see the great american west, before it gets covered in a glop of oil

[Guest guest]

Robert Perks, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

 

NRDC Warns of Bush's Open Season on Wild West

 

Planning a vacation in the great American outdoors?

See it before it's gone, warns new online travel guide:

Reviews of the best of the West - and what's under threat

 

Wednesday, 3 July, 2002

 

NEW YORK -- If kayaking, climbing, backpacking or fly-fishing is on the summer

schedule, NRDC's (Natural Resources Defense Council) new online guide to outdoor

vacations has it all. It highlights some of the best spots in the American West

to enjoy our natural heritage and tells how vacationers can make the most of

their outdoor experience.

 

But this vacation comes with a warning: Take that trip soon because the

spectacular scenery you're hoping to see is about to disappear thanks to the

Bush administration's " drill everywhere and anywhere " energy plan.

 

NRDC's new Internet guide, launched today, provides a sampling of some of the

great places for outdoor adventures in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and

Montana, and features links to outfitters, parks and other resources. A click of

the mouse leads adventure travelers to preferred destinations and activities,

whether it's rock climbing in Utah's redrock country, backpacking in Badger-Two

Medicine in Montana, or rafting the Delores River in Colorado.

 

NRDC's outdoor travel guide can be found on its Internet home page at

www.nrdc.org.

 

All of the spectacular sites highlighted in NRDC's guide are located on public

lands. Some, such as Colorado's Vermillion Basin or New Mexico's Otero Mesa, are

largely untouched by civilization and teeming with rarely seen wildlife-a

perfect retreat for the intrepid traveler craving an escape from crowded

national parks.

 

But NRDC's guide also provides a sobering education about the Bush

administration's plans to explore and drill right in the heart of these natural

wonderlands. Each destination carries a description of oil and gas exploration

already occurring or potential threats outlined in the Bush energy plan. That

plan, released in May 2001, directed federal agencies to explore opportunities

to significantly boost domestic energy production on public lands, primarily in

Western states.

 

For example, the government has sold numerous oil leases in Utah's Lockhart

Basin, famous for mountain biking excursions. Oil companies already have begun

seismic testing at Dome Plateau, Utah, literally on the doorstep of Arches

National Park; oil rigs could soon mar the views from this famous park and from

nearby Fisher Towers, a magnet for rock climbers. Wyoming averages 11 new oil

wells a day. There are plans for 4,000 new oil and gas wells in the Upper Green

River Basin, which lies between the Shoshone and Bridger-Teton national forests.

And if the administration has its way, Colorado's San Juan National Forest will

host as many as 200 new coal-bed methane wells.

 

NRDC says there's little public awareness that drilling and exploration is

occurring on public lands, many of which are on the doorstep of beloved national

parks and forests.

 

" These areas are natural treasures of immense environmental and recreational

value, " said NRDC Senior Attorney Johanna Wald, who recently filed a lawsuit to

stop drilling in Utah until environmental reviews are done. " We launched this

campaign both to attract the outdoor enthusiast to areas offering terrific

recreational opportunities but also to warn people that these spectacular places

are being targeted for rapacious energy development. "

 

NRDC says the Bush administration is facilitating the energy industry's plan to

drill for oil and gas on public lands now that Congress appears unlikely to

approve drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Across the West,

federal agencies are rushing to lease sensitive wildlands for oil, gas and coal

development in response to instructions from Bush administration officials. For

example, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) told its Utah state directors in a

memo last year: " Utah needs to ensure that existing staff understand that when

an oil and gas lease parcel or when an application for permission to drill comes

in the door, that this work is their No. 1 priority. "

 

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit organization of

scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public

health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 500,000 members

nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San

Francisco.

 

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Also See -- http://www.nrdc.org