Critics say drilling on Roan Plateau will jepordize wildlife
Legislators across the state are still debating whether funding for higher education is worth the environmental consequences of drilling on the Roan Plateau near Rifle.
This year, the Bureau of Land Management authorized energy production on the Roan Plateau in what State Sen. Josh Penry and State Rep. Al White are calling “the most environmentally minded energy plan in the history of the American West.”
Russell George, a current member of Bill Ritter’s cabinet, and the Bureau of Land Managment worked together to develop the energy production plan.
The plan proposes drilling activities on the Roan Plateau, the revenue of which would go toward funding higher education at Colorado universities like CU.
In an August commentary appearing in the Denver Post, Penry and White declared their support for drilling on the plateau.
“We believe it is the right thing to do for Colorado, our economy, and for our system of colleges and universities that could gain greatly from the wise investment of the Roan’s generous royalty revenues,” the legislators said in a statement.
This summer, Penry and White suggested that the revenue produced be used to establish a permanent trust fund for state colleges and universities.
The BLM estimates that the natural gas beneath the plateau totals almost 4 percent of the U.S. gas reserves.
According to Saveroanplateau.org, the plan proposes drilling oil and gas on the tops and cliffs of the plateau. Local communities, however, have requested that the land be left open for traditional community use such as farming, fishing, and hunting.
“I think a lot of these environment things get blown out of proportion,” Kelly Nienburg, a freshman chemical and biological engineering major said. “It doesn’t seem like that much drilling.”
Many wonder if higher education is worth the environmental consequences of drilling.
According to the BLM’s final Environmental Impact Statement, the drilling would cover only 1 percent, or 350 acres of the plateau surface at any given time.
Critics such as Saveroanplateau.org, however, point out that areas disturbed by energy production will not have suitable recovery time before new drilling takes place, which will increase the amount of land being drilled.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette announced on Sept. 12 that she plans to re-introduce the Colorado Wilderness Act, a bill that proposes to federally protect 62 areas of wilderness, including the Roan Plateau.
If passed, the bill will not affect the rigs and pads already in place on the plateau.
In an official protest, DeGette stated that, “[the plan] would needlessly sacrifice one of the most environmentally sensitive and spectacularly wild areas in the state of Colorado.”
DeGette argues that the BLM plan has ignored community input which supports protecting the plateau.
“I think it’s all about balance and compromise,” Nienburg said.
Groups including Colorado Wildlife Federation, Colorado Environmental Coalition, and Environment Colorado have also filed protests against the BLM’s proposed plan.
Contact Campus Press staff writer Katherine Spencer at Katherine.a.spencer@colorado.edu
