Roan wildlife at risk
Drilling on 73,602-acre plateau worries biologists who fear unnatural activity will deplete mule deer, elk populations
Saturday, March 04, 2006
By SALLY SPAULDING
The Daily Sentinel
If business-as-usual drilling is allowed on the Roan Plateau, deer and elk populations could be cut in half, according to the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
John Broderick, a terrestrial wildlife biologist with the Division’s Glenwood Springs office, said if the Bureau of Land Management allows companies to drill the Roan using standard practices, mule deer and elk habitat would be decreased by staggering amounts.
“The BLM has to handle this area different than they’ve done before because this it not your normal, everyday place,” Broderick said.
The Roan has global significance because of its species diversity, and the area provides about $5 million annually to the local economy, thanks to its abundance of hiking, wildlife viewing, fishing and hunting opportunities.
Bureau of Land Management officials are developing a final plan for the 73,602-acre area between Rifle and Parachute, detailing how it should be managed over the next 20 years.
The plan is to be released in May, and thousands of citizens and concerned biologists are anxiously awaiting the decision.
The public has submitted more than 75,000 comments, with the majority discouraging oil and gas drilling on the top of the plateau.
Much of the lands at the bottom of the Roan already are developed, but the area below the rim is considered critical wintering range for deer and elk.
The top is the animals’ summer home.
What worries biologists is that drilling activities will fragment habitat and stress the deer and elk.
In a draft version of its management plan, the BLM predicts that, under its preferred option, 33 percent of deer, 5 percent of elk and 9 percent of overall wildlife will be reduced.
Division of Wildlife experts say those numbers grossly underestimate the cumulative effects of drilling on wildlife.
“The problem is the BLM always talks about drilling impacts for the drilling activity itself not the 20 or 30 years that the wells will be there,” Broderick said. “The cumulative impacts add up to stress, which leads to poor survival and decreased reproduction.”
The BLM’s draft plan analyzed the effects of 1,273 wells below the rim, all of which would be located in crucial deer winter range.
In the draft, the BLM says the wells would have a “moderate impact,” but the Division of Wildlife has called that into question, claiming the BLM ignored the overall effects to wildlife.
New roads, noise, constant traffic and other human activity leads to stress in the animals, which usually try to avoid such activities, DOW biologists say.
Unfortunately, the animals may have nowhere else to go.
“Energy companies love to show you pictures of deer and elk around their well sites,” said Bill Alldredge, a retired professor of wildlife biology who spent 30 years on faculty at Colorado State University.
“But when you look at the intensity of the development, the poor animals, there’s just nowhere else for them to go. We, unfortunately, have no idea what kind of stress is on those animals standing right there.”
New studies in Wyoming suggest elk may avoid roads by up to 1.5 miles, with deer avoiding them by 1.4 miles.
If the BLM allows drilling on a dense basis across the Roan, elk may not be able to get half a mile from a road.
Bob Elderkin of Silt, a retired oil-and-gas specialist for the BLM, said he doesn’t think elk will be able to withstand it.
“That’s when the elk are going to disappear,” he said.
That may also be when hunting outfitters choose to disappear as well, according to Keith Goddard, a hunting and fishing guide in Rifle who operates on the Roan.
“People don’t spend $3,000 on a hunting trip to watch traffic and hear rigs,” Goddard said.
He plans to shut down his operation if the BLM goes ahead with plans to drill the top of the Roan without providing strict development rules.
“We’ve already drilled in their winter ranges, so people better wake up,” he said. “I’m watching it all get gobbled up out here, and it’s sad.”
Clare Bastable, an organizer for the 10,000-member Colorado Mountain Club, said she remains hopeful some of the Roan can be saved for wildlife as well as outdoor enthusiasts.
Bastable said the Roan had brought together a motley crew of individuals across the Western Slope, people who might not agree on most environmental issues.
“The one thing we can all agree on is setting the bar high for development,” she said.
“We can’t open every last acre, and on the acres we open, we need to require the highest standards in technology and practices. These companies can afford it, and the Roan is worth it.”
A series of innovative recommendations were submitted to the BLM from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources for consideration. Participating in the comments were the state Division of Wildlife, geological survey, parks and recreation department and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
The plan would lease the plateau in 2,500-acre increments, but only one operator would be allowed to drill and produce gas.
