Dinosaur National Monument Again Under Threat from Oil & Gas Leasing

BLM’s Short-Sighted Energy Policy Devalues America’s Special Places

For Immediate Release: May 2, 2005

DINOSAUR, CO –Dinosaur National Monument, one of Colorado’s greatest national wonders, is again at risk from oil and gas development. On May 12, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to auction off approximately 1,100 acres of public lands for oil and gas development near the Monument’s southern entrance and along Harpers Corner Drive, the scenic entrance to the Colorado side of the Monument. This proposal follows on the heels of Colorado BLM’s leasing of 27 parcels in February 2004 near the Monument, an event that attracted national attention. The Coalition of Concerned Park Service Retirees and conservation groups, represented by Earthjustice, challenged those 27 leases. Their validity is currently in question while the matter is reviewed by the Department of Interior.

Dinosaur National Monument, spanning the Colorado-Utah border, is a wild landscape – a place of solitude and peaceful reflection, a prime location for white water recreation, and home to many wildlife species. These leases, on top of the 27 sold in February, would harm the Monument and its resources. The two proposed leases are visible form viewpoints, roads, and trails within Dinosaur National Monument. Development on these leases would confront Monument visitors full in the face with sights and sounds of oil and gas development.

“It’s just horrible to watch Dinosaur National Monument, a hidden jewel of the National Park Service, come under attach from the oil and gas industry. BLM is teaching future generations that our public lands are really up for grabs and that stewardship is irrelevant,” said Bill Wade, Chair of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees Executive Council.

Lands underlying the two leases are also part of U.S. Representative Diana DeGette’s Colorado canyons wilderness legislation, which would permanently designate them as wilderness for the enjoyment of present and future generations.

“By drilling along the scenic entrance to one of America’s greatest treasures, and impacting one of northwest Colorado’s most beautiful citizen-proposed wilderness areas, BLM would be dealing a one-two punch to local tourism and community development,” said Mickey Allen, a resident of nearby Rangeley, Colorado. “Not to mention the impact on our quality of life as residents. Isn't anything beyond the reach of oil and gas development these days?”

“The town of Dinosaur is just now starting to understand how we can capitalize on our assets. Our biggest asset is Dinosaur National Monument. As we seek to attract tourists, we need our biggest asset to remain intact. We want people to come to the Monument and I'm just not sure how oil and gas development fits into the equation,” said Bill Mitchem, a Dinosaur business owner.

The push to lease this area is all the more questionable when, according to BLM’s own calculations, there is a glut of public lands under lease. Of the 3,444,060 acres of public lands currently leased in Colorado, only 1,340,546 acres – just 39 percent – are actively in use, suggesting that lease sales already far exceed the industry’s ability to drill profitably.

In addition, Colorado BLM’s plans to offer these two leases stand in stark contrast to Utah BLM’s more prudent approach. While 28 other leases sold by Utah BLM near the Monument in February 2004 remain in limbo due to protests by the Coalition and others, Utah BLM has taken a cautious approach to further leasing around the Monument, pulling 2 parcels originally proposed for leasing near the Monument from its upcoming May lease sale.

“A prudent course would be to remove the Dinosaur Monument-area parcels from the lease sale and consider the area for permanent protection, especially since the last round of lease sales were hugely controversial,” stated Reed Morris of the Colorado Wilderness Network. “Unfortunately, it looks like BLM is instead allowing oil and gas companies to ‘get in while the getting is good’ at the expense of Monument visitors and neighboring communities.”