Land Managers Offer a Plan to Drill Plateau in Colorado

Much of Colorado’s mineral-rich Roan Plateau would be opened to energy development under the favored recommendation released Friday by federal land managers.

But drilling in the sensitive wildlife habitat, about 150 miles west of Denver, could be delayed by up to 16 years.

The Bureau of Land Management’s draft plan offers five alternatives with a maximum of nearly 1,600 natural gas wells, including 200 on top of the plateau, which rises more than half a mile above the Colorado River Valley.

The favored recommendation calls for more than 1,300 wells over 20 years, including 51 on top of the plateau. The plateau-top wells would be allowed only after 80% of the wells below the plateau’s rim were fully developed.

That could take as long as 16 years, said Rebecca Watson, assistant Interior secretary for land and minerals management.

Steve Smith, assistant regional director of the Wilderness Society, said delaying plateau-top wells was worth exploring, but suggested waiting until the lower wells were exhausted. “It’s too easy a threshold to cross before you get up top. Let’s get all the gas out,” he said.

A longer wait would allow time for new technology, changes in demand and geological studies that could reduce the impact of drilling, he said.

David Cesark, an environmental specialist for the Williams Cos., an oil and gas company, said the draft was well thought out and that his company always expected restrictions. “We have never wanted the extreme plan for natural gas in the area,” he said.

The BLM’s favored recommendation would prohibit drilling on 9,100 acres of roadless area out of the 73,602 total acres the BLM oversees on the plateau. Another 51,000 acres on the plateau is privately owned and not covered by the BLM plan.

Watson said the BLM’s recommended alternative would allow energy development while protecting wildlife winter habitat and native trout. New drilling and other construction work would be forbidden for five winter months. She said less than 10% of drilling would occur on the plateau’s top under the plan.

One of the alternatives in the BLM draft would maintain the status quo, meaning no new oil and gas leases on federal land.

The BLM will take comments for at least 90 days before issuing a final decision.

Environmentalists, sportsmen and some residents have campaigned to keep the top of the plateau off-limits to development. They say drilling could damage wilderness and wildlife, which have become an important part of the area’s economy.