ABQjournal: Valle Vidal Drilling Has High-Profile Opponent
By Adam Rankin
Journal Staff Writer

A past president of the state’s oil and gas lobbying group says he is speaking out against energy development in the Valle Vidal.

He’s taking his message to the radio even though he’s usually an advocate for drilling.

“I am pro oil and gas; I made my living in oil and gas and that is where my friends are,” said Gary Fonay, former president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association.

But, he said, oil and gas development, as important as it is for the future of New Mexico, shouldn’t be allowed on the 40,000-acre Valle Vidal.

A unit of the Carson National Forest, the Valle Vidal has been under consideration for coal-bed methane drilling since Texas-based El Paso Corp. expressed interest in doing so….

Fonay said he thinks the energy industry has done a good job of being sensitive about protecting the environment, but that drilling, with all the associated roads, trucks, pumps and water tanks, would alter the experience of being in the Valle Vidal.

“It just changes what you have and changes the experience for people who are looking to see what Rocky Mountain life is all about,” he said.