13-02-04

Conservation groups, already upset with the Bush administration for opening up the West to oil drilling, say the upcoming lease of more than 126,000 acres of federal land in Utah and Colorado, including some near Dinosaur National Monument, is further proof the administration values oil and gas over all other resources.

The Bureau of Land Management, which owns land on the southern and western fringes of the monument, is offering several parcels of land in Colorado and Utah to oil and gas companies for drilling leases.

"Dinosaur National Monument and wilderness lands are special places that must be protected for all Americans," said Jim DiPeso of Republicans for Environmental Protection America. "In addition, we must have a balanced national energy policy that emphasizes efficiency, so there is less pressure to drill in unspoiled wild lands."
A former Dinosaur Monument superintendent also spoke out against the leases.
"As I look more recently at the oil and gas lease offerings, frankly, I'm shocked at the broad scale and sheer magnitude," said Denny Huffman, who was the superintendent from 1987-1997. Huffman said the lease offerings nearly surround the "unique resources" of the monument and future impacts could include poor air quality, visible oil drilling rigs and light pollution ruining clear views of the night sky.

The BLM offered for lease more than 45,000 acres of land in Colorado split into 27 parcels on the south side of the monument. The Utah parcels, consisting of 81,269 acres, will go up for lease and include land outside the western end of the monument and other parcels of land that have wilderness qualities near the Book Cliffs in east-central Utah.
An attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance threatened to fight the Utah lease in court. The Utah BLM had considered nearly 200,000 for this quarterly lease period, but withdrew almost 111,000 acres from consideration after re-examining how that land could be affected, said Don Banks, a spokesman with the Salt Lake City office.
"We do look at wilderness characteristics along with all the other resources we are in charge of managing," Banks said. "We're laying out what we're doing. The lands that should be protected will be and the lands that should be offered for lease should be offered."

The lands offered for leases this month were listed by the BLM in 1999 as wilderness quality lands, said Steve Bloch, staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. Banks agreed, but said that designation doesn't mean the land can't have other uses.
"They are considered, but they are considered alongside wildlife and energy potential," he said.

Source: Associated Press