Marty Durlin

Online Editor

“How much more unanimous does the public have to be?” asked Brian Bernhardt, with the Campaign to Save Roan Plateau.

According to a story in the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, all but seven of about 42,000 people who commented about the most ecologically sensitive areas of the Roan Plateau believe it should be protected from natural gas drilling.

The Bureau of Land Management issued a final decision for the plateau’s management in June, including a plan to allow oil and gas drilling on the plateau top, where 21,000 acres are classified as areas of critical environmental concern. The BLM accepted additional comments after a protest that the original plan didn’t contain enough detail about the ACECs.

Most of the comments came through the website of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Marc Smith, director of the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States (IPAMS), asked, “is this reflective of the … tactics of special interest groups who are opposed to oil and gas development, to generate large campaigns against energy development? I don’t know.”

Of the seven pro-industry comments, three of the seven came from IPAMS.

An energy bill amendment in the U.S. House would protect the top of the Roan from drilling, but the Senate bill lacks the provision and the two versions have not been reconciled. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has until mid-December to submit his comments on the Roan.