The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Prohibits drilling new wells without future water and climate analysis
[ By Katherine Nettles ]
A U.S. District Court judge vacated a federal plan last month that allowed fracking across 35,000 acres in the North Fork Valley and Thompson Divide areas of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) national forests. The North Fork Mancos Master Development Plan would have allowed 35 new fracking wells in an area known for providing wildlife habitat. Several local and regional conservation organizations are celebrating this victory for the North Fork Valley and Thompson Divide and issued a press release describing what the ruling means for northern Gunnison County and beyond.
Judge Marcia K. Krieger’s order on Friday, May 20 prevents new drilling and fracking in the areas named in the plan. The order stems from a 2021 lawsuit by conservation and climate groups challenging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service for failing to analyze potential water and climate pollution, or plan alternatives that would prevent such impacts.
“The decision protects three watersheds in the Upper North Fork Valley, two Colorado Roadless Areas and some of the best big game habitat around,” wrote Matt Reed, public lands director for Gunnison County-based High Country Conservation Advocates. “In addition, the project would have caused about 52 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution, equivalent to the annual pollution from a dozen coal-fired power plants.”
The plan would have caused about 52 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution, equivalent to the annual pollution from a dozen coal-fired power plants, according to the plaintiffs, Citizens for a Healthy Community, Wilderness Workshop, High Country Conservation Advocates, Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians, represented in the litigation by Western Environmental Law Center.
“We’re thrilled that today’s decision protects the spectacular public lands, wildlife and waters of the Upper North Fork,” said Reed. “Furthermore, this ill-conceived project would have impacted critical headwaters that sustain a significant organic agriculture industry immediately downstream in Delta County, whose farms are an important source of produce for Gunnison County individuals and businesses.”
Based on the court’s ruling, the BLM must start over to approve fossil fuel development in the area. “This will give BLM a chance to reconsider whether this is the right decision in the first place, and to contemplate alternatives that don’t destroy the headwaters of the North Fork, pristine roadless areas and our climate,” says Peter Hart, an attorney with Wilderness Workshop.
The coalition of plaintiffs estimate that fossil fuel production on public lands contributes to about a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution. “Federal fossil fuels that have not been leased to industry contain up to 450 billion tons of potential climate pollution; those already leased to industry contain up to 43 billion tons. Pollution from the world’s already producing oil and gas fields, if fully developed, would push global warming well past 1.5 degrees Celsius,” according to the press release.
“[Friday’s] ruling is an important victory for the North Fork Valley community because it ensures government accountability and protects our vital public lands, water resources and climate from misguided oil and gas development plans,” said Natasha Léger of Citizens for a Healthy Community. “The government’s concession that its analysis of the project was inadequate would not have occurred without this citizen-led lawsuit.”
“The judge’s order has spared forests, creeks and wildlife from fracking industrialization and prevented dangerous climate pollution along Colorado’s spectacular Western slope,” said Taylor McKinnon at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Now it’s time for President Biden to keep his promise and stop all new oil and gas expansion on our public lands and waters. His urgent action can help save the Colorado River basin, and the planet, for future generations.”
Reed concluded that local advocacy starting in 2017 lent to the process. “This significant victory would not have occurred without this citizen-led lawsuit and the fierce commitment of HCCA members in protecting this special part of Gunnison County,” he said.
