If its conditions are met, the county said the seven-member committee would be composed of a commissioner, a conservation community member, a representative of the oil-and-gas industry, three residents with ties to public lands, and a resident with private surface and federal minerals.
Montezuma County has opposed the master leasing plan, arguing that most of the BLM land is off-limits to oil-and-gas development anyway, including the Mesa Verde escarpment and Weber and Menefee wilderness study areas.
The escarpment has a no-surface occupancy status for drilling, but underlying federal minerals could be accessed from neighboring private land with directional drilling.
A BLM area that could be developed for oil and gas is the Phil’s World biking park east of Cortez. The county said mitigation plans can limit conflict, but a master lease plan isn’t necessary.
In a tough-worded letter to BLM state director Ruth Welch on Oct. 5, commissioners Larry Don Suckla and James Lambert expressed dissatisfaction with outside environmental groups influencing local decision-making. Commissioner Keenan Ertel was out of town when the letter was sent, but he has also has spoken against a BLM master lease plan for the county.
According to the letter to Welch, “Our rub comes from the conservation community who love to paint local officials as uncaring, inflexible, unwilling to listen, blinded by money and willing to give away all of the farms and ranches in the county to the industry.”
The county asserted that it represents its constituents, and will not “be doing the environmental community’s bidding.”
The commissioners also stated that they are open to discussions about protecting resources, though they distrust environmentalists’ intentions.
“We are frankly exasperated with the conservation/environmental community, as it seems that nothing ever satisfied them except an outright ban on oil-and-gas production (we think we can add grazing to that list too),” the letter stated. “The segment of the community appears to be able to usurp the democratic process and do an end-run around our elected officials by crying a whining until the BLM caves in to their demands under the pretense that local elected officials are not responsive to their needs.”
Although opposed to the master lease proposal, the commissioners said they will participate, with the understanding that the plan could still be dropped.
“We still stand behind our position that the MLP is not warranted in Montezuma County,” the letter stated. “Because non-participation could disenfranchise the majority of the citizens we represent ... we are willing to consider participating in the community involvement process (with conditions).”
To join the citizen committee, call the planning office at (970) 565-2801. The deadline to form the committee is Oct. 26.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com