thumping in the canyon of the ancients

[Guest guest]

so, is carbon dioxide a sign of oil? natural gas?

 

 

Dear WildAlert Subscriber,

 

Canyons of the Ancients is a timeless place. Deceptively gentle

slopes give way to rugged, deep canyons. Sheer sandstone cliffs

plunge to the river bottom, where cottonwoods rustle. Once, these

quiet canyons echoed with the voices of Anasazi and, later, Ute and

Navajo. This magical place is also one of America's newest National

Monuments.

 

It is puzzling why anyone would want to disrupt this peaceful place,

but that is exactly what the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is

contemplating. Even though there are less destructive exploration

methods available, the BLM is considering allowing an energy company

to use 50,000 pound thumper trucks to explore for carbon dioxide on

10,000 acres within the monument. The BLM is accepting comments from

the public on this proposal so please weigh in by May 31st to

protect this remarkable place:

http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2 & item=1519

 

NOTE TO READERS: If you have been following the " National Forest

Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2002, " the planned introduction of

the bill, which would protect much of America's last unroaded

national forest areas, has been postponed because of the

congressional Memorial Day recess.

 

BACKGROUND ON THE CANYONS

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, not far from Durango,

Colorado, was established in 2000 to protect this remarkable

archeological treasure trove. This place is an archeologist's dream,

containing the largest concentration of archeological sites anywhere

in North America. An estimated 20,000 sites reflect all the

physical components of past human life: villages, kivas, cliff

dwellings, sacred springs, petroglyphs, and sweat lodges. The

monument also provides habitat for rare lizards, such as the long-

nosed leopard lizard.

 

THE PROBLEM

While the monument proclamation retained existing rights and did not

prohibit future energy development, the BLM does not have the

authority to allow development without carefully balancing

development against the protective purposes of the National Monument

and without minimizing the impacts to the land -- especially

archeological and biological resources.

 

Under a proposal put forth by Western Geophysical and their client

Legacy Energy Company, huge 50,000 pound " thumper trucks " would

drive along 60 miles of " source " lines within the Monument,

vibrating or " thumping " at 1,151 source points. About 80 percent of

these source points are located off existing roads and trails and

will require cross-country travel.

 

It doesn't take an archeologist to predict what might be crushed and

obliterated by such an operation. There are less damaging ways to

conduct this exploration.

 

The Bureau of Land Management, which manages the Monument, has

conducted an Environmental Assessment of the proposal and wants to

hear what the public has to say about it. The agency will accept

your comments until May 31.

 

TAKE ACTION

Please write the BLM by May 31 and urge a careful approach to this

proposal. You can take action from our website, at:

http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2 & item=1519

 

Or contact the BLM directly. Please tell the agency that:

 

The BLM should consider not allowing the proposal to go forward. But

if exploration is allowed, it must follow the mandates set out by

the proclamation which established the Monument.

 

The BLM must demonstrate that none of the special archeological or

biological values of the Monument would be harmed under this

proposed exploration. This includes:

 

++ Discovered and undiscovered archeological sites;

 

++ Animal species such as the yellow-billed cuckoo, Mesa Verde

nightsnake, the long-nosed leopard lizard, and the twin-spotted

spiny lizard;

 

++ Native plants such as the single-leaf ash, cliff rose, oak, and

barrel cactus.

 

++ At least 15 percent of the area proposed for exploration is not

under lease. Because most of the Monument's lands have already been

leased for oil and gas, which includes carbon dioxide, and

development is already occurring, the BLM should protect those areas

not yet leased.

 

++ If exploration is permitted it should use shot-hole helicopter

exploration instead of thumper trucks. Because 80 percent of the

vibration source locations occur off existing roads, the shot-hole

Helicopter Alternative may cause far less impacts to reptiles,

biological soil crusts, archeological sites, erosion-prone soils,

and vegetation than the proposed action using thumper trucks.

 

Send your letters to:

Manager, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument

c/o Anasazi Heritage Center

27501 Highway 184

Dolores CO 81323

Comments may also be emailed to: Colorado_CANM.

 

More Info: Read the Environmental Assessment:

http://www.co.blm.gov/canm/3dseismic.htm.

 

Visit the web site of the San Juan Citizen's Alliance (SJCA)

http://www.sanjuancitizens.org.

 

SJCA of Colorado provided much of the information for this

WildAlert. SJCA is part of a coalition of groups working to protect

America's newest national monuments and to preserve all the special

values of the National Landscape Conservation System. For more on

this campaign, visit:

http://www.wilderness.org/monuments/

 

****************************

 

If we allow ourselves to put aside our arrogance long enough,

perhaps we can read the lesson written in the eyes of lizards and

deer deep in the land of stone time: this world and its creatures

were not presented to us; we were joined to them in the exquisite

saraband of life. The arrangement was never meant to be a conquest,

and it is more deeply complex than a responsibility. It is a

sharing. -T.H. Watkins, Stone Time