Red Lodge Clearinghouse

"This has been the first lease sale we've had on this forest since we revised its forest management plan in 1996," said Mike Blakeman, a spokesman for the joint BLM and Forest Service San Luis Valley Public Lands Center revision. "What we've discovered is that the Forest Service and the BLM need to have some further discussion."

The Center for Native Ecosystems, an advocacy group, protested the leases April 24, saying the drilling would denigrate lynx habitat in Colorado and hurt the cat's chances of recovery. The leases included land in the "core release area," where the Colorado Division of Wildlife has sent lynx into the wild since 1999. The Fish and Wildlife Service created controversy in February when it did not include any Colorado land in its proposal for lynx critical habitat (Land Letter, May 1).

"BLM's leasing program continues to offer up oil and gas drilling for some of the most sensitive species," said Joshua Pollock, the center's executive director. "They need to get the message that these mountains aren't appropriate for leases, period."

Pollock stressed that the deferments are not permanent and said he hopes BLM's further analysis takes into account the imperiled status of the Canada lynx and the amount of effort spent to reintroduce it.

"They have the option of offering these places in future sales," Pollock said. "In other places where land was deferred, we haven't seen the parcels up for lease for several cycles, but there's so much pressure to open up as much land as quickly as possible, so it's possible we'll see these parcels up again soon."

Jim Sample, a spokesman for BLM Colorado, said the analysis could be completed in time for an August sale. "It's always possible that some of the protests will be upheld," he said, "but over the past few decades only 5 percent of land that is deferred are kept out of sales indefinitely."

Pressure from lawmakers

Lynx advocates were supported by a joint letter from two Colorado Democrats -- Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. John Salazar -- to BLM Colorado State Director Sally Wisely. The lawmakers asked her to delay the lease of all parcels within Saguache and Rio Grande counties, whose governments had registered formal protests over the drilling's potential effects on air and water quality and on big game habitat.

While the letter did not specifically mention the lynx, it did increase pressure on BLM to slow down the leases. "The fact that elected officials that represent the entire state and members of Congress were willing to weigh in on this was very important," Pollock said.

Rio Grande and Saguache counties had asked for their deferral to ensure they were compatible with local oil and gas regulations. And the towns of Del Norte and Crestone expressed concern about leasing's effects on their watersheds.

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