Tuesday, February 21

Elected officials join ranchers in opposing farm country gas leases

The commissioners from Delta and Gunnison counties are opposing the potential August leasing of public lands for natural gas drilling near farmland in the North Fork Valley, while area ranchers have appealed directly to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to block drilling there.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is considering leasing about 30,000 acres of its public land in the North Fork Valley for natural gas development. A company, which the agency hasn’t named, nominated 22 BLM parcels there for gas leasing. If the sale of the leases moves forward, it would take place in August.

The potential lease sale, announced in December, was met with a groundswell of opposition from citizen groups, now joined by Western Slope government officials.

Residents and ranchers in Paonia, Hotchkiss and Crawford organized to oppose the leases and flooded the BLM with more than 3,000 comments, prompting an extension of the public comment period, which ended Feb. 9.

The valley includes a concentration of organic farms and has been dubbed the “American Provence,” due to its lush farms’ and quaint towns’ resemblance to the French countryside.

Aspen-area restaurateurs depend on ranches and farms in the North Fork for locally grown food, and also are organizing to fight the leases (see related story).

The Pitkin County commissioners haven’t weighed in on the leases. None of the land at issue is within the county.

“Frankly, we just haven’t discussed commenting,” County Manager Jon Peacock said Friday.

The BLM will release a draft environmental assessment on the leases in early March, according to agency spokesperson Shannon Borders. At that point, the agency will accept another round of public comments for 30 days.


Aspen Daily News

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