CRAIG, CO — A plan released Friday by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would bring more than 3,000 oil and gas wells and associated development to Northwest Colorado’s Moffat and Routt counties, home to one the state’s largest wildland complexes, including the 86,000 acre Vermillion Basin proposed wilderness area. The draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Little Snake Resource Area will determine the fate of 1.3 million acres of public land, including 275,000 acres of citizen-proposed wilderness lands as well as critical big game habitat and migration corridors, the best greater sage-grouse habitat in Colorado, and prized Native American petroglyphs. The top planning issue is how much additional oil and gas drilling will be allowed and where, as rampant energy development encroaches on the Little Snake region from Wyoming to the north and from the Piceance Basin to the south.
“My family has called northwest Colorado home for over 45 years,” said Wes McStay, an area rancher. “It would be a shame to see this landscape overrun with oil and gas drilling rigs like what has happened in parts of Wyoming’s Red Desert. I would urge BLM to preserve our western way of life and the land that sustains it.”
Under the BLM’s preferred alternative in the draft plan, 93 percent of the Little Snake Resource Area would be opened to oil and gas drilling, including all of Vermillion Basin proposed wilderness. Only 160,870 acres out of the 1.3 million-acre Resource Area would be placed off limits to energy development for backcountry recreation, wildlife or to protect wilderness values. Further, the BLM’s preferred alternative fails to propose any new Areas of Environmental Concern (ACECs) to protect unique and rare resources such as endangered plants or special scenery, and abolishes all existing ACECs except one for Irish Canyon. While the draft plan contains some new ideas about how the surface impacts of oil and gas roads, wells, and pipelines might be mitigated, these protections are untested and largely voluntary; the plan contains no guarantees that key sage-grouse habitat and essential big game winter habitat would not be sacrificed over the life of the plan.
“This unbalanced plan essentially gives over the Little Snake Resource Area to the oil and gas industry,” stated Suzanne Jones, Regional Director for The Wilderness Society and a participant in the Northwest Collaborative Stewardship. “We are very disappointed that it fundamentally fails to protect the many other outstanding values of the area that are so important to local citizens and all Americans.”
“Hunting in this area is unparalleled. Big game such as elk and pronghorn are abundant in northwest Colorado because they can easily migrate to the area and thrive here during the winter,” said Luke Schaefer, a Colorado Environmental Coalition employee as well as a Craig resident and avid hunter. “Every year there seems to be fewer and fewer quality hunting grounds left in the West and across Colorado – with all of the development already taking place is the state why would the BLM even consider sacrificing this area?”
Critical undisturbed areas within Little Snake include the Vermillion Basin, which is the largest contiguous block of unleased federal land within the Little Snake area, as well as six other citizen-proposed wilderness areas such as Diamond Breaks and Cold Spring Mountain, together totaling roughly 275,000 acres. These amazing landscapes are home to invaluable cultural resources, rolling rivers, breathtaking hiking routes, and fertile hunting grounds.
“Moffat County has long depended on the hunting and tourism industry to sustain our economy. When other parts of western Colorado suffered from the boom and bust cycle of the oil industry, Moffat County continued to thrive as an outdoor enthusiast’s destination location.” said Rick Hammel, a former Moffat County Land Use Board member and area resident. “If BLM chooses to adopt a dense drilling plan for Little Snake Resource Area it will jeopardize the very lands that maintain our way of life.”
Already over 60 percent of the Little Snake Resource Area is leased for oil and gas drilling although much has yet to be developed, and local residents and conservation groups are questioning the need to open additional lands, including special places such as proposed wilderness areas, for drilling. Scientific analysis by The Wilderness Society found that the proposed wilderness lands in the Little Snake, including the sought-after Vermillion Basin, contain only enough technically recoverable gas to supply US energy needs for about 11 days, and less than 50 minutes worth of oil; when economic factors are considered, this amount would be much less.
“The oil and gas industry already has access to huge swaths of the Little Snake Resource Area,” added Erin Robertson, Staff Biologist for Center for Native Ecosystems. “Is it so much to ask that some special places, such as Vermillion Basin, be left alone for wildlife, hunters, hikers and future generations to enjoy just as they are today?”
Vermillion Basin also contains Native American petroglyphs, desert canyons, and beautiful and delicate badlands. The Colorado Natural Heritage Areas program has identified 16 Potential Conservation Areas for rare plants and plant communities within Vermillion Basin.
“We are so fortunate in northwest Colorado to have one of the best outdoor classrooms in the state,” said David Morris a middle school teacher in Craig. “Students have the opportunity to not only learn about our past, but about how the choices we make today and impact the landscape in years to come.”
Locals and conservationists are urging the BLM to improve the Little Snake draft plan by including provisions to:
- Preserve Vermilion Basin and other citizen-proposed wilderness areas by protecting them from oil and gas leasing and development, off-road vehicles, and other actions that would impair wilderness character;
- Maintain existing Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs) and designate new ACECs to protect sensitive resource values (including rare plants);
- Require that any energy development is done responsibly and in an environmentally sensitive manner that protects wildlife and other rare, unique, and vulnerable natural and historical resources;
- Protect Wild and Scenic character of eligible segments of Yampa River, Beaver Creek and Vermillion Creek; and
- Better manage recreation by restricting off-road vehicles to designated roads in order to minimize environmental impacts and social conflicts, and by providing for a balance of “quiet” recreation opportunities as well.
For more information and area maps, please visit www.southernrockies.org/LSFO and www.savevermillion.org.
