East Coast Natural Gas Concerns Nothing New

     New York-based, energy watchdog group, Toxics Targeting, is outraged about how natural gas drilling activity along the Marcellus Formation will threaten water supplies from New York to Tennessee. In a November 10th interview with Amy Goodman,  group president Walter Hang  spoke about gas explosions, flaming water, industry attempts at appeasing communities, the need to protect New York’s pristine reservoirs and so on.

Note to New Yorkers: Welcome to the world of Garfield County.

     The good news is perhaps now that New York is threatened with the toxic impacts of natural gas drilling, something will be done about it. Like, passing the Frac Act, for instance. Maybe elected officials back there will not only sit up and take notice but will also take action. The majority of those in Garfield County are not, as was evident at the County Commissioner’s meeting on Monday, November 9th in Glenwood Springs.

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     Members of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance  (GVCA) and others showed up for what they thought would be a discussion of a resolution they presented three weeks ago, calling for Commissioners to support the Frac Act. What happened on the 9th was not even close to a discussion nor was it about GVCA’s resolution. Commissioner Mike Samson had a resolution of his own, which was the topic of a discussion led mainly by Commissioner Tresi Houpt. (Samson had no copies for the audience but I was informed by a county official that it is pretty much the same as a Club 20 document issued on September 11, with the exception of a few words. ) In essence, Samson was against supporting the Frac Act, waving the flag of states’ rights and warning of the dangers of Big Government. John “Wyatt” Martin was right beside him, guns drawn and blazing.

     The outcome of the meeting was predictable: Samson and Martin voted in favor of the resolve. Houpt was the only one to vote in favor of the county’s citizens.   Many were disgusted at Martin’s dogmatic responses to all opinions that did not align with his own, education about the issue and personal experience notwithstanding. His patronizing and immature behavior toward Tresi Houpt was astonishing. Fortunately, Commissioner Houpt was more invested in citizen concerns and the enormity of the issue at hand to fall prey to Mr. Martin’s mean-spirited diversion tactics.

     Even though support of the Frac Act on the county level might not have made a huge difference in Washington, it would have made a world of difference to local citizens suffering from mysterious illnesses probably caused by energy extraction. It would also have sent a message that those of us in the West are just as concerned about our water as those in the East. This is not a states’ rights issue; it is a national issue that demands federal oversight.

Stay tuned…and thanks for listening.

Reining-In Wild Horse and Burro Round-Ups a Rumor

According to Laurel Angel of the National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Department of the House Natural Resources Committee in Washington DC, the HNRC has not issued a call for a moratorium on wild horse and burro round-ups.  A recent Animal Law Coalition post, stating that a “Congressional aide” verified the moratorium, spawned rumors throughout the wild horse advocacy community, resulting in a barrage of calls to Angel’s office.  (ALC has updated the post.)

Angel pointed to a letter submitted in August by Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ, Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands), requesting a suspension of all round-ups until the BLM has addressed problems within the wild horse and burro program as well as a 2008 GAO report’s criticisms of the program, and portions of the proposed ROAM Act that discuss BLM’s aggressive round-ups as the extent of HNRC’s recommendations.   Angel added, “People should know that, constitutionally, [HNRC] cannot simply tell the Administration to stop doing something and expect them to stop doing it.”   

Meanwhile, the Red Desert Complex round-up continues in southwest Wyoming.  BLM spokesperson, Sara Beckwith, today stated that 470 horses have been gathered from the Green Mountain HMA. Close to one hundred thirty-four were returned to the range, including approximately 60 stallions and 74 mares treated with the fertility control vaccine, PZP.  One weanling, found without a mother, was thought to be abandoned and has been transported to the Wyoming Honor Farm in Riverton.  All other horses have been transported to the Canon City Holding Facility in Colorado.  BLM moved on to the Stewart Creek HMA today. Beckwith noted that weather will dictate the future of the round-up. 

Stay tuned… and thanks for listening.

