GOV. RITTER STATEMENT ON VERMILLION MANAGEMENT PLAN

Gov. Bill Ritter issued the following statement today regarding the federal Bureau of Land Management’s decision to allow oil and gas development on most lands and minerals managed by the BLM’s Little Snake Field Office, except for the 77,000-acre Vermillion Basin in northwest Colorado:

“The Little Snake planning area has more than 2 million acres of important oil and gas resources that will be available for leasing under this new management plan. That’s about 3 of every 4 acres under BLM ownership.

“The Vermillion Basin is a stark, untrammeled landscape of fragile beauty. It contains just 2 percent of the high oil and gas potential in the Little Snake management area. But because of the arid conditions that make this basin so spectacular, the impacts of gas development would literally last forever.

“My administration supports the natural gas industry as a mission-critical driver of our New Energy Economy. But energy development must occur in a way that does not cause irreparable harm to our environment, other natural resources, wildlife or to our citizens and communities. The BLM’s decision upholds that spirit and preserves our quality of life.”