Legislative exchanges for Thompson Divide area

County supports mineral extraction but not isolated leases

By Adam Broderick

On Tuesday, July 28, Gunnison County commissioners wrote a letter to senators Michael Bennet (D.C.), Cory Gardner (D.C.), and Scott Tipton, U.S. Representative for Colorado, supporting continued cooperation and collaboration toward oil and gas management, including mineral development and extraction, in the North Fork of Gunnison County.

Commissioners said that Gunnison County was working with its partners and stakeholders to finalize a collaborative map representing oil and gas management.

The county believes that a letter it sent senators back in May might have been misunderstood for supporting isolated lease exchanges in the Thompson Divide area.

However, the county does not support an isolated exchange bill for SG Interests lease exchanges. The county only wants SG Interests to remain a part of the larger solution in the Thompson Divide area. Commissioners voted 2 to 1 to send the letter of support, with commissioner Phil Chamberland opposing the motion to approve. Chamberland said his reason for opposing the other commissioners in the vote was that he is not opposed to the lease exchanges as a separate bill.

“I feel it would be a step in the direction that we want to head and I don’t mind taking baby steps as long as they are in the right direction,” Chamberland wrote in an email.

Commissioners told Tipton that a permanent solution for the Huntsman Ridge area, as identified by local sportsmen as a premier hunting area, needs to be a part of the discussion, and that Kebler Pass and the current coal mine district need to be included in the management plan.

Commissioners said they would send the county’s collaborative map representing oil and gas management to the senators and Representative Tipton in the near future, once the issues have been fully addressed and conversations finalized.