Marty Durlin

Online Editor

More than 90 formal protests from local governments, organizations and individuals, plus a letter from the Salazar Brothers…taken together, they’ve halted the auction of 144,000 acres of prime land in southern Colorado’s Rio Grande National Forest — at least for a while.

The BLM announced the deferral of 84 parcels from its May 8 oil and gas lease sale “until additional analysis can be completed.” But a spokesman for the BLM said the agency is “completely unsure” of how long the leases may be deferred. The agency cited information “received from the public, local governments and our own internal review” as the reason for the deferral. Among the concerns: the impact of gas and oil development on lynx habitat (the deferred parcels are within the core release area used by the Colorado Division of Wildlife to reintroduce lynx), potential damage to the cutthroat trout and other wildlife including the greater and Gunnison sage grouse and the boreal owl. There was also a general outcry from the public — concerned about the impact of oil and gas development on health and quality of life.

One protester, retired organic farmer Greg Gosar, put it this way: “Now our life’s work and final dreams could possibly be sacrificed to a short-term, destructive, and so far impotent attempt by the out-going administration to deal with world-wide energy problems. We are deeply angered at the shallowness and futility of this idea.”

Three parcels near Crestone (one of the local governments that filed a formal protest) will still be auctioned May 8.