New Wild Horse and Burro Management Proposal Announced Today

Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, and BLM Director, Bob Abbey, unveiled a proposal today that will, according to Salazar,  ”better protect wild horses and burros and better manage the open lands on which they roam.”  Citing range degradation, poor herd health, and a rising taxpayer burden, the officials said the proposal will:

1. Establish 7 national preserves for 25,200 horses and burros in the Midwest and East, two of which will be managed by the BLM. The rest will be managed by individuals or non-profits in partnership with BLM. The primary purpose of these preserves will be to ’showcase the herds’ and perhaps provide jobs in the form of ecotourism. Abbey added that the horses and burros on these preserves will be non-producing.
2. Showcase the herds on public lands where they currently exist in the form of specially designated ranges,
3. Create new strategies for wild horse management and balance growth rates with adoption demands, including use of fertility control, balancing sex ratios, and possibly introducing “non-reproducing herds into existing herds.”  Changes in adoption regulations are also planned.

Abbey added that BLM’s duties are to remove the horses and burros to protect the land and to care for them in long-term holding facilities while trying to find good homes. He said that last year’s GAO report combined with the recession have had impacts on current management strategies and adoption rates, and that costs for long and short-term holding have increased.  Salazar added that no horses or burros will be euthanized.

The proposal apparently came in the form of a letter to Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who is up for re-election this year.  Salazar stated, “We want to work with Congress to make this law” and implement it by 2011/2012.  This suggests an amendment to the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act even though neither mentioned just how they expect the changes to be enacted.  It also raises more questions than it answers.

First, BLM wants to remove 5,000 horses and burros from public lands this year and has projected removal of another 12,000 by the end of September, 2010. There are currently 31,000 horses in captivity.  That comes to 49,000 horses.  BLM has been hard-pressed to match adoption rates with removal rates in that past several years but even if they could  adopt, say, 3,000 horses each year, that would still leave 17,800 more horses in captivity at the time of the proposed implemenation than would be allowed on the preserves.  What happens to them?   

Secondly, where will the designated ranges be?  The 1971 Act states that wild horses and burros must be managed in areas where the animals were originally found. If, hypothetically, horses are moved from Nevada to a designated range in Colorado, that would violate the law because the Nevada horses would then no longer be managed in the area in which they were originally found.  This suggests that in order to avoid an amendment to the Act, there should be designated ranges in each state.

The Pryor Mountain Refuge in Montana was mentioned as an example of a designated range but no further details were presented.  This and the Little Bookcliffs range in western Colorado were the first officially designated wild horse ranges in the country and perhaps they will be the models for future reserves. But, how will such small ranges be managed for BLM’s national limit  of 26,000?

Other questions will no doubt emerge as the proposal winds its way through public discourse and congressional review. Meanwhile, BLM management practices have not changed. Round-ups continue right now in Wyoming and other parts of the West.  And, close to 1,000 horses from Wyoming’s  Lost Creek, Stewart Creek, Green Mountain, Crooks Mountain, and Antelope Hills herds, aka the Red Desert Complex Herd Management Area, are scheduled for round-up in November. 

Stay tuned…and thanks for listening.

Independent Observers at Wild Horse Round-ups a Possibility

     California resident Elyse Gardner may have made BLM history at the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting in Washington DC on September 28th with her comments about the need for “humane observers” at round-ups.  The meeting followed close on the heels of the Pryor Mountain round-up and National Wild Horse Adoption Day.  Gardner became a sort of accidental humane observer during the round-up in the Pryors.  It was her first experience with that kind of work and inspired her to become more involved with protecting wild herds.  

     In a recent interview, she said her comments to the Advisory Board could have focused on what went wrong in the Pryors but she felt that building a bridge between the public and the agency was more important.  “[Round-ups] are not as sanitized as BLM makes it sound”,  she added.  ” But, I wanted BLM to know that we want to work ultimately with them to make it better for the horses.”

     Gardner was instrumental in bringing BLM and wild horse advocates to the table in early September for an impromtu meeting at Britton Springs corrals near Lovell, Wyoming, just before the Pryor Mountain round-up.  Some of the people at that meeting were fresh from the Challis, ID round-up in August and were angry about BLM treatment of the horses as well as people who lived nearby.  The meeting was tense at best but Gardner managed to convince BLM to allow her to act as humane observer for the first few days of the round-up. While Gardner says she wasn’t afforded a close view of the horses in the chutes, she managed to get a few photos and document as much as she could. 

     Armed with this experience, she hopped on a plane to DC and presented her findings as well as recommendations to Don Glenn, head of BLM’s National Wild Horse and Burro Program, and other BLM officials.   Glenn said in an interview on Tuesday, “I thought she was going to tear us a new one but I was very pleased with [her] comments. They were respectful and helpful.”  

