Reported by Staff

DENVER – A new wilderness proposal put forth by U.S. Representative Diana DeGette includes nearly 40,000 acres on top of western Colorado’s Roan Plateau, much of which has already been leased for gas and oil development.

Released a few days ago, the draft bill would designate 34 separate Colorado sites totaling 890,000 acres as federal wilderness, thereby making the land  off-limits to several activities.

As we’ve reported in Colorado Energy News throughout the last two years, the Roan Plateau has become a flash point in the battle between stakeholders who want to protect Colorado’s backcountry and wildlife habitat and proponents of increasing domestic energy production. According to BLM estimates,the Roan Plateau holds approximately 9 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, although a handful of estimates from land and environmental groups are lower.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved a management plan for the public land on the plateau in 2008 that allows drilling in selected places. The agency also approved gas and oil leases on nearly 55,000 acres on the plateau, which is situated just outside Rifle on the Western Slope.

Environmental groups have filed lawsuits seeking to block the drilling, contending the federal analysis of potential impacts was incomplete. Those legal actions may be resolved  if negotiations with Denver-based Bill Barrett Corp., which has a 90 percent stake in roughly 40,000 acres of the leases on the Roan, prove successful. Still, the energy company says it would vigorously protect its property rights in the area.

Some West Slope politicians want to see more energy development of the Roan, and point out that drilling on private land is already taking place there. They also say the BLM’s management plan is too restrictive. BLM spokesman Jim Sample said he can’t comment on proposed legislation.