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The environment desk at Aspen Public Radio covers issues in the Roaring Fork Valley and throughout the state of Colorado including water use and quality, impact of recreation, population growth and oil and gas development. APR’s Environment Reporter is Elizabeth Stewart-Severy.

25 Thompson Divide leases canceled

Aspen Public Radio News

The Bureau of Land Management released a plan Friday to cancel 25 oil and gas leases in the Thompson Divide area near Carbondale. Local groups, including Wilderness Workshop and the Thompson Divide Coalition, said in statements that canceling those leases helps to protect wildlife, land and public water supplies.

The complete Final Environmental Impact Statement addresses 65 oil and gas leases in the White River National Forest. These leases are owned by multiple oil and gas companies, including Ursa and SG Interests.

Wilderness Workshop and other environmental groups said the revised plan does not do enough to protect areas outside of Thompson Divide, including Battlement Mesa, Mamm Peak, and East Willow areas.

A draft plan issued last November included additional stipulations and restrictions on the remaining 40 leases. The final plan, however, includes only minor or no modifications to more than half of those leases in areas that environmental groups say are ecologically important.

Oil and gas industry representatives say they plan to fight the cancelations.

 

A final decision on the BLM plan is expected early this fall.

 

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.
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