http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/12/20/122107_1a_Ritter_Roan.html
Thursday, December 20, 2007 Natural gas drilling atop the Roan Plateau should continue, Gov. Bill Ritter acknowledged Thursday, so long as the federal government protects the plateau’s environmentally sensitive assets. “I think we can strike a balance that’s going to benefit Colorado’s environment, economy, communities involved … and certainly the energy industry,” Ritter said. In a letter sent to Sally Wisely, state director for the Bureau of Land Management, Ritter said he hopes the agency will work to ensure watersheds, wildlife habitat and other aspects of critical environmental importance are protected as development moves ahead. Ritter requested the BLM protect several places atop the plateau that the agency has not flagged as areas of critical concern. He also requested incremental leasing of the federal lands. Phased leasing could garner Colorado higher leasing revenue, let Colorado better utilize new drilling technologies and enable communities surrounding the Roan to accommodate development, state Department of Natural Resources Director Harris Sherman said. The governor’s letter and comments came at the end of a 120-day review period, which the Interior Department granted the state in early August. The question of whether and how to develop the Roan Plateau north of Interstate 70 between Parachute and Rifle ignited a political firestorm this year after the BLM decided in late June to open the more than 50,000 acres atop the plateau to leasing. Development advocate Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, praised the governor’s decision in a statement, calling it “a shot across the bow of those who have tried to make energy production a wedge campaign issue in Colorado.” “When you strip away all the politics and all the partisan grandstanding that’s been going on in Washington, the governor finally came around to making the right call on the Roan and he deserves credit for it,” Penry said. In response to Ritter’s letter, Wisely said she looks forward to working with Colorado to responsibly develop the Roan. “I believe we can recover the area’s natural gas resources in an environmentally sensitive manner so as to meet the nation’s energy needs and generate revenue for the people of Colorado,” Wisely said. Conservationists, however, said they were disappointed with the governor’s decision not to fight development atop the Roan. Steve Craig, the president of the Colorado Council of Trout Unlimited, said the governor’s position did not go far enough in advocating against drilling atop the plateau. “While we applaud the governor’s recommendation to expand the so-called ‘areas of critical environmental concern,’ ” Craig said, “we also see a missed opportunity to fully protect the fish and wildlife habitat on the Roan Plateau.” Elise Jones, executive director of the Colorado Environmental Coalition, said she hopes Colorado’s congressional delegation will continue to fight to halt leasing activities atop the plateau. Ritter’s opinion places him at odds with Democratic Colorado lawmakers Rep. John Salazar, Rep. Mark Udall and Sen. Ken Salazar, who have tried to halt Roan development at every turn.
Ritter asks to expand protected areas on Roan Plateau
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20071220/NEWS/289003089
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 20, 2007
DENVER - Gov. Bill Ritter said Thursday he asked federal land managers to expand areas of the Roan Plateau that would be off-limits to natural gas drilling, calling the western Colorado landmark "a very special place."
Ritter said he and his staff also continue to negotiate with the Bureau of Land Management on how the rest of the federal land on the plateau is developed.
The Roan Plateau has become a battle ground in the push for more domestic energy production because it's both rich in natural gas - several trillion cubic feet in deposits - and rich in wildlife and ecological diversity.
"I'm confident that we're making progress on what I believe is a uniquely Colorado solution," Ritter said during a news briefing in his office.
The BLM issued a final management plan in June that covered about 70 percent of the 73,602 acres of federal land on the plateau. A final decision is pending on areas deemed environmentally sensitive - about 30 percent of the federal land - because the areas weren't adequately described in the plan.
The proposal for the Roan Plateau had been in the works for seven years but Ritter sought, and received, more time to study it because he had just taken office in January.
In comments sent Thursday to the BLM, Ritter recommended expanding the environmentally critical areas to be protected from the 21,034 acres in the agency's plan to 36,184 acres. The Colorado Division of Wildlife previously endorsed the larger acreage.
The Ritter administration is also suggesting changes to the plan for the rest of the federal land even though the BLM gave final approval to that part of the proposal. He said talks with BLM and Interior Department officials have been productive.
"I think we're making progress on a plan that is better than the current one," Ritter said.
BLM spokesman David Boyd said the agency will have to review the state's suggestions to determine if they can mesh with the plan. "We want to keep working with them," he said.
Ritter and Harris Sherman, executive director of the state Department of Natural Resources, said the earliest the BLM would issue any gas leases for the area would likely be late next summer. They said that should give them time to continue talking to federal officials.
State officials have suggested phasing in leases on top of the plateau rather than leasing the land all at once. Sherman said he believes that would increase what companies are willing to pay because the current plan calls for the development to occur in stages. He said companies are unlikely to pay a lot of money for leases they can't develop for a while.