     BLM has no protocol for independent observers, a term that Glenn prefers.  “The word “humane” is a value judgment,” he added.  “People have different definitions of it.”  But, he said, BLM will now pursue the idea.  ”We have been accused of being secretive”, he remarked. “I don’t believe we are that way. The more transparency, the better.”  Glenn says don’t look for independent observers at round-ups this fall because BLM still needs to figure out how this is going to work.  Nevertheless, the results of Gardner’s efforts could signal a shift in a decades-long contention between the agency and the advocates.  

Stay tuned…and thanks for listening…

Pryor Mountain Round-Up Begins

Dateline: Lovell,WY

Judge Emmett Sullivan ruled yesterday against the temporary restraining order filed by the Cloud Foundation and Front Range Equine Rescue last week to stop the round-up of the Pryor Mountain herd.  At the time of this post, about a dozen horses have been gathered into the Britton Springs Corrals just outside Lovell, WY.  The horses were from the lower, Dryhead region of the Pryor Mountain range and included at least one foal.  No horses were hurt during operations.

Prior to the round-up, about a dozen men and women from around the country stood at the entrance to the Britton Springs corrals, calling for a halt to what they consider cruel and unneccesary management practices. 

Horses gathered from the Dryhead area over the next few days as well as those rounded up from other areas deep within the Pryor Mountain range and in the Custer National Forest will remain in the Britton Springs corrals until September 26th, when some will be available for adoption. 

Ginger Kathrens, director of the Cloud Foundation still hopes to put a stop to the round-up before more horses are captured.  

Stay tuned…

Crow Elder Howard Boggess Speaks Out for Pryor Mountain Herd on YouTube

NOTE: The link to this video  appears to lead to something different.  This will be repaired as soon as possible.  Thanks for your patience. 

Crow elder, Howard Boggess, spoke with the Cloud Foundation on Sunday, August 30th, about the connection between the Crow Nation and the Pryor Mountain mustangs.  The Pryor Mountain herd area is on traditional Crow territory.

Pryor Mountain Mustangs Get Temporary Reprieve

Dateline: Lovell, WY

The mustangs in Montana’s Pryor Mountains won’t be rounded up today, as originally planned by the Bureau of Land Management. The Cloud Foundation and Front Range Equine Rescue filed a lawsuit on Friday, August 28, and the BLM agreed to delay the round-up for two days until the suit is heard in Washington DC.

BLM spokesperson, Greg Albright, confirmed today that the agency is waiting for a decision from the Court before moving forward with plans to round up the historic herd.  “If we prevail, we’ll start the round-up,” said Albright. “If we don’t, we won’t.” 

Ginger Kathrens, director of the Cloud Foundation, along with filmmaker, James Kleinert, and others held a ceremonial ride into the Pryor Mountain wild horse range on Saturday, culminating in a Native American ceremony to protect the horses.  Kleinert said, “Despite all of the facts and documentation that has been presented to the BLM, the Secretary of the Interior, Congress, and Senators, the brutal round-ups continue. Over 33,000 wild horses are in government holding facilities; more than remain in the wild. The desecration of our wild horses and public lands is appalling. The BLM is destroying a valuable, beautiful, and prfound part of our American heritage. The majority of the American people have spoken out and we want this to stop.” 

Kleinert was referring to over 8,000 signatures on a petition calling on Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, to stop the round-up as well as calls, faxes, and emails that have been pouring into BLM offices from Montana to Washington DC over the past week.   According to the BLM’s National Call Center, over 300 calls came in on Friday, August 28th.  Albright put public response to the round-up at close to 1,000 calls or emails. 

Judge Emmet Sullivan will hear the injunction on Wednesday, September 2, in Washington DC.

Wild Horse Advocates File Suit Against BLM to Stop Pryor Mountain Round-Up

In a last-ditch effort to preserve the freedom of the Pryor Mountain wild horse herd, the Cloud Foundation and Front Range Equine Rescue have filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management in Federal Court in Washington DC.  In a statement released today, the groups cite genetic viability of the herd as their main concern.

The herd numbers close to 200 horses. BLM plans to remove 70, which the groups claim is too small for survival.  Dr. Gus Cothran, of Texas A&  M University, is quoted in the press release and states that 150-200 horses are necessary for a minimal population.  BLM says it is actually increasing the amount of horses the range can handle; however, this still means the agency wants to remove 70 mustangs. 

