Red Lodge Clearinghouse

The Interior Department granted Ritter an additional 120 days to comment on the plan last year, after Salazar placed a hold on one of President Bush's nominees. Ritter recommended phased leasing of the plateau, requiring energy companies to use the most advanced drilling technology, and expanding the "areas of critical environmental concern" to 36,184 acres -- a significant expansion over the 21,034 acres the Bureau of Land Management plans to protect (Land Letter, Jan. 3).

BLM announced last month that it was standing by its original plans for the plateau, saying that the plan met essentially all of Ritter's goals (Greenwire, March 14).

While Salazar would not expand on what additional protections his legislation will seek, he did say that phased leasing will be included in the bill. "If we can include that, then hopefully within a year or so, we'll be able to work with a Department of Interior and a BLM that is much more friendly to the cause of protecting the top of the Roan than the administration we are currently working with," he said.

Colorado Department of Natural Resources Director Harris Sherman has said phased leasing would reduce the effects of drilling as companies adopt improved technologies and maximize revenue for the state and federal governments.

The Roan Plateau, located about 180 miles west of Denver, provides habitat for some of the state's largest deer and elk herds, as well as mountain lions, peregrine falcons, black bears, sage grouse and other species. But it also contains an estimated 8.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to power 4 million homes for the next 20 years.

BLM's plan calls for drilling 1,570 wells in addition to the 1,300 existing wells. The plan would include 210 wells on top of the plateau, but development would be done in stages so that no more than 1 percent of the federal land would be disturbed at any one time.

The first lease auction could occur as early as August.

Politics or facts?

"The Roan Plateau doesn't need protection from oil and gas development," said Greg Schnacke of Americans for American Energy. "The BLM has already developed the most far-reaching environmental protections for any management plan ever devised by the federal government."

Schnacke said efforts by Salazar to stop development on the plateau could cost the state of Colorado $1 billion in lost revenues. He said such efforts are based on politics, rather than the facts of the plan.

And the current politics in Congress, particularly in the U.S. Senate, where 60 votes are necessary to get almost any legislation passed, could mean an uphill battle for Salazar's legislation. The senator was unsuccessful in a bid last year to add language to the omnibus spending bill that would have barred surface drilling on the Roan Plateau in fiscal 2008.

"It's easy to drop legislation. It's another thing to get it through," Salazar acknowledged Saturday, indicating that the legislation's best vehicle for passage would be as an amendment to major legislation such as the defense authorization bill.

"It's still an open question as to whether we'll be able to succeed," Salazar said. "We'll fight the right fight and hopefully we'll be able to succeed but it's still a fight."

Reps. Mark Udall and John Salazar, also Colorado Democrats, have indicated that they also will introduce legislation in the House restricting oil and gas development on the plateau (E&E News PM, Jan. 8).

Suzanne Jones of the Wilderness Society said the politics in Congress this year are unpredictable, making it uncertain whether a bill protecting the Roan Plateau could get through. But, she said, "if it's based on the Colorado public's desire to have something passed, it will pass."

But not all Coloradans are eager to restrict development on the Roan, including the state's senior senator, Sen. Wayne Allard (R), who has opposed such legislation in the past.

Allard spokesman Steve Wymer said he has not seen Salazar's legislation yet, so he could not comment on it. Wymer did indicate, however, that such legislation could face a difficult time in Congress.

"Since we are in the midst of a massive energy crisis and we're looking at gas prices of $4 a gallon, I don't think Congress is in a mood to lock down tremendous resources like those in the Roan Plateau," he said.

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