust prospecting, and quipped, “Let me give you my definition of stable: It doesn’t include the oil and gas industry.”
 
The proposal would designate 266,599 forest acres for oil and gas leasing in the White River, which covers about 2.3 million acres of Colorado.
 
The citizen-driven Thompson Divide Coalition, based in Carbondale, is pressing for the passage of a bill in  U.S. Congress through which it hopes to block action on natural gas leases in the area. The Pitkin County commissioners endorsed that legislation this summer in a letter to Rep. John Salazar.
 
Public comments on the proposal can be e-mailed to WRNFoilangascomments@fscomments.org or called in to 970-945-3293.
 
Details of the proposal are available at www.fs.fed.us/r2/whiteriver/projects.
 
The brief meeting also touched on a variety of forest-related topics beyond the oil designations.
 
It included a plea from Commissioner Owsley for the Forest Service to find alternative access to the Kobe Park snowmobiling area that has sparked protest from citizens in Lenado, and encouragement from Commissioner Richards to reopen part of the Richmond Ridge area on the back side of Aspen Mountain to public snowmobile access.

andrew@aspendailynews.com

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Thompson Divide deserves protection

By rejecting a bid to support the Thompson Divide Coalition on Monday (see GSPI July 20), county commissioners Martin and Samson have once again demonstrated their allegiance to the gas and oil industries, and not to the people from Garfield County who elected them. Their decision to invite Rep. Salazar to a future commissioners meeting to discuss the Thompson Divide issue makes good sense, but without support from the county it is unlikely that he will take a strong stand to protect the Thompson Divide area. A large factor in Martin's position is his wish to maintain a continued revenue stream for the county from oil and gas development. To extend this argument, why not simply allow gas and oil development all over the state. We might have more revenue, but then, who would want to live here?

It is essential for the economy of our county and state to maintain pristine, natural areas such as the Thompson Divide for our pure enjoyment, ranching and recreation-hiking, camping, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, biking, hunting and fishing. This area's recreational and natural values far outweigh its marginal value as a gas resource. The Thompson Divide area is our recreational back yard — including Four Mile Park, Thompson Creek, and other wild areas in which we play. It supports the forests that are so essential to preserve the water we drink and use for agriculture. This is what sustains the economies of Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, and surrounding communities.

Thanks, Trési, for continuing to be the voice of moderation and reason in our county. Please let Trési Houpt and John Salazar know that we need to keep the Thompson Divide area protected and free from gas and oil development.

Bob Millette and Maggie Pedersen

Glenwood Springs

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Former top wildlife officials back more protections for Front

By EVE BYRON Independent Record | Posted: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 12:15 am

A group of former top wildlife management officials in Montana has sent a letter to the congressional delegation to push for more rapid protection for lands along the Rocky Mountain Front.

The letter is signed by former Fish, Wildlife and Parks directors Jeff Hagener, Pat Graham and Jim Flynn; former state director for the Bureau of Land Management Gene Terland; noted author and former state environmental services chief Jim Posewitz; and other former FWP supervisors, wildlife biologists and game wardens. They note that the Front has served as a working laboratory for wildlife managers for more than 100 years, and permanent protection is needed to ensure that it will remain that way forever.

“Currently, the RMF contains the second largest migratory elk herd in the lower 48; abundant bighorn sheep and mountain goat populations; a robust and growing raptor population; and the full complement of predators from the time of Lewis and Clark,” the letter states.

They note that private landowners have been leading the way, with conservation easements already on more than 100,000 acres and another 100,000 acres under consideration for protection. With that in place, the letter authors say, it’s now time for public land managers to ensure that the habitat remain intact.

“Time is not on our side when it comes to preserving those habitats,” the letter states. “Acting now helps ensure that our children and their children will continue to enjoy the economies created by large, intact ecosystems ...”

Last September, the Coalition for the Rocky Mountain Front unveiled the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, which would add a new layer of protection to 307,000 acres along the Front, while adding 86,000 acres in six chunks to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. The proposal was a three-year effort put together mainly by people who live in the area.

Hagener said he was approached by members of the group who asked if he would sign the letter in support of the project.

“It’s kind of languishing, so they asked several of us involved in wildlife management to sign on and try to move the process ahead more quickly,” Hagener said.

He added that he was happy to do so, having spent time on the Front during his tenure with FWP, as well as having worked for an outfitter there in the 1970s. He also has friends who hunt there.

“My interest there is professional, but it’s also personal,” Hagener said.

Along with adding to the existing federal wilderness areas, the proposal creates new “Conservation Management Area” designations, which act as buffer zones between private lands and the wilderness. They’re meant to provide fewer opportunities for road building, logging and development on forest lands along the Front.

In addition, the proposal includes provisions for an additional $200,000 per year to fight the spread of noxious weeds along the Front.

Jennifer Ferenstein, the Rocky Mountain Front coordinator for The Wilderness Society, said the proposal doesn’t have a sponsor for a bill yet, and they’re hoping this will prompt at least one member of Montana’s congressional delegation to move it forward.

“With the delegation in the state, meeting with people, it’s a good opportunity to remind them about what’s so special in Montana, including the Front,” Ferenstein said.

She added that there’s a possibility of an omnibus lands bill being created this year, and they hope the Heritage Act can be a part of that.

“There isn’t one yet, but there’s been a lot of rumblings about one because ... a number of folks around the country have been moving forward with proposals,” Ferenstein said.

