June 2013 - Wilderness Workshop

Olivia Siegel
Protecting wild places and wildlife,
for their sake – and ours
June 2013
PEOPLE POWER
Clay Haw
kins
Citizen activists are following their passions
to help save the Thompson Divide.
In this issue
A plan for Aspen's backyard
2
Go wolverines
3
Wilderness proposals progress
4
Suspension of disbelief
7
Do your thing for the
Thompson Divide
9
Skytruth or dare
10
Remember the Roan
11
Goodbye, Lone Ranger
12
Donor hall of fame
14
JIM AND SHARILL HAWKINS
F
B&B owners galvanized by
haul route threat
or 16 years, Sharill and Jim Hawkins have owned and operated the
Four Mile Creek Bed and Breakfast, a
quiet slice of paradise halfway between
Glenwood Springs and Sunlight Ski
Area. The Thompson Divide is literally
their backyard – and the potential haul
route for drilling operations runs through
the front yard.
The Hawkinses are the face of a tourism- and recreation-based local economy that would gain little from development of the Thompson Divide, and has
everything to lose. “Our business would
basically be ruined,” says Jim. “As far as
I’m concerned we’ve sacrificed one half
of this county for energy exploration. We
don’t need to sacrifice the other half.”
Sharill got involved with the Thompson Divide issue three years ago, helping
with a Thompson Divide Coalition study
to establish the baseline quality of water
in area creeks and rivers prior to any
drilling occurring. More recently, she
hit on the idea of using the Whimsical
Women of the West art show, which
she hosts at her property, as a way to
help the cause, convincing her fellow
artists to donate a portion of proceeds to
groups working to protect the Thompson
Divide. The December show benefited
TDC, and the May show the Wilderness
Workshop.
LEA LINSE
A student leader finds her voice
Lea Linse first heard about natural gas
leases in the Thompson Divide during
CONTINUED ON page 6
Get ready for Naturalist Nights - see schedule, page 7
Summer events calendar >> 5
June 2013
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Wild Works
1
A PLAN FOR ASPEN’S BACKYARD
I
f you live in the Roaring Fork
Valley, you’ve probably biked
or hiked up Smuggler Mountain or
into Hunter Creek and marveled at
how lucky Aspen is to have such an
incredible area so close to town. It’s
rightly called “Aspen’s backyard.”
Mountain Cooperative Plan began
with the goal of saving the forest
from a forecasted mountain pine
beetle outbreak. Fortunately, the
beetles never reached epidemic
levels in our diverse local forests;
recent surveys indicate the statewide
WW is pushing for a lighter touch on the
Hunter Creek-Smuggler Mountain Plan.
Because of its proximity to Aspen,
its important wildlife habitat and
its recreational values, this area deserves extra attention. Over the past
18 months, the Forest Service, Aspen
Center for Environmental Studies,
Pitkin County and the City of Aspen
(with input from several stakeholder
groups including WW) have gone
through a cooperative planning process to develop a management plan
for this special area.
The Hunter Creek-Smuggler
Hunter Creek Cutoff
Smuggler Loop
Smuggler Mountain Rd.
Balcony Trail
epidemic is over, and beetle activity
has returned to endemic levels.
As a result, the plan now focuses
on enhancing wildlife habitat and
recreational use. The Forest Service
has begun an environmental assessment of the proposal, aiming to
complete it in time to allow work
to start this summer or fall. WW
submitted comments in the initial
“scoping” phase of the process in
mid-May. Thanks to all of you who
sent emails to the Forest Service supporting our points.
“We think the
plan has the potential to do a lot of
good things for recreation and wildlife
habitat in the area,
but there are a few
key ways it could
be improved,” says
WW’s Will Roush.
“We’re pushing
for a lighter touch,
one that emphasizes letting natural
processes accomplish some of the
plan’s goals.”
Because no specific projects for
treating vegetation are listed in the
proposed plan, we’ve asked the
Forest Service to solicit public comment and formally examine potential
environmental impacts as it moves
ahead with future projects.
We’ve also called for an emphasis
on trail quality over trail quantity. It
just makes sense to prioritize limited
management resources to maximize
the trail system we already have. The
south side of Smuggler Mountain
(home of the illegally built Balcony
Trail) should be preserved for its ecological and wilderness values. This
area provides important bear and
elk habitat, and Colorado Parks and
Wildlife has specifically requested
that there be no trails in this area.
Lastly, we’ve asked the Forest
Service to minimize the use of mechanical treatments, (e.g., bulldozers
and chainsaws), and instead to use
prescribed fire (where it can be done
safely) or natural disturbances (such
as endemic levels of pine beetles) to
enhance forest diversity and improve
wildlife habitat.
