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New Otero Mesa Report Reveals: ''Hollow Promises in Our Land of Enchantment--Why the Bureau of Land Management Can't be Trusted to Protect Otero Mesa'' A state department secretary criticized the Bureau of Land Management's plan for opening oil and gas drilling on parts of Otero Mesa, saying the bureau has ignored recommendations for land use presented by the state. Joanna Prukop, secretary for the state's Energy, Mineral and Natural Resources Department, said Wednesday in a teleconference with several environmental groups and experts that the BLM's plan is vague and does not adequately address the impact of drilling on natural resources and wildlife on the mesa in southeastern New Mexico. "The state presented reasonable and balanced stipulations. The BLM ignored most of our very reasonable recommendations,'' Prukop said. "(The BLM) has no idea of what the cumulative impact on Otero Mesa will be.'' Prukop said the state plan requested that 640,000 acres of the Otero Mesa's 2 million acres be set aside as a national conservation area. The BLM said its plan protects about 35,000 acres of Aplomado falcon habitat, more than 88,000 acres of wildlife and special status species habitat and has additional tight restrictions on development. Hans Stuart, BLM spokesman, said the agency studied the state's proposals and said the agency went to great lengths to ensure safeguards for protecting Otero Mesa as well as serving the needs of all land-use parties. Out of the 2 million acres, a total of 1,589 acres would be disturbed by drilling practices such as additional roads, well pads and pipelines. In addition, no more than 5 percent can be disturbed on the grasslands at any specific time, Stuart said. "This is the irony - our plan is one of the most restrictive oil and gas plans in the entire country,'' Stuart said. The state of New Mexico and a coalition of environmental groups are suing the BLM over its plan to allow drilling on Otero Mesa. They contend the BLM failed to evaluate whether building roads, pipelines, well pads and other structures would damage the area's ecosystem. Otero Mesa, in Sierra and Otero counties, has the nation's largest contiguous patch of black gramma grass, which takes decades to re-establish and is not available as commercial seed. The mesa also is home to hundreds of species of plants, mammals, reptiles, birds and insects. A report complied for the Coalition for Otero Mesa released at the teleconference claims the BLM routinely puts off environmental analysis until the well permitting stage and "rubberstamps'' development without further environmental requirements, violates national protection laws and exempts oil and gas companies from implementing mitigation requirements. Nicole Rosmarino, co-author of the report and conservation director for WildEarth Guardians, said she reviewed hundreds of BLM documents and environmental assessements and said the agency's promises to protect Otero Mesa "ring hollow.'' "We used the actual experiences of how the oil and gas leases had unfolded elsewhere in the state " to compile this report, Rosmarino said. "The point of this is how much power the BLM maintains after leasing these lands.'' Stuart said the agency strongly disagrees with the report, noting that only 1 percent of the 13 million acres of public land around the state has been disturbed by oil and gas drilling. He said the BLM plan imposes new restrictions, a cap on development and revegitation requirements for grasses and other plant species. "By law, (the BLM) is a multiple-use agency. We have found a way to balance those uses to protect Otero Mesa,'' he said. Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal - Reprinted with permission |
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