The state and federal governments split the revenue from federal leases offered in auctions.
Sherman said another advantage of pacing the leases over several years is that as technology improves, the impacts of drilling will be reduced.
The BLM's plan projects 193 well pads and 1,570 wells over 20 years, including 13 pads and 210 wells on top. The BLM says the proposal would preserve 51 percent of land on top of and below the plateau while allowing recovery of more than 90 percent of the natural gas.
On top, the BLM calls for oil and gas drilling to be done in stages and clusters to limit disturbance to 1 percent of the federal land at any time. Development would be focused on slopes with less than a 20 percent angle.
Environmentalists, hunting and angling groups and some area residents oppose plans to drill on top of the plateau. The Roan Plateau, about 180 miles west of Denver, looms over the Colorado River and alternates between open flat spots, deep canyons and rugged peaks as high as 9,000 feet.
The plateau is home to the state's largest deer and elk herds, mountain lions, peregrine falcons, bears, rare plants and genetically pure native cutthroat trout dating to the last ice age. Local elected officials have said the Roan Plateau, which draws hunters and anglers from across the country, contributes millions of dollars to the area economy.
The area also sits atop the region's largest oil shale reserves and enough natural gas, according to industry estimates, to heat every home in Colorado for a quarter century.
Some industry groups and elected officials have criticized efforts to block drilling on the plateau, saying the country needs to reduce its reliance on foreign fuel. They also said delays could cost the state billions of dollars from leases and mineral royalties.
Reps. Mark Udall and John Salazar and Sen. Ken Salazar, all Colorado Democrats, proposed unsuccessful bills to ban or postpone drilling on top of the Roan Plateau.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association, a trade group, said it was pleased that Ritter recognizes the plateau's potential resources and that technology can be used to extract the gas in an environmentally sensitive way.
Ritter's recommendations for the plateau drew mixed reactions from conservation groups.
"We are really pleased that the governor endorsed the original recommendations of the Division of the Wildlife" on environmentally sensitive areas, said Suzanne O'Neill, executive director of the Colorado Wildlife Federation, made up of hunters, anglers and wildlife advocates.
But some members of the Colorado chapter of Trout Unlimited expressed concern that drilling would be allowed on top of the plateau.
Forest snow to faucet flow
Denver Post guest commentary by Rick Cables Last week's announcement of a historic, seven-state water-sharing agreement brings to light a perception that water begins at the Colorado River, when actually it is the link between our forest's snow pack and the faucets through which that melted snow flows.
Mountain snows supply 75 percent of the inland West's water, almost half of it from the highest elevations. The health of forests is critical to the quality and quantity of water that flows from them.
Renewing national forests is critical to sustaining their function as the source of most water in the inland West. Forests are nature's sponge, storing and filtering vast amounts of water and slowly releasing it in summer when it is most needed. It all begins in winter with snowfall.
Winter snow will translate into water yields next spring. The mountain snowpack functions as a high-altitude reservoir that feeds headwater river basins. The streams in these basins ultimately flow to our water systems. When we turn on our faucets, we tap into our forests — so our water supply depends on the health of our forests and their streams.
Securing reliable flows of clean water was a prime purpose of the first national forests. In a sense, history is repeating itself today as we in the Forest Service return to our roots by giving priority to water as the greatest value of national forests.
The stakes are now higher than ever with projections of a warming climate, less snowpack, earlier snowmelt, and more severe droughts and wildfires that will strain our water supply and threaten our water source. We need to plan for such a future.
The evidence today is sobering: Spring snowpack has already dropped sharply in the past 20 years, and snowmelt runoff now starts an average of 10 days earlier. Large forest fires are four times more frequent and burn six times more acres. In spite of all this, national forests will remain the water towers of the West, feeding the Colorado River and other river basins.
Water is a finite resource, with infinite potential demand. We may squeeze a bit more from the earth and sky, but there is only so much water there. The real answer lies in working together to save our source and reduce our demand. The water stresses of this century will prove to be a defining conservation issue of our time.
Advocacy for water issues and forests requires public collaboration. One model is the Pike National Forest, where a 2-mile stretch of the South Platte River between Elevenmile Dam and Cheesman Reservoir is the site of an ambitious watershed restoration project. The state of Colorado, Park County, Trout Unlimited, Coalition for the Upper South Platte, and South Platte Enhancement Board will work with us in 2008 on the Happy Meadows project. Drainage control on roads and pullouts and revegetation of burned areas and heavily grazed upstream pastures will reduce sediment loads into the river and improve aquatic habitats and clean water supplies.