You gotta love the irony: a plan
whose original purpose was to combat pine beetles may end up embracing the bugs as a management
tool. Mother Nature is the original
aikido master.
ASPEN
The illegally constructed Balcony Trail passes through highvalue wildlife habitat, posing a challenge to recreation planning
in the area. The Forest Service will evaluate whether a sustainable trail alignment is possible.
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GO WOLVERINES
The iconic species may be heading for a comeback in Colorado.
I
support for a reintroduction much
more likely.
Wolverines are a rare, wideranging member of the weasel
family that thrive in remote alpine
environments. They birth their young
Cameron Miller
n February, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service announced its
intention to list the wolverine as a
threatened species. The proposed
listing is an overdue recognition that
this iconic carnivore – much like the
polar bear – stands to lose much of
its habitat to climate change.
Fortunately, this action opens the
door for Colorado Parks and Wildlife
to restart discussions about reintroducing wolverines into our state.
This is an exciting opportunity, and it
will be a priority for WW to assist in
this process in the coming years.
We do have concerns about a
provision of the listing that designates the Southern Rocky Mountains
(Colorado, southern Wyoming and
northern New Mexico) as an experimental population area for wolverines. But while this will limit the
protections given by the Endangered
Species Act, it will make broad
The only known sighting of M56.
in dens dug deep into the snow just
above treeline in February, and need
that snow to remain in place through
mid-spring, when kits are weaned
and can safely travel on their own.
Colorado’s high-elevation islands
of snow could serve as important
redoubts for wolverines as their
remaining habitat shrinks due to
climate change.
Wolverines historically lived in
Colorado until the early 1900s,
when they were eliminated by
poisoning and trapping. In 2009, researchers tracked M56, a lone male
wolverine, as he traveled 500 miles
from near Grand Teton National Park
into Colorado. He’s thought to be
the region’s first confirmed wolverine in over 90 years.
In 2010, CPW officials began
conversations with interested stakeholders about a wolverine reintroduction program. However, discussions were put on hold pending a
decision by the federal Fish and
Wildlife Service. February’s decision
is key in allowing CPW to re-engage
with stakeholders about the potential for a wolverine reintroduction
program.
TREKWEST PITSTOP IN ASPEN
ast fall, WW staff and board
members were privileged to
hold a retreat with Michael Soulé
and John Davis, co-founders of the
Wildlands Network. An illustrious conservationist-explorer, John
had recently completed TrekEast, a
7,600-mile human-powered journey linking up the wildest and most
intact ecosystems from Florida to
Quebec.
Now John is performing a similar
feat in the West, hiking/biking/
paddling from northern Mexico to
southern British Columbia to call
attention to the need for an international wildlife conservation corridor. TrekWest, as this expedition is
called, is highlighting the regional
efforts of conservation organizations,
private landowners and others dedicated to wildlife connectivity along
the “spine of the continent.” WW is
pleased to be one of TrekWest’s collaborating organizations.
John will be passing through
Aspen on Saturday, July 6, and we’ll
host a public event with him at
Hallam Lake that
afternoon or evening. Please make
sure you’re on
our email list, and
like our Facebook
page, to get the
details when we
announce them.
John Davis sets off.
Kim Vacariu
L
June 2013
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Wild Works
3
G
Admiring the view
in the proposed
Treasure Mountain
addition to the
Raggeds Wilderness,
one of the areas in
Sen. Udall's Central
Mountains
proposal.
etting new wilderness would
be a good deal simpler if we
had only one chamber of Congress
(the Senate) to deal with. Both our
Senators from Colorado are working
on proposals to make historic additions to the wilderness acreage of
our region, but efforts in the House
are best described as mixed.
While we can’t speak for Sen.
Mark Udall, we can report that
his Central Mountains Outdoor
Heritage proposal is making steady
progress. This draft legislation, which
would protect over 235,000 acres
across Pitkin, Eagle and Summit
counties, is a return to the bold
multi-area, large wilderness bills of
late last century.
The Senator’s staff continue to
meet with recreation groups, water
providers, fire departments and other
stakeholders to refine the package,
and WW is providing support as
appropriate. When Sen. Udall first
announced the proposal, in February
2012, he paired it with a vision for
protecting Browns Canyon, on the
Samantha Pickard
WILDERNESS PROPOSALS PROGRESS
Arkansas River; now that a Browns
Canyon bill is nearing introduction,
we’re hoping that a Central Mountains bill might not be far behind.
