Posted on 04/22/2005 6:37:15 PM PDT by CedarDave
New Mexico is suing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to stop drilling on the environmentally sensitive Otero Mesa of south-central New Mexico.
Gov. Bill Richardson and Attorney General Patricia Madrid, appearing at the University of New Mexico for Earth Day, announced the filing of a lawsuit to stop the BLM's drilling plan.
Richardson, who called Otero Mesa one of the greatest groundwater resources in the state, said the federal government has stomped on the rights of New Mexican ranchers, environmentalists and outdoorsmen.
Otero Mesa 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 BLM issued a final decision in January that would allow oil and gas drilling on most of Otero Mesa's 1.8 million acres. The agency said its decision would permanently protect about 124,000 acres of the mesa in Sierra and Otero counties.
Richardson, however, said the state wants a more balanced alternative. "We are going to win to protect this land,'' he said. The BLM did not listen to New Mexicans, but rather is "opposing New Mexico's interests,'' Richardson said.
The BLM said strict controls on drilling will protect the environment on the mesa — one of North America's largest remaining pieces of Chihuahuan desert grassland. Conservationists called the protections "window dressing.''
The BLM has said its plan would permanently protect more than 88,000 acres of critical environmental concern and an additional 36,000 acres considered prime habitat for an endangered falcon. State BLM Director Linda Rundell has called the plan one of the most restrictive ever developed.
But Richardson and environmentalists have argued that the plan fails to consider the effect on groundwater and grassland. The governor has proposed setting aside 640,000 acres of the mesa as a national conservation area.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
Richardson is such a tool and his greatest appeal is in the Santa Fe vortex (this is what I call the patch of commie territory that encompasses the Santa Fe and Taos corridor and neighbouring towns). Most of the folks who I have met outside The Vortex think that Richardson is slimier than Ted Kennedy in a sitz bath.
You mean "Vice-President". Hillary will be the nominess for President, and to enhance her credibilty with Hispanics she'll have a hispanic running mate.
She'll need to do that since her main platform will be a crack-down on illegal aliens.
Am I mistaken in placing this area as between White Sands and U.S. 380, west of the Malpais -- a vast "empty quarter" that features Trinity site?
"a vast "empty quarter" that features Trinity site?"
The leaders of the enviromental movement don't care one bit about the environment, their only objective is to make sure that none of the natural resorces in this country can be used ever!
As the leader of the Sierra Club once stated:
Our ultimate goal is to eliminate all humans west of the Rockies!
Enviroweenies tried this argument (e.g. environmental impact of petroleum exploration/extraction on native grasses including black gramma) in the Midland-Odessa area. The Soil Conservation Service determined that native grasses experienced little or no negative effects (especially with "low impact" drilling practices that are currently in use).
Pfffft! As if mere facts meant anything to these people.
Since Richardson apparently believes we have no further need for oil, I trust he walked to the University. So lets see. No drilling in the god forsaken arctic. Can't touch the barren desert. Offshore rigs will destroy the scenery off the coast of Florida and California. I know. Lets buy some more from our friends with the cute towels on their heads.
No, only he and his enviro buddies will have comfortable, high speed SUV's (he already instructs his drivers to ignore speed limits on the interstate in ABQ). The rest of us will be limited to the Yugo-style cars that were in "style" in East Germany before the end of the Iron Curtain!
Sorry wasn't able to get back to you sooner.
The area is east of US 54 and roughly east of the Oro Grande area and just north of the Texas border. Some of it is under control of the US Army (NM segment of Fort Bliss) and the rest under BLM management. The eastern boundary is the Guadalupe Mountains. NM non-military access to it is via a road eastward at the Highway 54 Border Patrol checkpoint.
Ever notice how every single place is "unique" and "sensitive".
Well, you never hear them say "Oh, *that* parcel of land. Do whatever the hell you want, there's a hundred thousand more acres just like it. It's tough land, too, you know...
Everyone's unique, just like everyone else...
I have to give the gov kudos on his timing. It's not like prices are going up or anything. It's just the right time to stop some of that messy ole drillin!
Even the news writers recognized it was nothing more than an Earth Day ploy staged to make him look good.
I think he will be Hills VP selection
I have to agree with them that the area is very "fragile", and roads and activity will leave an impact on the land that will remain for many years. However, it is not pristine by any means (cattle grazing, etc.).
And if we are not to leave any impact on the land, lets not build any more homes, roads, hospitals, schools, etc. That's really what they (the envir-wackos) want to do. And the leftwing old media, the Hollywood elite ("oilmen are just greedy polluters, you know") and the RAT politicans (never saw a liberal cause they couldn't get some mileage out of) will do their damn best to shut domestic oil and gas production down.
The good news is that the common folks are becoming less and less tolerant of the types of activities these wackos are pushing. When it starts to hit them in the pocketbooks, especially the price of gas on the west coast (now over $3.00/gal in the SF Bay area), they begin to question why they can't have the same type of jobs and relatively low prices that, for example, Texans have. They may try to blame Bush, but it's sticking less and less.
But, even if it's on the east side of 54, instead of the west, that doesn't change the "empty quarter" description, does it?
But a "pristine" example of "unspoiled" Chihuahuan Desert upland ecology, no doubt. Absolutely "irreplaceable", I'm sure...
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