The lawsuit comes fast on the heels of BLM’s decision to move forward with the controversial round-up, despite public outcry. The round-up is scheduled for early September.

Pryor Mountain Wild Horses

The countdown has begun for the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse herd.  Despite protests, (BLM head, Bob Abbey has stopped taking calls due to the overwhelming amount), BLM has decided to move forward with a round-up scheduled for next week.  The entire herd is to be rounded-up and 70 are to be removed from the range. 

The Cloud Foundation filed an appeal to the Department of Interior based on BLM’s environmental assessment issued earlier this summer but details about further legal action based on the current decision notice are not available. 

Native Americans from the Northern Cheyenne, Lakota, and Crow Nations will gather this weekend for a Freedom Ride and ceremony for the horses.  Stay tuned for more information and photos from that event…

And, thanks for listening…

There Goes the Neighborhood: Battlement Mesa Residents Gear Up for Gas Drilling

     Battlement Mesa rises above western Colorado’s Grand Valley, north of the tiny town of Parachute, 15 miles west of Rifle and 40 miles east of Grand Junction .  A quiet community of just over 5,000 souls spills across the mesa. It was originally designed in the 1970s as a company town for Exxon oil shale workers but when Exxon pulled out in 1982, it had to find another use for the place.  Exxon added a  golf course and other amenities to make it attractive to retirees and sold the land to Battlement Mesa Parters (BMP) seven years later.  BMP eventually sold it to Battlement Mesa Company.  But, Exxon still owns the mineral rights.

     Sweeping vistas of Mt. Callahan, the Roan Plateau , and the sandstone buttes of Dogs Head Peak surround this 3,200-acre community, luring seniors from as far away as Pennsylvania and Washington State to a life of ease amidst the classic beauty and fresh air of Western Colorado.  The 18-hole golf course winds through the south end of the community, dotted with pinon pines, junipers, and large shade trees.  Birdsong and the thwack of nine-iron against golf ball are the only sounds along the course other than the distant din of I-70 traffic.  An asphalt 4-lane that has seen better days winds up the hill to the top of the mesa, with spurs leading to a grocery store complex, a state-of-the-art community center, and a brand new middle school, heralding yet another incarnation of Battlement Mesa.

      The community lies in the heart of Garfield County’s natural gas fields.  Since the drilling boom of the past decade, local towns have enjoyed years of prosperity and job growth. Workers and their families moved to the mesa, making it a bedroom community for nearby Grand Junction, Rifle, and Glenwood Springs .  These days, it’s just as common to see young mothers pushing strollers and singles working out at the activity center as it is to see retirees on the golf course.  Battlement Mesa has become the American Dream to people of all ages but something happened in late May that may turn it into a nightmare.

      Early in the last week of May, sandwich boards popped up around the community with notices about a meeting on May 27^th with Antero Resources  and Battlement Mesa Company.  That meeting marked the end of life as many residents had come to expect it at Battlement Mesa. Antero Resources announced that they had plans to drill up to 200 natural gas wells from 10 pads throughout the community.  The audience, largely made up of homeowners, was caught completely by surprise .  It is fair to say that all of them were angry.  Many felt betrayed by Battlement Mesa Company. 

          Paul Light, who retired here from Philadelphia five years ago, says people were told that gas exploration would never happen within the community.  “We knew that we didn’t own mineral rights,” he says.  “But we had been led to believe by the Battlement Mesa Company many years back that plans [to drill] would not be executed”.  Light is a member of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance (GVCA), a citizen-advocacy group that was formed in 1997 to help citizens understand what happens when they don’t own the mineral rights beneath their homes and the energy companies who do, want to drill.  Since the fateful meeting of May 27^th, GVCA has offered to help Battlement Mesa residents identify their options and navigate the complicated permitting processes that lie ahead. 

     Community members have barely had a moment to catch their breath let alone figure out what their options are.  Antero leases the mineral rights from Exxon, which allows Antero to extract the gas.  The lease agreement requires that the first well be drilled by mid-August.  But, Battlement Mesa’s original development plan has bought residents a little time.  

