- Timing and extent of Bureau of Land Management Master Leasing Plan questioned at public meeting.
Can the Master Leasing Plan process be speeded up? That was a question addressed to a sub-group evaluating the need for such a plan at a meeting in Cortez Wednesday before an audience of close to 100. The sub-group, which includes representatives of diverse interests, is mulling the necessity of an MLP, which would more strictly regulate oil and gas development on public lands in portions of Montezuma and western La Plata counties. The sub-group has been meeting since November and is not expected to make its report to the Bureau of Land Management’s Southwest Resource Advisory Council until August, at which time the RAC will decide whether to recommend going ahead with an MLP. La Plata County’s commissioners support it, but Montezuma commissioners say the existing BLM management plan is adequate. State Director Ruth Welch admitted the process can be cumbersome and simply said the agency wants to move forward in a positive way. Public comment has been overwhelmingly in favor of the MLP and Wednesday’s was no different. Chris Eastin of Cortez said it is needed and should be extended northward because existing management doesn’t adequately address how possible seismic activity from fracking could affect McPhee Dam and its extensive water-delivery system, or the agricultural economy. Another 16 people also spoke in favor of developing an MLP.