Meanwhile, Sen. Michael Bennet
has launched what he’s calling the
Gunnison Public Lands Initiative,
and has set up a web page to solicit
public input on which areas in that
county should be protected, and by
what designations. The page specifically invites comments about wilderness designations, and concludes
with Sen. Bennet hoping that “a
broadly-supported public proposal
suitable for legislation can emerge.”
HOW YOU
CAN HELP
Please take a moment to tell
our Senators that you support
more wilderness. You’ll find
links to both their comment
forms, along with suggested
points to make, at:
wildernessworkshop.
org/action
INVISIBLE AEROVANES
O
Terry Talty
ur Artist in Wilderness program awards one-week residencies to
artists to make works inspired by the lands that WW is working
to protect. This past winter, Steuart Bremner and Terry Talty, a husbandand-wife team from Denver, took the program in a new direction. Their
Invisible Aerovanes are sets of three sleek, 4-foot "paper airplanes" made of
stainless-steel mesh. Depending on conditions, the vanes may align with
4 Wild Works | June 2013
the wind, reflect the sun or moon, or whiten with snow.
Two of the installations will be offered for sale at a High Country News
beneft at the home of Andy Wiessner and Patsy Batchelder on June 21. A
third can be viewed in front of WW's office at the Third Street Center in
Carbondale.
June 2013
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5
PEOPLE POWER
FROM PAGE 1
Corie Spruill
Melanie Finan
ge
Renee Ram
her freshman year at
Colorado Rocky Mountain School. By the time
she entered her senior
year, last fall, two companies had announced
plans to drill, and Lea’s
concern blossomed
into action.
“I just felt like I
couldn’t be OK with
just sitting back
and letting it happen, and as a high
school student, I saw
I had a unique opportunity to make a
difference,” she says.
She sent out a schoolwide email announcing the launch of the
Thompson Divide
Action Club; within
a week she had 30
members.
It’s been a whirlwind year. Lea has
learned through trial
and error about organizing supporters, gathering
ideas and maintaining
excitement – “I was sort
of just making it up as
I went along” – and in
the process has found
her voice as a youth
leader. She delivered
an electrifying speech
at the Carbondale
Town Hall meeting on
the Thompson Divide
in February, and in March led a
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delegation of students in delivering over 1,000 “Let the Leases
Expire” letters to the BLM’s office
in Silt.
“We hear that we can be
whatever we want to be, and our
voices will be heard, and we have
a government that’s of, by and for
the people,” Lea says. “So I wanted to see if that was really true. It
was a big experiment: ‘Let’s see
if we can make a difference; let’s
see if the government will listen.’”
RICHARD VOTTERO
Fearless activist doesn’t mind
going door to door
Like many citizens involved
in the Thompson Divide campaign, Richard Vottero got lit up
in stages. It started with watching
the documentary Gasland, which
WW screened in 2011, and hearing first-person accounts of the
energy boom’s miseries in the Silt
area. That led to attending meetings of the Garfield County Energy
Advisory Board as a citizen gadfly
(“I tell them it’s unconscionable,
it’s immoral to be poisoning the
water the way they’re doing”) and
then, this spring, fired up by the
Parachute Creek pipeline spill,
volunteering to go door to door
for the Thompson Divide.
Richard and a small band of
volunteers are applying politicalcampaign-style canvassing
techniques to help raise awareness about the drilling threat in
Glenwood Springs. He says he’s
had mainly good experiences –
most people express support or
are interested in learning more.
“It actually can be fun,” he
says, adding that he enjoys speaking face to face to people and explaining the situation beyond the
headlines. “If you give me three of
four minutes, I can explain more
or less what’s going on.”
LINDSAY GURLEY
Yoga instructor brings a higher
consciousness
For Lindsay Gurley, it was
Bidder 70, which WW showed
at several locations this spring,
that turned her into a Thompson
Divide activist. A yoga instructor, she was already looking for
a way to use her passion and her
network to help; the film about
Tim DeChristopher’s peaceful
action to thwart the sale of oil and
gas leases near Canyonlands gave
her an idea.
With the help of fellow instructor Emily Hightower and their
friends at the Carbondale Yoga
Society, Lindsay organized Yoga
for the Thompson Divide in May.
At least 50 people came for a free
yoga class, receiving a dose of
Thompson Divide awareness in
the bargain.
Lindsay’s goal is to help people
avoid responding to the drilling
threat with anger or fear, and
instead to bring positive energy to
their efforts. “Whether you believe
in energy or not, we’re putting
our minds and hearts together to
support the Thompson Divide,”
she says. “It’s really all about this
connected, conscious movement
together for the land.”
SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF
hen the BLM announced in
April that it was “suspending” the leases held by two companies in the Thompson Divide, some
people probably thought, Awesome, we won! The leases had been
suspended – wasn’t that like getting
kicked out of school or something?
To others who knew that suspension was not a good thing, the
failed to develop them when natural
gas prices were high, then waited it
out while prices were low, and finally, when it couldn’t possibly develop
them before they expired, it asked
for more time. Ursa Resources, the
other company requesting suspension, bought its leases from another
company, knowing that they hadn’t
been developed and were about to
In the wake of an ambiguous decision,
we’re facing another year of hard labor to
protect the Thompson Divide.
decision sounded more like defeat:
We told the BLM to “let the leases
expire,” but instead they’re giving
the companies more time to drill. It’s
over, we lost.
Actually, the truth lies somewhere
in between. While the precise implications of the suspension decision are far from clear, the top-line
message is that it hasn’t significantly
altered the chances of drilling occurring in the Thompson Divide, but it
has prolonged the process by at least
a year.
So, be neither discouraged nor
complacent.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda
Yes, it was a crappy decision
to give the companies a one-year
extension on their leases. The BLM
could have – should have – simply
let the leases expire, as thousands of
us had demanded.
SG Interests, the company that
owns the crucial block of leases in
the heart of the Thompson Divide,
expire.
On behalf of American taxpayers,
the BLM sold the exclusive rights to
develop these leases for a period of
10 years. Leaseholders aren’t entitled
to more time unless they’ve made
diligent efforts to develop. These
companies elected not to develop
their leases in the allotted time, and
only want to extend them now in
the hope that they’ll become more
valuable when the price of gas goes
up. That’s not the way the process is
supposed to work. If you don’t use it,
you lose it. It’s not in the public interest for companies to speculate on
public assets in this way, and those
who do so shouldn’t be rewarded
with more time.
That said, the BLM hasn’t given
SG and Ursa all they wanted. Their
suspensions only last until next
April, and in that time the agency
will undertake the environmental
analysis of the leases that was supposed to have been done before
they were issued 10 years ago.
John Fielder
W
The Thompson Divide in its glory.
Significantly, the BLM has reserved
the right to void or modify the leases
if warranted by the analysis.
Fact is, the BLM is in a bit of a
bind with these leases. It’s dealing
with a legacy of slapdash practices
from the early and mid 2000’s, and
these leases were all but robo-signed
without the due process of an environmental review (the suspension
decision itself acknowledges this
“defect”), making them vulnerable
to challenge. The agency is looking
to clean up the defective leases with
a belated review process, but what
it would really like to happen is for
the Thompson Divide Coalition buy
out the leases and make the problem
go away.
Taking the harder line
There are reasons to believe we’re
headed for a buyout. It’s a strategy
that has been used successfully to
CONTINUED ON next page
June 2013
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7
SUSPENSION
to play out. In
2004 we appealed
the BLM’s sale
of three similarly
the verge of
“defective”
leases;
expiring.
it took until 2007 to
Therefore
get
a decision, and the
the Wilderleases weren’t actually
ness Workcanceled
until 2009.
The
shop must
We’re in this one for the
Thompson Divide has
take the harder
received
national
attention,
long
haul, too – we’re
line, starting
with a New York Times
not giving up and we’re not
with challengfeature
in
March.
going away.
ing the BLM’s
Meanwhile, we’ll lead
suspension decithe
charge
on
whatever environsion. In early May, with the help of
mental review process the BLM
Earthjustice, we asked the state BLM
comes up with for these leases.
director to reverse it. (Pitkin County
We’ll also continue advocating for
and the towns of Carbondale and
protection of the Thompson Divide
Glenwood Springs filed a separate
FROM PAGE 7
retire oil and gas leases in Montana’s
Rocky Mountain Front and, most
recently, in the Wyoming Range.
Sen. Michael Bennet’s bill (see below) envisions and indeed encourages a negotiated buyout, and the
BLM would presumably rather that
TDC work something out with the
leaseholders than having to make
hard decisions about the validity of
the leases, drilling permits, and unit
agreements.
We wish TDC well in its negotiations, but we don’t think our
community should have to cough
up millions of dollars to retire leases
that never should have been issued
in the first place, and that were on
but similar request.)
These things can take a long time
CONTINUED ON page 10
BENNET INTRODUCES BILL
And you can be a citizen co-sponsor.
S
en. Michael Bennet introduced
his Thompson Divide Withdrawal
and Protection Act on the floor of
the Senate on March 22. Since then,
more than 1,400 people have signed
TDC
on as citizen co-sponsors of the bill.
