Sportsmen Protest Oil and Gas Leases in Colorado’s North Park

Coalition urges BLM to update its management plan before considering drilling that could jeopardize the area’s moose, elk, mule deer, sage grouse and trout

April 28, 2010 (DENVER) – To conserve water quality and wildlife habitat in Colorado’s North Park, a sportsmen coalition today protested the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed oil and gas lease sale in the popular recreation area near the Colorado-Wyoming border.

The BLM’s Colorado State Office plans to put the 14 North Park parcels – totaling nearly 11,400 acres – on the auction block May 13, 2010. The proposed lease area is about 15 miles northwest of Walden, Colo., in a part of North Park considered one of the most biologically rich areas of the state.

The coalition of hunters and anglers, led by Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development, is concerned that oil, gas and coal bed methane development could pollute tributaries of the North Platte River, which is recognized as a Gold Medal trout fishery by the Colorado Division of Wildlife and as a Blue Ribbon trout stream by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The threatened tributaries include the North Fork of the North Platte, Lake Creek and Big Creek.

The sportsmen are also apprehensive about energy development in North Park because it could damage important winter range for elk and moose, brood-rearing habitat for sage grouse, and vital elk and mule deer migration routes.

In filing its protest, the sportsmen coalition urged the BLM to defer the North Park leases until it completes its revision of the 1991 resource management plan for the area.

“BLM would be putting the cart before the horse if it leased North Park prior to updating its management plan,” said the National Wildlife Federation's Bill Dvorak, a sportsman and outfitter in North Park for more than 30 years.  “If that happened, you couldn’t undo it – even if the new plan recommended not drilling in some places.”

When considering energy development in areas vital to hunters and anglers, the BLM has to have all the facts first, according to Steve Belinda, energy policy manager with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, which is a member of sportsmen coalition.

“Waiting until the leases have been sold to address fish and wildlife issues is the old way of doing business,” Belinda said. “That’s not the best way to balance energy development with the needs of fish, wildlife and sportsmen – and it reinforces the need for the leasing reforms Secretary Salazar proposed in January.”

Sportsmen realize the importance of energy development, but they want to be sure it’s done the right way and in the right places, said Brad Powell, energy director for Trout Unlimited, another member of the sportsmen coalition.

“We’re not saying oil and gas development should be prohibited in North Park,” said Powell, who noted that more than 115,000 acres have already been leased in the surrounding county.  “But we should let the planning process play out and ensure that proper protections are in place before making any long-term commitment to oil and gas development on these leases.”