The work of rural communities, grassroots groups, businesses and individual volunteers is critical to improving our forest watersheds, to helping heal wounds on the land so streams run clean, and to making forests more resilient to wildfires so the sponge keeps working. And we are grateful.
I applaud the visionary cooperation shown by the seven Colorado basin states, and hope it helps pave the way for more joint water solutions. Our future depends on it.
Rick Cables is the Rocky Mountain Regional Forester.
Sportsmen join forces to protect Garfield County's Roan Plateau
By Phillip Yates December 12, 2007
RIFLE - Anglers, hunters and recreational enthusiasts have formed a new coalition fighting to protect the Roan Plateau from increased gas development atop its rim and in crucial, lower deer and elk winter range.In its announcement Tuesday, Sportsmen for the Roan Plateau - an organization made up of more than 20 groups that include the National Wildlife Federation, state chapters of Trout Unlimited and the Colorado Mule Deer Association - proposed a "two-pronged solution" it hopes would be a fair compromise for sportsmen and energy developers regarding the Roan's future.The proposal calls for no new oil and gas leases on public lands in the Roan Plateau Planning Area until a plan is developed "that allows continued, responsible drilling on existing leases and private industry lands, including directional drilling underneath underdeveloped lands while protecting those underdeveloped public lands in the Roan Plateau Planning area from development-related surface disturbances."
Bill Dvorak, a spokesman for the National Wildlife Federation, said the proposal is not a new strategy to try to restrict gas drilling further afield in the Bureau of Land Management's Roan Plateau Planning Area.
"It has always been our philosophy that you can't have wildlife if you don't have a winter refuge," Dvorak said. "We have always advocated protecting the prime winter range at the base of the Roan."
Dvorak said while many environmental groups have concentrated on protecting the top of the Roan, most people concerned about wildlife consistently have advocated protecting the base as well as the top, because there will not "be any critters to occupy the top if they don't have a place to winter."
The gas-rich Piceance Basin, of which the Roan Plateau is a small part, is about 7,100 square miles in size, but the public lands on the Roan Plateau are less than 67,000 acres or about 1.5 percent of the Piceance Basin, according to the Sportsmen for the Roan Plateau. The group cited a 2006 government study saying 90 percent of the public, BLM-managed natural gas in the Uinta/Piceance basins is already available for leasing.
"Clearly there is room for balance, including protecting what remains of the Roan Plateau," the group said in its statement.
The same day Sportsmen for the Roan released its statement announcing its formation, a pro-industry group called Americans for American Energy criticized U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., for reportedly leading a "back door" attack in Congress against the U.S. Naval Oil Shale Reserve - the old name for the Roan Plateau. The group said Salazar's actions would deprive Colorado of more than $1 billion in new revenues that could possibly "fund improvements to schools, local governments and water projects."
The group accused Salazar of wanting to stick an amendment deep in a spending package being considered "behind closed doors" that would stop a current compromise Roan Plateau management plan from going forward. That plan would allow drilling on the plateau top.
The group praised Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., for his support of the plan. It said Allard is doing the "heavy lifting for Colorado and America on this, and Colorado consumers will owe him a huge debt of gratitude if he succeeds."
Salazar contends the plateau top should be protected from drilling. He said last week he may push to include a one-year moratorium on leasing on the Roan in an Interior Department appropriations bill, to provide time to come up with a more protective management plan.
Ritter walking a Roan tightrope
He says he will opt for "modifications" of the plan - sure to rattle business interests or activists.
Article Last Updated: 12/07/2007 12:45:47 AM MST
Gov. Bill Ritter said Thursday that it's unlikely he will recommend a "wholesale" adoption of the federal drilling plan for the Roan Plateau.
"Our recommendations will be a modification, or some may say a departure," said Ritter, who is nearing the end of a 120-day review of the Bureau of Land Management's drilling proposal. "I've never been a person opposed to drilling on the Roan. But we need to make sure any modifications are environmentally sound and we maximize the economic benefit to the state."
No matter what recommendations the first-term governor suggests, he faces a no-win situation, some say. By taking a position, he will probably infuriate either a core constituency, such as environmentalists, or hefty business interests, which are already angry about some of Ritter's recent decisions.
If he's seen as too eager to allow drilling, he also could alienate those who regularly use the area for hunting, fishing and other recreation. Many of them, and other Western Slope voters, lean Republican but played a critical role in Ritter's win last year.
Additionally, the governor has to find a way to balance the concerns of powerful leaders in his own party, such as U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, who is trying to stall drilling on the Roan for a year.
For all the risk, the payoff may be small. The governor's recommendations aren't legally binding and have questionable influence. In the end, the decision is solely controlled by the federal government.
