WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, October 13, 2005
Carson Concerns Forest Groups

Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians and the National Forest Protection Alliance have named northern New Mexico's Carson National Forest as one of the most "threatened" forests in the country
Contact: Staff report Albuquerque Journal

Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians and the National Forest Protection Alliance have named northern New Mexico's Carson National Forest as one of the most "threatened" forests in the country.

The Carson made the list because of oil and gas leasing in the forest and proposals for additional drilling and coal-bed methane exploration and development.

"The Carson National Forest and its crown jewel the Valle Vidal are threatened more than ever by oil and gas exploitation," said Bryan Bird, forest ecologist for WildEarth Guardians. "We have a moral obligation to preserve our natural heritage from profiteers and career bureaucrats; this is not a sacrifice zone."

Houston-based El Paso Corp. has requested that forest managers open the 100,000-acre Valle Vidal to drilling. A decision isn't expected until 2008.

Also this week, Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., announced that the House will hold a hearing Oct. 26 to consider his legislation to prohibit oil and gas drilling on the Valle Vidal.

The hearing on the Valle Vidal Protection Act, H.R. 3817, will be held before the House Resource Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health.

"I am pleased that the committee is moving forward so quickly on my legislation," Udall said. "My hope is that this hearing will help everyone understand the importance of this unique national treasure. Based on the positive response my legislation has already received, I remain steadfast in my conviction that the Valle Vidal should be protected from oil and gas development."

Copyright 2005 Albuquerque Journal - Reprinted with permission