     The original agreement between Garfield County and Battlement Mesa developers made energy extraction within the community a special use.  Garfield County Commissioner, Tresi Houpt, says this requires “any company that wants to establish a well site within the [development] to come to the County with a special use permit application.”   This means that if Antero wants to drill by mid-August, it needs to begin the special use permitting process at the County level or drill outside community boundaries.  The special use process, now called a major impact review, takes too long for Antero to honor their lease agreement with Exxon; meaning, if the company went through the process, which can take at least 120 days to complete, it would lose its lease.  So, Antero decided to locate its first pad on land immediately west of the southern boundary of the community.  Kevin Kilstrom, who heads up production for Antero, isn’t saying who owns that property until plans are finalized.   

     So, what are residents doing with this reprieve?  Light says they’ve been researching options, sending letters to Governor Bill Ritter and State Senator Josh Penry, attending strategy meetings and a hearing with the State Oil and Gas Commission in Denver.  GVCA also organized a forum on June 23^rd at the Battlement Mesa activity center.  To their surprise, a crowd of about 100 people showed up with questions for Garfield County officials, area activists, and representatives of Antero.  Judy Jordan, Garfield County Oil and Gas Liaison, summarized the County and State permitting processes and outlined public comment opportunities. Jim Rada, Public Health Officer for Garfield County, spoke about air and water quality monitoring, and Peggy Utesch, who helped craft the ground-breaking Rifle/Silt/Newcastle Community Development Plan with Antero in 2005 urged residents to become involved in the process.

     If the mood of the meeting was any indication, involvement in the process is the proverbial cart before the horse.  Residents are still stunned by the initial announcement of May 27^th.  Questions remain about why homeowners were not notified about drilling plans during the two years of preliminary negotiations between Antero and Battlement Mesa Company.  Chuck Hall, president of the Battlement Mesa Service Association (BMSA), the community homeowners association, was grilled by the crowd about whether he or anyone else involved with the BMSA knew about Antero’s plans prior to May 27^th.  Hall denied knowing the plans before anyone else did but the issue remains unresolved for most residents.  Eric Schmela, Battlement Mesa Company president, was noticeably absent from the meeting and one wonders if he feared being tarred and feathered.

    A few residents are outraged over the million dollar good-faith gesture extended to the community by Antero.  As part of the agreement, the energy company has offered to give one million dollars to the BMSA in four, $250,000. installments, to begin whenever Antero starts drilling within community boundaries.  The BMSA can spend it as residents see fit but some aren’t buying.  Why four installments to the BMSA?  Why not smaller amounts to each homeowner to help pay gas bills or offset other impacts? These and other ideas were discussed among residents after the forum, but why not between residents, Antero, and Eric Schmela during those two years of preliminary negotiations? Antero’s Kilstrom says that including all residents in these negotiations was not possible.  “We didn’t intentionally cut out anybody,” he says.  “It wasn’t practical for us to pursue discussions with 5,500 residents of Battlement Mesa when we didn’t have surface locations on them and all of those locations were on Battlement Mesa Partners. It was just key for us to negotiate with the primary surface owner out there at that time.”

     Residents have apparently been angry enough to commandeer a town meeting in early June with Colorado State Senator, Josh Penry.  As a result, Antero received a mild reprimand from Penry in a letter dated June 18, copies of which circulated at Tuesday’s forum:

      I appreciate the fact that Antero has started the process of working with the community by reaching out to local officials and HOA board members, but some area residents expressed a desire for better advance notice on public meetings as well as the ability to engage the company on an ongoing basis on a range of issues, from well placement to various timing and traffic issues.

     I realize of course, that this is the beginning and not the end of the permitting process but I hope you will continue and expand your efforts to provide the public with information and, to the extent possible, accommodate their concerns.

     Energy production is an imperative in this nation. But in cases like these, it is important to find common ground with the communities impacted by drilling. Some conflicts are unavoidable, but great care should be taken to abate those to the extent reasonably possible. 

     Despite the palpable tension of the crowd, a show-of-hands Tuesday night revealed that, if the drilling can’t be stopped, most are in favor of being involved in further discussions with Antero.  These discussions will begin fairly soon at the State level with the Comprehensive Development Plan. The State Oil and Gas Commission is offering a special hearing in Glenwood Springs on July 8^th to address the process.  But, one wonders if Antero shot itself in the foot by not including residents in the initial negotiations.   Meanwhile, Battlement Mesa residents have another month or two to enjoy the serenity of the neighborhood before America’s energy needs begin to encroach upon the American Dream.

Stay tuned… and thanks for listening.