More Forest to Open for Drilling

After a decade of study, the federal government has decided to open 52,000 acres of the rugged Los Padres National Forest to oil and gas leasing.

Although more than half the acreage falls within roadless areas, the decision, announced Thursday by the U.S. Forest Service, bars any surface development in roadless portions of the Los Padres, which includes some of the wildest country in Southern California. Only slant drilling could occur under those areas, from wells on adjacent land.

Public opinion was strongly against any more energy leasing in the 1.76-million-acre national forest, which includes stunning coastal scenery, the watershed for Santa Barbara and habitat for 54 endangered California condors.

Los Padres Forest Supervisor Gloria Brown said she weighed the opposition against her agency’s mandate that national forests serve multiple uses and concluded that some oil and gas development could occur without harming wildlife.

“I put all that together and spent a lot of sleepless nights trying to make the right decision,” said Brown, who has been in her post for a year. “The analysis did not support a position of no leasing. It really did show you can mitigate” for the drilling.

Environmental groups applauded Brown’s decision to protect roadless areas but criticized the move to open more of the forest to oil and gas development.

“For the amount of oil that is contained in the Los Padres, we feel these lands would be far better off protected for wildlife, water resources and cultural resources,” said Dan Smuts, deputy regional director of the Wilderness Society. “It’s well known that the condors use the entire forest as feeding grounds, and to say this won’t have an impact is disingenuous.”

The new acreage opened to leasing is in the forest’s southern boundary in Ventura County and the south Cuyuma Valley in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The Forest Service says it is all near existing oil operations in the Los Padres, which has 180 wells and has been producing oil and gas for a century.

Brown’s decision will allow roads and oil and gas rigs on 4,277 of the 52,000 acres. The rest could be developed only with slant drilling from neighboring land.

“I wanted to make sure I protected the surface habitat by requiring the directional drilling,” Brown said.

The Forest Service further said that as few as 21 acres may be needed for roads and drilling pads.

But Jeff Kuyper, executive director of Los Padres Forest Watch, said hikers and wildlife still will be affected.

“The decision allows oil drilling to come up right to the boundaries of the roadless area,” he said. “People will be able to see these large rigs while they’re hiking in their favorite roadless areas.”

Citing an incident a few years ago in which a male condor in the Los Padres dipped his head into a pool of oil and then rubbed it on a chick that later died, Kuyper said more oil drilling equipment will mean the condors will face more opportunities for dangerous encounters.

Al Hess, oil and gas resource specialist for the forest, said precautions will be taken to keep the oil fields free of debris that would be tempting to condors, which mistake bolts, screws and oil puddles for food and water.

“In the existing fields, we’ve had quite a campaign to make sure every bit of trash is picked up,” he said.

Members of California’s congressional delegation have introduced legislation that would ban new oil and gas development in the Los Padres forest, and Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) said Thursday that she would continue to push for the protections.

“While I’m pleased the Forest Service stopped short of opening the entire forest to new oil and gas development, I still have many concerns about their final decision. The opening of these spectacular, unspoiled lands to oil and gas drilling threatens one of California’s most pristine and wild places,” Capps said in a statement.

The Forest Service estimates the new area could produce 17 million barrels of oil over the life of the leases, although the agency said industry has not expressed much interest in the area.

“Even with the price of oil, we haven’t had people clamoring at the door,” Hess said.