"He is really walking a tightrope," said John Redifer, a political science professor at Mesa State College in Grand Junction. "I don't know where he stands to gain much in any decision he makes."
Ritter, however, says his recommendations are not guided by special-interest groups and his concerns aren't focused on possible political fallout.
"The question is how does the state protect a pristine place and, at same time, extract resources that can have economic benefit to the state?" Ritter said.
And while the governor acknowledges the federal government doesn't have to heed his suggestions, he said he's had a number of conversations with the Interior Department and believes that officials there will take his recommendations seriously.
Years of negotiations
The 52,000-acre development plan, announced in June, was hammered out by the BLM and the state's Natural Resources Department after years of negotiations. It limits drilling operations to no more than 1 percent of the plateau's surface land at any given time and requires that area to be restored before a new area can be drilled. Additionally, half the public lands on the plateau must be free of roads, drilling and pipelines.
After some political wrangling by Salazar last summer, Ritter was granted 120 days by the Interior Department to review the plan.
The plan's 1 percent drilling requirement irked the oil and gas industry, which has a $23 billion economic impact on the state, according to the Colorado Energy Research Institute. However, that is a better alternative than a recommendation from the governor that may further limit drilling.
"If that happens, there will be a continued negative political chill out there that gives companies pause as to whether they want to justify multibillion-dollar investments in projects," said Greg Schnacke, president of Americans for American Energy, which advocates for domestic drilling.
Environmentalists and recreation users are upset with the plan released in June because it permits drilling atop the Roan. Many advocate horizontal drilling from remote locations to avoid disturbing the surface. The energy industry contends horizontal drilling is much more costly and not perfected.
More protections urged
"It would be a missed opportunity if the governor does not push further for more balanced oil and gas drilling," said Elise Jones, executive director of the Colorado Environmental Coalition.
On Thursday, a group of Democratic state lawmakers sent Ritter a letter asking that he recommend more protections for wildlife and the environment, as well as a ban on surface drilling.
However, the latter is a deal-breaker for some Republican lawmakers who see drilling atop the Roan as a way to generate millions of dollars for health care, transportation and education.
Drilling moratorium
"If the governor supports a balanced approach to energy production on the Roan, we will sing his praises on the Capitol steps," said Republican state Sen. Josh Penry of Grand Junction. "If he doesn't go along with drilling on top of the Roan, we will continually remind him of the millions of dollars he walked away from that the state needs."
Although Democratic U.S. Reps. Mark Udall and John Salazar added an amendment to the energy bill that would have banned surface drilling, it was left out of the House energy bill approved Thursday.
Ken Salazar says he will seek a one-year moratorium on Roan drilling in the Senate, but that will probably not occur until next year.
Even if the BLM plan goes forward, it will take anywhere from "several months to a year" for the lease sales to go through, said BLM spokesman Jim Sample.
Healing Troubled Waters - TU Climate Change Report
TU's climate change report, " Healing Troubled Waters" was released yesterday. You can download a copy, read the FAQ and related links at: www.tu.org/climatechange.
Study: Climate change will endanger trout
http://www.jhguide.com/article.php?art_id=2500 By Cory Hatch December 6, 2007 A survey of scientific studies on climate change and fish shows that Western populations of trout could diminish by as much as 60 percent as water warms, bugs disappear and droughts become more prevalent.
The report, compiled by Trout Unlimited, looks at the effects of climate change on trout and salmon habitat across the country. The report also suggests ways to make habitat more resilient to threats associated with a predicted 2 to 10 degree global temperature increase during the next 100 years.
Jack Williams, chief scientist for Trout Unlimited, said trout and salmon are good indicators of ecosystem health because they require cold, clean water for spawning, egg survival and rearing of young.
"We're already seeing the effects of climate change," said Williams, who pointed out that mayflies, an important food source for trout, are starting to emerge at an earlier time of year. "We've got a lot of trout populations that are poised to lose about half of their range."
In addition to warmer water and impacts on insects, Williams said, climate change could mean greater floods, reduced snowpack, earlier runoffs, more wildfires and increased insect infestations in forests, all of which can hurt trout populations.
Bob Gresswell, a research biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, studies cutthroat trout in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, including one project below Jackson Lake Dam. Gresswell says trout across the West are so susceptible to climate change because development and irrigation pressures have already pushed populations into more isolated, high-elevation streams.
Further, humans have introduced non-native fish such as rainbow trout, brook trout, lake trout and brown trout into cutthroat trout ecosystems, increasing the risk of hybridization and predation. Climate change could amplify the negative effects non-native fish have on trout, Gresswell said.