Other leaseholders would share in the profits and the costs.
The plan limits surface disturbance to 200 acres at a given time, and new roads and multiple pipelines would be limited.
Development would be limited until previous acres were reclaimed, giving an incentive for companies to stick to the rules, or else no new wells.
Dave Boyd, a spokesman for the BLM’s Glenwood Springs office, said the bureau now is analyzing the proposal but could not comment further on the proposal’s inclusion in the final management plan.
Broderick called the proposal a “package deal,” saying all of the components were needed to be effective in maintaining wildlife populations.
“If these things aren’t included in the final plan, there’s no way the Division of Wildlife could come back with a supportive stance on the BLM’s plan,” he said.
Broderick said the BLM has to include these strict recommendations for operators at this stage to be effective at mitigating damage to wildlife.
Boyd said the BLM usually addresses specific rules for oil and gas development at the Application for Permit to Drill stage, after a company purchases a lease. That’s when the BLM chooses to look at site-specific effects and rules, he said.
But the Department of Natural Resources, as well as Broderick, suggests that’s too late.
They want the rules strictly defined and included when companies purchase the leases, not when they simply want to start drilling.
An Application for Permit to Drill usually requires environmental analysis by the bureau, but it is only site-specific, Broderick said. By looking at one well at a time, the BLM will miss the big picture without studying the cumulative effects to wildlife, he said.
“When the BLM says they can do the analysis at the APD stage, it’s the old way, and it’s detrimental to wildlife,” he said.
The combination of new ideas and drilling restrictions has never been done by the BLM, officials with the agency said.
Some biologists hope “new” will not translate into a “no” by the bureau.
Wildlife advocates hope the BLM will accept the new ideas, saying today’s innovations will be standard practices in a few years.
“I’m still hopeful the plan will have adequate provisions,” Bastable said. “But, the reality is, the Bush administration is putting increased pressure on the BLM to drill, drill, drill.
“We’re all biting our fingers, just waiting to see what happens.”
Drilling on 73,602-acre plateau worries biologists who fear unnatural activity will deplete mule deer, elk populations
Saturday, March 04, 2006
By SALLY SPAULDING
The Daily Sentinel
If business-as-usual drilling is allowed on the Roan Plateau, deer and elk populations could be cut in half, according to the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
John Broderick, a terrestrial wildlife biologist with the Division’s Glenwood Springs office, said if the Bureau of Land Management allows companies to drill the Roan using standard practices, mule deer and elk habitat would be decreased by staggering amounts.
“The BLM has to handle this area different than they’ve done before because this it not your normal, everyday place,” Broderick said.
The Roan has global significance because of its species diversity, and the area provides about $5 million annually to the local economy, thanks to its abundance of hiking, wildlife viewing, fishing and hunting opportunities.
Bureau of Land Management officials are developing a final plan for the 73,602-acre area between Rifle and Parachute, detailing how it should be managed over the next 20 years.
The plan is to be released in May, and thousands of citizens and concerned biologists are anxiously awaiting the decision.
The public has submitted more than 75,000 comments, with the majority discouraging oil and gas drilling on the top of the plateau.
Much of the lands at the bottom of the Roan already are developed, but the area below the rim is considered critical wintering range for deer and elk.
The top is the animals’ summer home.
What worries biologists is that drilling activities will fragment habitat and stress the deer and elk.
In a draft version of its management plan, the BLM predicts that, under its preferred option, 33 percent of deer, 5 percent of elk and 9 percent of overall wildlife will be reduced.
Division of Wildlife experts say those numbers grossly underestimate the cumulative effects of drilling on wildlife.
“The problem is the BLM always talks about drilling impacts for the drilling activity itself not the 20 or 30 years that the wells will be there,” Broderick said. “The cumulative impacts add up to stress, which leads to poor survival and decreased reproduction.”
The BLM’s draft plan analyzed the effects of 1,273 wells below the rim, all of which would be located in crucial deer winter range.
In the draft, the BLM says the wells would have a “moderate impact,” but the Division of Wildlife has called that into question, claiming the BLM ignored the overall effects to wildlife.
