Colorado leaders renew push for additional time to review Roan drilling plan
RIFLE — After a 2½-hour aerial tour of the Roan Plateau and northwest Colorado, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and Gov. Bill Ritter today renewed their request for the federal government to grant the Ritter administration 120 days to review the Roan management plan for future oil-and-gas drilling.
"Today's tour was a great opportunity to see all of the areas where energy development is occurring, to see what the impacts are and to get a sense for what the future impacts might be," Gov. Ritter said. "There is so much development happening now, and much more that is planned, that 120 days is a reasonable request. There's no reason to rush the leasing or drilling of the Roan."
Currently, 4,000 to 5,000 drills are extracting oil and gas from northwest Colorado. Over the next 15 years, federal leases already have been sold that will expand the number of drills to 60,000.
"Securing America's energy independence is critical for our Nation, and I support efforts to developColorado's energy resources. But the top of Roan Plateau is a special place that should be protected," Sen. Salazar said. "It's important for Coloradans to be asking what they want western Colorado to look like in 15 or 20 years, or beyond. We need a clear understanding of the impacts of 60,000 wells before the BLM proceeds further with any plans for the Plateau. Taking 120 days to review the management plan is responsible and will allow us to move forward in a thoughtful, balanced way, and I plan to use the Senate rules to send a strong and clear message to the BLM that their decision and action to ignore the requests of the Governor of Colorado and myself are unacceptable."
Joining Gov. Ritter and Sen. Salazar on the helicopter tour was Harris Sherman, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, and Kimberly Kaal, the Colorado Division of Wildlife's energy liaison. In addition to the Roan, they flew over the Vermillion Basin, Parachute Creek, Piceance Creek, Little Snake Basin and several oil shale demonstration projects. They also stopped on the Vermillion Basin. Gov. Ritter and Sen. Salazar described it as "pristine, uninhabited and a very special place."
Gov. Ritter asked the federal Bureau of Land Management in March for 120 days to review the Roan resources management plan, which was crafted under the Owens administration. The BLM and Department of Interior denied the request in June. Sen. Salazar is scheduled to meet with Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne later this month and will ask the Secretary to reconsider Gov. Ritter's request.
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