HomeMy WebLinkAboutbocc.res.035.2005 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF PITKIN COUNTY COLORADO,
CONCERNING THE PRESERVATION OF SCENIC AND RECREATION VALUES
AND THE PRODUCTION OF NATURAL GAS IN THE ROAN PLATEAU
PLANNNING AREA
Resolution
Recitals
The Board of County Commissioners believes that the enhancement, preservation,
and assurance of environmental quality are essential to the public health, safety, and
welfare.
The County has adopted policies and a strategic plan that include protection of our
environment as one of its goals, in order to protect the natural resources in Pitkin
County and the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond for present and future generations.
The County also values regional efforts, and works with neighboring counties to
address issues of mutual concern.
One of our neighbors, Garfield County, has experienced a dramatic increase in the
development of natural gas wells, and the pressure for further development is
currently impacting one of the special natural areas valued by the citizens of Garfield
County, the Roan Plateau.
The Roan Plateau Planning Area is an important local resource that offers outstanding
backcountry opportunities, including hunting, backpacking, camping, mountain
biking, fishing, wildlife viewing, scenic drives, and opportunities for solitude. It is
also a community watershed.
These many backcountry uses contribute significantly to the local and national
economy--with hunting alone on Roan Plateau contributing about $3.8 million
annually to the economy of Garfield County, according to the Colorado Division of
Wildlife--and to the quality of life important to both residents and visitors.
Roan Plateau and its striking cliffs are prominent symbols of the region's natural
heritage and rural character, and preserving this undeveloped island of important
public lands in a region already heavily impacted by existing natural gas development
is important to community pride, maintaining property values, and providing a scenic
backdrop for the communities of Battlement Mesa, New Castle, Parachute, Rifle, and
Silt.
The tops and cliffs of Roan Plateau include important mid-elevation wildlife habitat
that allows for an extremely high level of biological diversity, including several
endemic species of at-risk plants, genetically pure populations of Colorado River
cutthroat trout, and robust wildlife populations, and is considered by the Colorado
Natural Heritage Program to be one of the top four biologically diverse places on
Colorado's Western Slope and the only one without protection.
Roan Plateau Resolution ~ ~ -2005, page 2 of 3.
9. Sufficient access to abundant energy supplies already exists throughout the region,
and large portions of public lands inside and near the Roan Plateau Planning Area are
already leased or in energy production.
10. Pitkin County also believes that conservation of energy and development of
renewable energy soumes that are less impactive on the natural environment must be
as important as development of the non-renewable resources in any long-range
energy plan.
11. The municipalities of Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, New Castle, and Silt have
adopted formal positions of support for a middle-ground management approach,
which reflects the sentiments expressed by every municipality in Garfield County
during an earlier public comment period, specifically to keep the public lands on top
of and along the cliff faces of Roan Plateau free of gas drilling. Pitkin County
supported that position in the earlier comment period through adoption of its
Resolution #042-2004.
12. Between 85% and 99% of the natural gas likely to be developed over the next 20
years within the Roan Plateau Planning Area under the range of alternatives in the
Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) draft Resoume Management Plan is available
without drilling on the public lands of the Plateau's top or cliffs, according to an
analysis of the draft plan and can be produced using the best and evolving
management practices and technologies.
13. Advancing technologies hold promise of extracting additional natural gas from
underneath the plateau and along its base over the twenty-years life of the BLM's
plan, allowing even more of the Planning Area's reserves to be developed without
drilling the public lands on top of or along the cliff faces of Roan Plateau, and that
requiring high standards to protect the sensitive and popular lands of the Roan Plateau
Planning Area also stimulates innovation and the development of new production
technologies.
14. A final management plan that keeps the top and cliffs of Roan Plateau mostly in their
current condition best respects the wishes of the local communities and protects the
area's unique natural and biological resources, while still allowing for public uses
such as grazing, hunting, hiking, fishing and other recreation, as well as for ample
energy development.
15. The Board of County Commissioners believes that national energy policy must
include the ability to balance the need for natural gas development with the need to
preserve special places like the cliffs and the top of the Roan Plateau.
16. The Board of County Commissioners believes that the final management plan for the
Roan Plateau presents an opportunity for the current national administration to
demonstrate that energy development can be done in a manner that is sensitive to the
environment and to the needs of the local community.
Roan Plateau Resolution O~-2005, page 3 0f3
Therefore, it is resolved by the Board of Commissioners of Pitkin County, that the Board:
1. Supports a balanced management plan for the public lands of Roan Plateau, known as the
Community Alternative, that
· leaves the public lands of the top and cliffs of the Plateau closed to leasing for the life of
the BLM's Roan Plateau Resource Management Plan, or keeps those lands closed to
leasing unless and until technologies can be utilized to extract natural gas from under the
plateau's top without disturbing the top and cliffs, leaving those popular public lands
available for the multitude of other public uses for which these lands are already utilized,
· imposes strong protections for natural resources, recreation, and public uses in all
portions of the Roan Plateau Planning Area, and
· requires the use of best management practices and best and evolving technologies in the
production of gas and other energy resources from the Roan Plateau Planning Area; and
2. Urges the Bureau of Land Management to adopt as its final plan one that reflects this
community-supported alternative and that recognizes the widespread support for leaving the
uplands and cliffs of Roan Plateau free of new gas drilling while directing that responsible
energy development occur below the rim and cliffs in a manner that protects the area's wildlife,
habitat, and natural resources and respects local residents and communities; and
3. Directs staffto promptly send a copy of this resolution to the Bureau of Land
Management and to the Honorable Wayne Allard, Honorable Ken Salazar, Honorable John
Salazar, Honorable Bill Owens, and Garfield County Commissioners.
INTRODUCED, READ AND ADOPTED ON THE 5TM DAY OF APRIL, 2005.
ATTEST: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO
J~a~et~/J~nes, Deputy Clerk
By -
atti Kay-Clappcgr, Chair
Manager's Approval:
Hilary Fleer Smith, Co~nag~r