For instance, reproduction times for rainbow trout and cutthroat trout are somewhat isolated by the spring runoff. Cutthroat trout spawn just after the peak runoff and rainbow trout spawn just before. But with spring runoff coming earlier each year, Gresswell said, rainbow trout could eventually come to a point when they can't spawn any earlier, and the chance of hybridization could increase.
Gresswell pointed to fish die-offs and fishing closures in Yellowstone and Montana as a probable sign that global warming is already affecting trout populations.
"I worked in the park for 17 years and we never closed the fishery even once [because of warm water]," he said.
Both Gresswell and Williams said that while it could be too late to stop climate change, it isn't too late to make trout habitat more resilient to its effects.
"Let's start working right now on things that we can do to our local stream systems to prepare for the kinds of impacts that we know are coming," Williams said.
Restoration efforts include trying to reconnect larger low-elevation waterways to the smaller upper-elevation streams native trout now inhabit.
"That allows the fish to basically move around and find better habitat conditions," Williams said. Other ways to protect trout include removing old culverts, planting native trees and shrubs along streams to provide shade and protect stream banks, and placing logs and boulders in the stream to provide sections with deeper, cooler water.
Salmon, trout populations will be hurt by global warming, but it's not too late to act, report states
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20071205/NEWS/71205008 December 5, 2007
Climate change will hurt trout and salmon populations, but there is still time to act before it's too late, a report released today from Trout Unlimited states.
"Healing Troubled Waters" highlights how global warming will affect the nation's game fish populations, stating that they are likely to decline by 50 percent or more, and some populations, such as the bull trout found in high-mountain areas in the West could be cut by as much as 90 percent.
But Congress could appropriate money in the future to find ways to help make coldwater fish populations sustainable despite the climate change, and in fact Congress is making some progress on that very issue even today, the report stated.
The complete report is available at www.tu.org/climatechange.
Roan cut from energy bill
Washington - Legislation that would have stopped drilling atop the Roan Plateau and slowed oil shale development in the state was cut from the energy bill the House will consider today. The language had been in a bill passed by the House this summer, put there by Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, and Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa. But when lawmakers merged that House bill with a Senate-passed energy bill, they did not include the provision.
Udall said Senate lawmakers did not want the language in the bill. But Steve Wymer, spokesman for Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said that House Democratic leaders chose not to include it.
Lawmakers in Colorado's congressional delegation have split on whether drilling should be allowed atop the 9,000-foot-tall plateau in northwestern Colorado. Udall, Rep. Salazar and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., want to limit or stop it. Allard supports drilling and believes the issue should be left to local authorities.
The energy industry says the area's vast supplies of natural gas are needed to serve an energy-hungry nation. Development advocates have calculated that the 56,238-acre Naval Oil Shale Reserve - one of the Roan's richest areas - has enough natural gas to supply 4 million homes for 20 to 25 years.
An energy advocacy group has said that gas production on the plateau could bring revenue to Colorado of up to $6 billion over 30 years. Critics, including environmentalists and a mineral royalty accountant, said the value could be 80 percent less.
Sen. Salazar will now be working toward a one-year drilling moratorium, spokesman Cody Wertz said.
Udall said he plans to work with both Salazars.
"You can be assured I'm not going to stop until we protect the Roan," Udall said.
COOL, CLEAR WATER
Letters - SundayTHE [Colorado Springs] GAZETTE December 2, 2007 - 1:22AM
Bill would shield Samaritans from pollution liability
The Gazette’s Nov. 27 story about the Pennsylvania Mine made clear why Congress should pass a liability-shield law for “Good Samaritans” seeking to clean up toxic drainages polluting Colorado’s waters (“Water act discourages any would-be helpers”).
But I think the prospects for that happening are brighter than the story suggested.
Last month, with Rep. Steve Pearce, R.-N.M., I introduced H.R. 4011, the “Good Samaritan Cleanup of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act.” Based on bills I have introduced before, it would authorize the EPA to issue permits to shield Good Samaritans from Clean Water Act liability as they work on abandoned mines such as the Pennsylvania.
On Nov. 12, our bill was endorsed by the Western Governors Association. A letter signed by the governors of Arizona, New Mexico and South Dakota, as well as Gov. Bill Ritter, said the bill “will provide States and other possible Good Samaritans important Clean Water Act liability protections necessary to conduct voluntary cleanups.” I am hopeful the bill will be supported by the Bush administration and environmental groups as well.
This kind of Good Samaritan legislation has been one of my longstanding top priorities, and I intend to do all I can to win its enactment as soon as possible.
Rep. Mark Udall Colorado District 2 U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C.