Reporter Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com

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ASPEN TIMES - JULY 28, 2010

PITKIN COUNTY:  NO NEW OIL, GAS LEASES

ASPEN — Pitkin County is urging White River National Forest officials to close forest lands to future oil and gas leasing as existing leases expire.

The 2.3-million-acre forest in northwest Colorado surrounds Aspen and Pitkin County and is important to tourism and recreation in the county, says a letter outlining the county's stand on oil and gas leasing in the White River.

“Given the significant amount of oil and gas that has been produced on the Western Slope over the last 15 years, we request that consideration be given to analysis of the socio-economic and resource benefits of administratively closing lands to future leasing,” reads the letter, tweaked by county commissioners on Tuesday. All five commissioners intend to sign it.

The letter acknowledges the need for the oil and gas industry, but notes the “significant importance” of local tourism.

“The undeveloped public lands on the White River National Forest provide visitors and residents with extraordinary opportunities for experiencing the natural environment, and are central to our economy,” the letter reads.

The county also advocates withdrawing all roadless areas of the forest from leasing.

The county's input comes as the U.S. Forest Service updates its regulations regarding oil and gas leasing on the White River. An environmental impact statement is being prepared as part of that update, and the Forest Service is seeking “scoping comments” on the document.

The county's letter also asks that the Thompson Creek area, outside of Carbondale, be unavailable for leasing.

A 4,800-acre area known as Jerome Park, located in western Pitkin County and eastern Garfield County, was placed under a conservation easement through an investment of more than $10 million from the county and other funding sources, the letter notes.

“Oil and gas development in the Thompson Creek area that surrounds and is accessed through Jerome Park would have adverse impacts on this conserved land,” the letter says.

The Thompson Creek/Assignation Ridge area, which includes lands proposed as a wilderness area, should be closed to future oil and gas leasing, the county said, acknowledging existing leases in the area.

The county also urged the Forest Service to incorporate all of the safety provisions, including wildlife protections, of the federal Consolidated Land, Energy and Aquatic Resources Act that relate to on-shore oil and gas development, into its policy.

The letter also calls for protection of ground water associated with hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” — a process that helps release oil or gas by opening fractures in the rock.

Next week, commissioners are scheduled to review the county's updated oil and gas regulations — a discussion that has been delayed several times since the code amendments won initial approval in March.

janet@aspentimes.com

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County unwilling to endorse new Divide Creek drilling moratorium

But commissioners want state agency to pay closer attention to water concerns

John Stroud
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Garfield County commissioners will ask for a meeting with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) to address ongoing concerns about possible water contamination from natural gas drilling in the Divide Creek area.

However, commissioners John Martin and Mike Samson stopped short of honoring area resident Lisa Bracken's request that the county formally protest any further natural gas development within the former Divide Creek moratorium area until more is known about drilling impacts.

Martin said at a Monday meeting with Bracken, county oil and gas liaison Judy Jordan and consultant Geoff Thyne that he agrees the lingering concerns need to be addressed.

“I can go along with all of the recommendations, except the moratorium,” Martin said. “We have to think about the economy and jobs. That has to be a factor.”

The county would, however, like the COGCC to consider bringing 97 older gas wells that pre-dated current gas well standards up to date, and to give more credence to the findings of Thyne, the county's geology consultant for the Divide Creek area.

Bringing the older wells up to modern standards may help determine if natural gas that continues to seep into Divide Creek, and may possibly be the source of domestic water well contamination, is a result of drilling activity in the area, as Thyne has concluded.

So far, though, the COGCC has been unwilling to work with county staff and area residents to address the concerns, and have gone so far as to discredit Thyne's work, Jordan said.

“I have never seen a state agency behave in this fashion,” she wrote in a May 28 memo to the county commissioners. “The correct way to respond to our broaching of water issues would have been to call a meeting with us and [Thyne] to discuss his report and any perceived flaws or differences in interpretation.”

County Commissioner Trési Houpt recused herself from Monday's discussion due to her role as an appointed member of the COGCC. She did say, however, that at a meeting last week she was able to convice the COGCC to meet with Thyne and discuss his findings. That meeting is scheduled for July 8 in Denver, Houpt said.

EnCana Oil and Gas, USA recently applied for approximately 10 new wells in the Divide Creek area. Bracken has requested assistance from the county in opposing those applications on grounds that there's still not enough information on possible groundwater contamination to proceed.

Specifically, one proposed well would be adjacent to and beneath areas that were impacted by a 2004 gas seep which sent hydrocarbons, including cancer-causing benzene, into Divide Creek. The COGCC determined that the seep was a result of an improperly completed nearby gas well. EnCana was fined $378,000 for violating state regulations in constructing the well.

Bracken argues that, since mid-2008, chemical compounds have continued to seep from natural gas formations, breached by drilling operations that began in 2004, into West Divide Creek and possibly into ground water in the area.

The COGCC imposed a moratorium on drilling in the area for about a year so the source of the problem could be studied. Since then, however, government and industry officials agreed the moratorium should be lifted.

“Other drilling developments have been and are planned, none of which are appropriate to the immediate vicinity of known seeps,” Bracken wrote in a letter to the county commissioners.

Jordan added in her memo that, while the COGCC has attempted to discredit Thyne's findings, his work has been accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal.

“The [county commissioners] should consider supporting his presentations to the scientific community, as many regions of the country are in need of a greater factual understanding of the effects of natural gas development,” Jordan concluded in her memo.

jstroud@postindependent.com