New roads, noise, constant traffic and other human activity leads to stress in the animals, which usually try to avoid such activities, DOW biologists say.
Unfortunately, the animals may have nowhere else to go.
“Energy companies love to show you pictures of deer and elk around their well sites,” said Bill Alldredge, a retired professor of wildlife biology who spent 30 years on faculty at Colorado State University.
“But when you look at the intensity of the development, the poor animals, there’s just nowhere else for them to go. We, unfortunately, have no idea what kind of stress is on those animals standing right there.”
New studies in Wyoming suggest elk may avoid roads by up to 1.5 miles, with deer avoiding them by 1.4 miles.
If the BLM allows drilling on a dense basis across the Roan, elk may not be able to get half a mile from a road.
Bob Elderkin of Silt, a retired oil-and-gas specialist for the BLM, said he doesn’t think elk will be able to withstand it.
“That’s when the elk are going to disappear,” he said.
That may also be when hunting outfitters choose to disappear as well, according to Keith Goddard, a hunting and fishing guide in Rifle who operates on the Roan.
“People don’t spend $3,000 on a hunting trip to watch traffic and hear rigs,” Goddard said.
He plans to shut down his operation if the BLM goes ahead with plans to drill the top of the Roan without providing strict development rules.
“We’ve already drilled in their winter ranges, so people better wake up,” he said. “I’m watching it all get gobbled up out here, and it’s sad.”
Clare Bastable, an organizer for the 10,000-member Colorado Mountain Club, said she remains hopeful some of the Roan can be saved for wildlife as well as outdoor enthusiasts.
Bastable said the Roan had brought together a motley crew of individuals across the Western Slope, people who might not agree on most environmental issues.
“The one thing we can all agree on is setting the bar high for development,” she said.
“We can’t open every last acre, and on the acres we open, we need to require the highest standards in technology and practices. These companies can afford it, and the Roan is worth it.”
A series of innovative recommendations were submitted to the BLM from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources for consideration. Participating in the comments were the state Division of Wildlife, geological survey, parks and recreation department and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
The plan would lease the plateau in 2,500-acre increments, but only one operator would be allowed to drill and produce gas.
Other leaseholders would share in the profits and the costs.
The plan limits surface disturbance to 200 acres at a given time, and new roads and multiple pipelines would be limited.
Development would be limited until previous acres were reclaimed, giving an incentive for companies to stick to the rules, or else no new wells.
Dave Boyd, a spokesman for the BLM’s Glenwood Springs office, said the bureau now is analyzing the proposal but could not comment further on the proposal’s inclusion in the final management plan.
Broderick called the proposal a “package deal,” saying all of the components were needed to be effective in maintaining wildlife populations.
“If these things aren’t included in the final plan, there’s no way the Division of Wildlife could come back with a supportive stance on the BLM’s plan,” he said.
Broderick said the BLM has to include these strict recommendations for operators at this stage to be effective at mitigating damage to wildlife.
Boyd said the BLM usually addresses specific rules for oil and gas development at the Application for Permit to Drill stage, after a company purchases a lease. That’s when the BLM chooses to look at site-specific effects and rules, he said.
But the Department of Natural Resources, as well as Broderick, suggests that’s too late.
They want the rules strictly defined and included when companies purchase the leases, not when they simply want to start drilling.
An Application for Permit to Drill usually requires environmental analysis by the bureau, but it is only site-specific, Broderick said. By looking at one well at a time, the BLM will miss the big picture without studying the cumulative effects to wildlife, he said.
“When the BLM says they can do the analysis at the APD stage, it’s the old way, and it’s detrimental to wildlife,” he said.
The combination of new ideas and drilling restrictions has never been done by the BLM, officials with the agency said.
Some biologists hope “new” will not translate into a “no” by the bureau.
Wildlife advocates hope the BLM will accept the new ideas, saying today’s innovations will be standard practices in a few years.
“I’m still hopeful the plan will have adequate provisions,” Bastable said. “But, the reality is, the Bush administration is putting increased pressure on the BLM to drill, drill, drill.
“We’re all biting our fingers, just waiting to see what happens.”
Might be able to pay the NR tag increases some day. 
