Filled with verdant aspen forests, beaver streams, and abundant wildlife, the Willow Creek area straddles portions of Pitkin and Mesa counties and includes three roadless areas originally prioritized for protection by the Thompson Divide Coalition. Despite the area’s rich ecology, 6 oil and gas leases covering more than 8,600 acres were issued in 1996.
Recognizing the threat and looking for opportunities to protect this place, in 2008 we started filing Freedom of Information Act requests to learn everything we could about why the 12-year-old leases hadn’t expired. Oil and gas leases are issued for 10-year terms and are extended only by proven production, but operators often use loopholes to extend their hold on public lands.
Though two wells were drilled back in the early 2000s, they never produced any oil or gas, and the leases should have expired. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was doing a poor job administering its own regulations, enabling the leaseholder to hold onto thousands of acres by manipulating the agency and its regulations.
A young Joona Hart in the Willow Creek Roadless Area. Field visits with family and friends are always an important part of our work.
In 2012, responding to years of our advocacy, the BLM acknowledged most of the Willow Creek leases should have expired years earlier. This decision removed all leases except for lands surrounding the two gas wells, beginning years of appeals and litigation as WW defended the BLM’s decision and the leaseholder fought it. In 2020, a Federal District Court upheld the agency’s decision, confirming the expiration of thousands of acres of leases. Four leases remained on the books, purportedly held by the two wells that had never produced oil and gas.
A 2012 Map of East Willow oil and gas leases.
In late 2022, our work paid off! The operator never responded to a letter from the BLM – requiring the wells, now more than 15-years idle, be put into production or plugged and abandoned – and three more leases were elminated. Today, only one 1,280-acre lease remains, set to expire in November 2023. Our work in the Willow Creek area has resulted in the elimination of more than 7,000 acres of leases. And, by this time next year, we hope to have eliminated all of the Willow Creek leases preventing oil and gas development from harming this special place!
“Through changing agency staff, litigating leaseholders, and endless paperwork, Wilderness Workshop has stayed true to our goal of eliminating the Willow Creek leases. The lessons we’ve learned have been invaluable in our efforts to protect public lands all across Western Colorado. Thank you for making this work possible!” – Peter Hart, Wilderness Workshop Legal Director
The Long Fight for East Willow
1996 Six Willow Creek leases issued, each with a ten-year term. Seventh lease issued.
2001 First well drilled, never produces any gas.
2003 Seventh lease issued.
2004 Second well drilled; after testing the well’s production for one day, it is shut-off.
2009-2012 WW requests termination of expired leases.
2013 Leaseholder appeals. Responding to our advocacy, BLM demands wells be put into production. Leaseholder does not comply.
2015-2019 WW supports BLM’s attempt to expire leases. Litigation follows.
2021 WW calls for BLM to send a letter to the leaseholder, notifying them that if the wells don’t produce gas they will expire.
2022 Three more Willow Creek leases eliminated!
