Email Sign-Up
Join our email list to stay informed about Utah wilderness.
Supporters and wilderness advocates like you play a critical role in the protection of Utah’s spectacular wild places.
Oil and Gas Development Archives - Page 5 of 22
-
October 13th, 2016A federal judge recently issued an order rejecting a natural gas project on public lands along the Upper Desolation Canyon stretch of the Green River in eastern Utah. This ruling received local and national media attention.
The plan at issue in the ruling is part of the highly controversial Gasco Natural Gas Development Project, which the BLM approved in 2012. The “Gasco project” cleared the way for nearly 1,300 new oil and gas wells in Utah’s greater Desolation Canyon region, including 215 new wells, along with roads, pipelines, and other infrastructure in an area that conservationists and federal officials agree is a wilderness-caliber landscape. This 16-well project was one of the first site-specific authorizations to follow.
The BLM has described the Desolation Canyon proposed wilderness as one of the largest unprotected roadless complexes in the lower 48 states. The area, which surrounds the Desolation Canyon stretch of the Green River, is awe-inspiring, offering spectacular vistas and abundant solitude.
The Upper Desolation Canyon stretch of the Green River offers opportunities for solitude, flatwater boating, and camping for both families and river runners alike. Photo copyright Ray Bloxham/SUWA
The Gasco project was heavily criticized in editorials across the country when it was approved in 2012. It was also roundly decried by congressional leaders, the outdoor industry, and environmental leaders, who called on the Interior Department to protect Desolation Canyon.
The 16-well project at issue in the judge’s ruling was slated for construction on three drilling pads adjacent to the Upper Desolation Canyon stretch of the Green River—a section of water that offers opportunities for families and river runners to enjoy solitude between high canyon walls, sandy beaches and groves of cottonwood trees.
Upper Desolation Canyon. Copyright Ray Bloxham/SUWA.
The BLM’s approval of the Gasco project and the 16-well project came at a time when eastern Utah had experienced several years of record high wintertime ozone levels that are largely the result of oil and gas development. The recent court decision held that the BLM’s evaluation of air pollution, and in particular ozone pollution, was inaccurate and inadequate. The judge also agreed with us that the agency did not seriously consider the noise from drilling these wells and how that would affect river runners and families.
A big thank you to all our members who submitted comments on the Gasco project, wrote letters to the editor opposing the project, or otherwise supported our efforts to send this one back to the drawing board. We couldn’t have done it without you!
This case was brought by SUWA, Natural Resources Defense Council and The Wilderness Society. A team of SUWA attorneys staffed this case, led by our former colleague David Garbett.
-
October 4th, 2016Read More »SALT LAKE CITY (October 5, 2016) – A federal judge has rejected a natural gas project on public lands along the Upper Desolation Canyon on the Green River in eastern Utah.
-
July 20th, 2016Obama Administration plan correctly prioritizes protection of Utah’s stunning redrock lands, provides certainty to all stakeholders about future mineral development
Contact:
Nada Culver, The Wilderness Society, 303.225.4635
Stephen Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 801.428.3981
Anne Hawke, Natural Resources Defense Council, 202-329-1463Salt Lake City (July 20, 2016): Today the Bureau of Land Management released a long awaited plan that will guide energy and mineral development away from sensitive lands near Canyonlands and Arches National Parks and many outstanding proposed wilderness areas that are too wild to drill. The BLM’s Moab Master Leasing Plan will help the agency better manage oil and gas development and potash mining to avoid conflict with other resources on more than 785,000 acres of public land in eastern Utah.
“Simply put, the Moab Master Leasing Plan is a significant step toward better BLM management of oil, gas and other minerals in the heart of Utah’s red rock country,” said Stephen Bloch, Legal Director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “The MLP gives industry certainty where leasing and ultimately development can take place and also makes plain the terms and conditions for those activities. Likewise, the public and local communities now know that many of southeastern Utah’s stunningly beautiful canyons and mesas won’t be marred by the sight and sound of drill rigs and pump jacks. BLM’s hard work on this plan has definitely paid off.”
The Moab MLP protects the Fisher Towers proposed wilderness from the sights and sounds of oil and gas development. Copyright Tom Till
Increased energy development in eastern Utah has fueled air pollution that threatens human health and internationally acclaimed dark night skies, as well as recreation opportunities that contribute millions of dollars to the state’s economy each year. Also, the dramatic effects of climate change are becoming increasingly evident in southeast Utah’s already arid Colorado Plateau region. With more than 90% of BLM lands and minerals available nationally for leasing it has been incumbent on BLM to find better ways to safeguard wild places and other values of public lands. Master leasing plans fit that need.
“Some of our most treasured places are at risk from drilling and speculative leasing.” said Nada Culver, senior director for agency policy at The Wilderness Society. “Master leasing plans, like the Moab MLP, are the right way to manage oil and gas on our public lands – with a vision of where energy development can be managed and where other values, like wilderness and recreation, need to be protected. Moving forward with the Moab MLP and others around the West in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming, is modernizing the way we do business on our public lands.”
Under the Moab MLP, surface disturbing activities will be prohibited in the Goldbar Canyon proposed wilderness. Photo credit: Ray Bloxham/SUWA
“This plan ensures a more deliberate process that will better protect vulnerable wilderness lands from wanton exploitation. Many such areas in southeast Utah are too precious and too special to be leased and developed without adequate safeguards.” observed Sharon Buccino, Director of the Land and Wildlife program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The Moab MLP takes the following specific steps:
- Protects wild places that are currently under threat from oil and gas leasing and development, including Fisher Towers, Porcupine Rim, Six-Shooter Peaks and Goldbar Canyon. These landscapes would either be closed to future leasing or subject to “no surface occupancy” stipulations that prohibit physical development on the lease.
- Provide strong protections for Arches and Canyonlands National Parks’ classic southern Utah vistas, dark night skies and clean water.
- Require that the majority of all future leases issued in the MLP area be subject to common sense ‘controlled surface use’ stipulations. These are essential to give both industry and the public certainty about the ground rules for future development.
The plan does not:
- Prohibit all oil and gas leasing and development in the planning area. Instead, leasing and development may proceed in a more thoughtful and deliberate manner.
- Prohibit all potash leasing and development in the planning area. Rather, the Plan establishes three ‘potash leasing areas’ where these activities are concentrated.
BLM continues to work on another Master Leasing Plan efforts in Utah to better balance development and conservation in the San Rafael Desert, located immediately west of the Moab Master Leasing Plan. BLM also continues to make progress on other MLPs in places like Western Colorado and Southwestern Wyoming.
Additional resource: Photos of lands protected by the Moab Master Leasing Plan.
-
June 28th, 2016Read More »The Utah BLM has kicked off its planning process for the San Rafael Desert Master Leasing Plan (MLP) for lands in eastern Emery and Wayne counties and is accepting public scoping comments through Friday, July 1.
-
May 17th, 2016Read More »With the hopes of striking a balance between oil and gas development and the conservation of archaeological sites, redrock canyons, and Utah’s richest bee habitat, the Utah State Office for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) kicked-off the San Rafael Desert Master Leasing Plan (MLP) process today.