Valle Vidal Vote
House Panel Votes to Protect Valle Vidal
A key House committee voted Wednesday to protect the Valle Vidal— 102,000 acres in New Mexico’s Carson National Forest— from gas drilling.
“This is a huge step forward in the process to protect one of New Mexico’s most precious gems,” said Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who authored the measure. “Protecting the Valle Vidal means preserving for New Mexico and the nation a land rich in history and culture and abundant in wildlife.”
The U.S. Forest Service, which manages the Valle Vidal, has been considering whether to open 40,000 acres of the land to coal-bed methane drilling.
The Forest Service solicited public opinion on the proposal and received 54,000 responses, only nine of which supported drilling in the area, according to an analysis by the Coalition for the Valle Vidal, which opposes opening up the Valle Vidal to gas drilling.
The Valle Vidal, located in Taos and Colfax counties, is home to one of the largest elk herds in the state and has been described as an outdoorsman’s paradise.
Udall also said the Valle Vidal was home to some of America’s earliest inhabitants— including Native Americans, Spanish settlers and myriad forms of wildlife.
“I believe we have a responsibility to protect it for future generations,” he said.
The Valle Vidal tract was donated to the Forest Service in 1982 by Pennzoil Co., which never drilled in the area.
Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., who sits on the resources committee, said Wednesday he supported the protection.
Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., became a co-sponsor of the measure after it passed the committee Wednesday. She had previously declined to publicly support or oppose the legislation, saying she wanted to study the matter and hear public feedback.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M, has sponsored similar legislation in the Senate, but Sen. Pete Domenici, chairman of the Senate Energy Natural Resources Committee, has not yet declared a position on the Valle Vidal Protection Act.
With so many in favor of preserving and protecting Valle Vidal, read what John Dendahl thinks. mjh
Dendahl wrote:
There are myriad reasons familiar to nearly all of us why we should develop domestic sources of oil and natural gas. Despite dated, obstructionist hype, the needed development can — and will — go hand-in-hand with sound environmental protection.
If Ted Turner and the Audubon Society can write contracts with producers that protect their land and water, so can the U.S. Forest Service and the BLM.
Richardson needs to tell his “environmentalist” pals to take a long, enjoyable hike…
mjh’s blog — I’m not laughing with Dimdahl, I’m laughing at him
Dendahl wrote:
Laugh of the Month: Richardson remains obstinate. Despite environment-friendly natural gas production on super-enviro Ted Turner’s Vermejo Park Ranch next door, drilling for natural gas in the Valle Vidal is vigorously opposed by some special interests. Vowing to do all he can to prevent Valle Vidal drilling, Richardson recently told the opponents, “We are not going to stand for special-interest management of the public domain.” Say what?
mjh’s blog — we know 21st-century technology guarantees the land’s protection
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said:
But if Arctic oil development was going to harm the environment or wildlife, then I would agree opening it would not be worth the cost. But the vast majority of Alaskans, including Alaska’s Eskimos who know it best, support ANWR’s development because we know 21st-century technology guarantees the land’s protection.
Just before this happened:
More than 200,000 gallons of crude leaked from a ruptured transit line onto the tundra in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay, making the spill discovered earlier this month the largest ever on the North Slope, according to an official estimate released Friday.
The estimated spill size of 202,000 to 267,000 gallons far surpasses the 38,000 gallons spilled in 2001, officials said. …