Draft BLM plan provides an opportunity to protect public lands from oil and gas leasing, reduce climate pollution, and scale up wildlands conservation
August 3, 2023 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erin Riccio, Wilderness Workshop Advocacy Director, erin@wildernessworkshop.org; 720-470-7580 (Cell)
Scott Braden, Colorado Wildlands Project Director, scott@cowildlands.org; 720-530-7473 (Cell)
Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to the Colorado River Valley and Grand Junction Resource Management Plans (RMPs) for a 90-day public comment period. In response to two lawsuits filed by Wilderness Workshop and partners, the SEIS will determine how 2 million acres of public lands and minerals in Western Colorado will be managed for decades to come. The plan will impact public lands across a broad swath of the West Slope, from the Upper Colorado and Roaring Fork Rivers in Eagle and Pitkin counties to Grand Junction, including special places like the Grand Hogback, the Lower Dolores River canyon country, and the Book Cliffs.
The draft SEIS dramatically broadens the range of alternatives BLM will consider, offering hope that the Biden Administration will meet the moment and do right by our public lands and the climate. The BLM developed alternatives in direct response to public input during scoping, which reflect the values of Coloradans and would bring balance to our public lands through common sense actions like protecting critical bighorn sheep, native trout and endangered species habitat as well as community water sources and lands with documented wilderness characteristics. During the 90 day comment period, Wilderness Workshop and Colorado Wildlands Project will rally our members, conservation partners, government officials, and the public to encourage the BLM to finish the job by scaling down climate pollution while scaling up conservation. This would be a win-win for our public lands, wildlife habitat, western communities and Colorado’s future. The agency must manage greenhouse gas emissions to align with science-based climate targets and help advance important administration priorities that protect nature – our future depends on it. Additionally, this plan aligns with the changing economy of the region which is less and less dependent on fossil fuel extraction as highlighted in a recent report by the Conservation Economics Institute which documents a marked decline in jobs and revenue directly tied to oil and gas development.
“I’m very encouraged to see BLM listening closely to local communities who have been asking for more than a decade for the agency to protect wildlands, wildlife, water and our climate. The draft plan considers common sense closures to new oil and gas leasing of additional public lands with documented community and conservation values,” said Will Roush, Executive Director at Wilderness Workshop. “This planning area contains some of our state’s most important wildlife habitat, treasured recreation areas, wildlands that should be protected for future generations, critical water resources, famed Colorado scenery and Indigenous cultural sites. The community driven alternatives in the draft plan offer a chance for the Biden administration to begin restoring balance to our public lands by offering a path to protect these on-the-ground values, and acknowledge that oil and gas development is a major driver of climate change—which is already impacting our communities, agriculture, water, wildlife and way of life.”
The BLM has an opportunity to offset some of the impacts from oil and gas development – existing and future – by protecting additional lands with high conservation values such as wilderness character, wildlife habitat, watersheds, and cultural or historic sites. The agency has a robust set of administrative tools that it proposes using in this plan including the designation of more Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), wildlife corridors and more. This plan specifically considers meaningful protection for some of the highest value conservation lands in the planning area, including an expansion of the Castle Peak Wilderness Study Area in Eagle County.
“About a quarter million acres in Eagle County are managed by the BLM. Like the rest of Colorado, where only 16% of BLM’s 8.3 million acres are durably protected, most of those Eagle County lands are not permanently conserved,” said Eagle County Commissioner Kathy Chandler Henry. “We appreciate that the draft SEIS proposes thoughtful limits on oil and gas leasing, and allows for the use of conservation tools such as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), Wilderness Study Areas, and other measures to protect BLM lands. These public lands protect our wildlife, contribute to our world-class outdoor recreation experiences and help ensure our local economy thrives.”
“We are pleased to see the BLM propose a range of options to help conserve wildlands in some of the most spectacular public lands in Colorado such as the Castle Peak, the Book Cliffs, Upper Colorado River corridor and the Lower Dolores River,” said Scott Braden, Director of Colorado Wildlands Project. “The draft offers encouraging and expanded options for protections, but we will keep up the pressure on BLM to complete a final plan that stewards our wildlands.”
For more detailed information and background please see this Reporter Memo prepared by Wilderness Workshop.
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Wilderness Workshop is a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Carbondale, CO, whose mission is to protect the wilderness, water, and wildlife of Western Colorado’s public lands. Learn more at WildernessWorkshop.org
