Colorado wildlands will be auctioned off to the oil/gas industry

[DaveSZ]

http://www.wilderness.org/NewsRoom/Release/20040429.cfm


Colorado Public Lands Latest Victim of Bush Administration Anti-Wilderness Policies
Oil and gas lease sale threatens proposed wilderness and National Forest roadless lands.






April 29, 2004 (Denver, CO) - The Bush Administration's relentless efforts to open the West's remaining wildlands to oil and gas drilling will accelerate next month, when a staggering diversity of Colorado wildlands will be auctioned off to the oil and gas industry. On May 13, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to sell 74 parcels in Colorado that include proposed BLM wilderness, National Forest roadless lands, imperiled species habitat, and lands along a popular scenic byway -- lands that are highly valued for wildlife, recreation and other economic values.

Thirty-one of the parcels to be sold on May 13 are in the Colorado Citizens' Wilderness Proposal, a statewide initiative endorsed by more than 300 citizen organizations, businesses, and local governments, which has also been introduced as legislation by Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette. The Colorado sale follows recent contentious lease sales in Colorado and Utah, and represents the latest direct on-the-ground impact of last year's secret deal cut by Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton and former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, which prohibited BLM from protecting future wilderness on any of its land in any state, and which is now being challenged in court.

"It is not a coincidence that these lands were offered for drilling, and I intend to fight to protect them," said Congresswoman DeGette. "I understand the need for increased energy production and support drilling in areas that are not environmentally sensitive. But a recent report verifies what many of us have suspected -- many existing gas and oil leases have not been tapped. It is unconscionable when more suitable acreage is simply lying fallow to pursue a single use strategy for these remarkable areas."

The lease sale also would impact four roadless areas in the White River National Forest, including the spectacular Thompson Creek Roadless Area. This special place includes the largest concentration of old growth spruce-fir on the White River Forest and perhaps the largest aspen forest in the world, together providing important habitat for elk, goshawk, lynx, and cutthroat trout.

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[acmavm]

1. george bush* is nothing more than a whore for corporate America. He

tries to claim the moral highground while on his knees for the oil and gas industry. And so many either confused or illiterate people think he's a man of 'integrity'.

[DaveSZ]

2. Click for pictures:

http://www.wilderness.org/Library/Documents/upload/Colorado-Lease-Sale-Scenic-Byway-Fact-Sheet.pdf

[coloradodem2005]

3. I will say it again.

I loathe Bush. I hate him more than anything.

[DaveSZ]

4. Same here

What a fucking whore.

[ever_green]

10. Me too.

Colorado is so beautiful. This makes me sick.

[elehhhhna]

5. do i hear a dollar? 50 cents? SOLD for 25 cents!

[DaveSZ]

6. Pristine Colorado Wildlands Now At Risk

http://www.wilderness.org/NewsRoom/Release/CoBLM.cfm

Interior Department Calls Halt to Wilderness Consideration

Pristine Colorado Wildlands Now At Risk

April 14, 2003 (DENVER) - In a secretive, after-hours move April 11, the Interior Department rescinded over 25 years of standing policy on how the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) considers pristine lands for potential wilderness designation by Congress. While conservation groups are challenging the new policy as illegal, the Administration's move instantly puts at risk for extractive development and motorized use millions of acres of pristine wild country across the West including over 600,000 acres in western Colorado.

The decision was packaged into a court settlement with the State of Utah of a recently-resurrected 1996 lawsuit over BLM wilderness inventories in that State. Although the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals had thrown out nearly all of Utah's case several years ago, Utah recently re-filed its suit two weeks ago, which the Department of Interior quickly settled before conservation groups could intervene.

"This is devastating for wilderness in the Canyon Country of Western Colorado," said Jeff Widen, Associate Director of Colorado Environmental Coalition. "Secretary Norton had to hide this move late on a Friday night because she knew the American people would totally oppose it."

The Colorado Environmental Coalition, The Wilderness Society, and other conservation groups attempted to intervene in the State of Utah's lawsuit, but never got the chance. "Interior must have set a record for settling a court case with this one. It just shows that the Bush Administration's anti-environmental agenda, not the American people's wishes, is running the show," Widen added.

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[DaveSZ]

7. Roan Plateau

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[AmyDeLune]

8. Kick! n/t

[Steelangel]

9. jeez man.. I cannot wait for Nov 2 to have Kerry as president

and stop that madness.