Rapid and careless oil and gas development in Colorado is hurting wildlife, water quality and the health of people who live in the gas patch. New draft rules would protect our environment and human health in new ways. Government officials need to hear that we support the draft rules and want them to be even stronger.
WCC and two of our member groups have filed for party-status for the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission’s (COGCC’s) rule-making hearing scheduled from June 23 – 27. We will be represented by Western Resource Advocates and Earthjustice. Being a party to the rulemaking gives us the legal right to present testimony and expert witnesses and cross-examine other witnesses.
However, you — as an individual citizen — can submit your own comments on the draft rules. Comments must be sent by May 29 to Dave Neslin, Acting Director, COGCC, 1120 Lincoln Street, Suite 801, Denver CO 80203 or to dnr.ogcc@state.co.us
Western Colorado Congress continues to be blessed with talented people joining our staff! This week we celebrate the arrival of two new staff members in the Grand Junction office. Heather Tischbein, our new Executive Director, will be bouncing back and forth from her commitments in Vancouver, Washington, and her new life here until mid-June. She brings over 30 years of experience in the non-profit world from early childhood education to sustainable agriculture to facilitating World Cafes! And, for those of you familiar with WCC lore, she is the sister of one of WCC’s Founding Humans!
Lee Gelatt, who has lived in Grand Junction for over 20 years, joins us as our new Grassroots Fundraiser. He has been a Utah BLM Ranger in Grand Gulch Primitive Area and a River Ranger in Desolation Canyon of the Green River. For four summers he worked as a Park Service Ranger at the Colorado National Monument and has taught math and science in Mesa County high schools and middle schools. Most recently he was working with the Retired Senior Volunteer Program recruiting community volunteers, coordinating school tutors, media relations, and fundraising. Lee, his wife Patty, and teenage children enjoy the outdoors, especially rafting, kayaking, and canoeing.
Stop in our Grand Junction office at 124 N. 6th Street and give Heather and Lee a warm welcome!
Monday, April 21, 2008 was the end of the comment period for the BLM’s Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Oil Shale and Tar Sands. With the help of citizens, local governments and conservation groups, we generated over 60, 000 comments! According to the BLM, an oil shale industry in northwest Colorado would drastically change our landscapes. IF the BLM and private industry got their way, over 300,000 acres of Colorado public lands would be dedicated for oil shale extraction. If that happens, water would be diverted from agriculture and municipalities, recreation opportunities would be drastically reduced, air quality would drop significantly, and our close-knit communities would become industrialized and urban.
Even though the comment period is over, citizens can still make a difference! Contact your local and state representatives; tell them you are concerned about the fast pace of oil shale development in your backyard. Let your elected officials know that a thorough research, development and demonstration process is critical to the responsible development of oil shale!! Tell your representative to support the continuation of a funding limitation that stops all leasing activities on public lands before technology is proven to be environmentally sound.
WCC members met with Bernie Buescher (D-House Dist 55) on Saturday to discuss the 2008 legislative year. Oil and Gas ruling making, public lands protection, and water issues were among the topics discussed. It’s too bad that Rep. Steve King (R-54) and Sen. Josh Penry (R-7) weren’t there. Both were invited to the meeting more than 5 weeks in advance – and both said they’d be there. Mr. Penry’s staff called two weeks later and canceled after a few letters to the editor from WCC members were published – letters that didn’t exactly thank him for his efforts to back the oil and gas industry’s position on the rule making process. We thank Senator Penry for calling to let us know that he wouldn’t be able to meet with our members – Mr. King on the other hand, was a no-call, no-show.
My first job in high school was in the service industry. I worked at a restaurant as a short-order cook and dishwasher. Whenever someone did a ‘no-call, no-show’ they were fired – no questions asked. If you didn’t have the courtesy to pick up the phone to let your co-workers know that they’d have to pick up the slack that day due to your absence, you were gone. Apparently Mr. King doesn’t feel the need to give a courtesy call?
We’re GOING TO WASHINGTON! WCC staff (me!) is gearing up to take 4-5 WCC members to our nation’s capitol to rub elbows with our elected leaders. A dream assignment that I’ve been waiting three years to organize. We’ll partner with our Washington-based coalition partners – Campaign for America’s Wilderness (CAW) – a top-notch, non-profit that supports local efforts to protect America’s public lands. In fact, WCC sponsored a visit from Doug Scott, a wilderness expert from CAW, in February. Doug visited four western Colorado communities to get us pumped-up about Wilderness! Doug is a walking Wilderness encyclopedia - He can spit out historical Wilderness information faster than Google.
CAW lobbyist will give WCC members a ‘lobbying 101′ session on Monday morning then cut us loose on Capitol Hill to make our case for the red rock beauty of western Colorado – Dominguez Canyons!
This Dominguez legislation is one of the biggest victories for WCC in my four-and-a-half year tenure. I’m proud to be part of it and I’d like to give a special shout out to all those west slopers that have sat through all the meetings, scoping sessions, congressional staffer visits, press conferences and conference calls. Even I wasn’t sure that this campaign was going to find it’s way to Washington – In the end, persistence and love of our public lands has prevailed.
Congratulations!
US Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) is poised to introduce a bill to establish the Dominguez Escalante National Conservation Area, protecting over 210,000 acres of public lands. Salazar has included over 12,500 acres known as Dominguez North Special Managment Area. WCC and other conservation groups as well as 90 local businesses support the inclusion of this area in the bill. However, an off-highway vehicle group wants the area to remain open and is pressuring Salazar to remove it from the bill.
Salazar needs to hear from you! Send him an email or call his Grand Junction office at (970) 241-6631. Please mention some of the points below but, if you’ve been there, also mention what you consider are the most valuable qualities of this area and your own personal experiences. Please use your own words.
- Dominguez North Special Management Area has the support of the broad local community along with support from the Colorado Mule Deer Association, the conservation community and 90 local businesses.
- Dominguez North deserves protection – approximately 70% of the land in Mesa County is federal land with very little (under 5%) protected from off-highway vehicle use.
- Dominguez North is important for wildlife habitat, cultural resources and quiet recreation.
- Mesa County has only one other Wilderness area on the west end of the County. Now is the time to protect these lands for future generations.
- Specifically mention Dominguez North Special Management Area — Keep this in the proposed legislation!
With a lot of support and encouragement from Dave Grossman and Mark Beckner of Grand Junction, Western Colorado Congress is launching some new internet-based communications — one of those being this weblog! We hope to provide more current and engaging information to our community than has currently been available through our website.