And you should too, if you haven’t
already.
While Sen. Bennet’s bill would
prevent any future leasing in the
Thompson Divide, it leaves existing
leases intact. In other words, those
leases will stay on the books until
they’re invalidated, bought out or allowed to expire. Still, this is a huge
step toward protecting the Thompson Divide in the long term.
It’s also good policy. This is a bill
that promotes sustainable economic
development by valuing the good
jobs and quality of life that we
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Sen. Bennet praised the Thompson
Divide effort during a recent visit.
already have over the transient industrial boom (and bust) that drilling
would bring. It supports the traditional activities (like ranching and
farming) and protects the long-term
assets (scenery, wildlife, recreational
opportunities, clean water and air)
that are the foundation of our prosperous local economy.
Given the prevailing “drill, baby,
drill” mentality in Washington, it
takes real courage to wade into this
issue and propose protection of the
Thompson Divide. We applaud Sen.
Bennet for taking this stand.
To add your name as a citizen cosponsor of the bill, go to our action
page at wildernessworkshop.org/
action.
DO YOUR THING FOR THE
THOMPSON DIVIDE
N
ot knowing what you’ve got till
it’s gone – that’s sad. Realizing
what you’ve got while there’s still
time to save it – that can be a beautiful thing.
In recent years, our community
has been unified by a landscape.
We’ve rallied to the defense of the
Thompson Divide, but the Thompson Divide has given us the greater
gift: it’s brought us together as a
community and opened our hearts
to a special place.
So now that summer’s here, let’s
return the favor. Let’s get out into
the Divide and love the heck out of
it – let’s savor its scenery, learn its
moods, and share its bounty.
Go forth
Are you a hiker or horseback
rider? There are lots of trails to
explore; come by the WW office for
maps and advice, or join one of our
scheduled hikes (see page 5). Do
you mountain bike? The Thompson
Divide has some great terrain – although not all of the trails are legally
open to bikes, so feel free to check
with us if you’re in doubt. If you
hunt, fish or climb, collect mushrooms or watch birds, the Thompson
Divide is great for all of that.
And if you’re already a Thompson
Divide expert, perhaps you’d be
willing to guide others. Any equestrians out there who’d like to organize
a trail ride, or fishing guides who’d
be up for taking someone else out?
Or how about organizing a group
event or gathering in the Thompson
Divide? There are many ideas floating around – an organized bike ride
along the proposed haul route, a
rally, a performance, a sweat lodge
– that only need a volunteer to bring
them into being. Join the conversation at the Unified for Thompson
Divide Facebook group, or contact
Alex Bethel in our office.
Of course there are so many ways
we can deepen our relationship
with the Thompson Divide, and they
don’t all have to involve physically
going there. We eat meat raised in
the Thompson Divide and crops
grown with water from it. We delight
in seeing wildlife that rely on the
Thompson Divide for a refuge. The
very air that we breathe is filtered
and oxygenated by the trees and
plants of the Thompson Divide. Simply meditating on these ways that
we depend on the Thompson Divide
can make us better defenders of it.
Share your story
We want to encourage storytelling about the Thompson Divide,
and probably the easiest way to
share your story is via photos and
videos. Posting pics from your latest
adventure in Facebook will always
get a conversation going. Better yet,
include a Thompson Divide-related
sign or slogan in the frame, or speak
to camera about what the Thompson
Divide means to you. If you want to
Will Roush and Steve
Novy show off the
fab new Unified for
Thompson Divide
bike spoke cards,
which are being
given away by
local bike shops.
get creative, write
a song or a poem
and record it on
video.
Again, the Unified for Thompson
Divide Facebook
page is great for
sharing your creations. But we’d
also like to see folks posting about
the Thompson Divide on Instagram,
Tumblr and other social media.
We also believe there’s a greater
need than ever to share our stories
face to face. We’re hoping that by
the end of the summer there will
be enough material for a Thompson
Divide community slide show/video
night. Writers, poets and performers,
how about an open-mic night? Or a
street-corner storytelling slam or a
full-moon campfire gathering?
The Thompson Divide is calling
– can you hear it? Go, enjoy, and
share.
Dave Reed
A manifesto for citizen action.
Join the Unified for
Thompson Divide
Facebook group!
June 2013
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9
SUSPENSION
elevated the Thompson Divide to
a national stage. We now have
an influential audience. Agency
decision-makers, our members of
Congress, the leaseholders – all are
watching to see what this community does next. To a great extent, we’re
dictating the terms of the debate and
guiding the process toward the right
decision. But we’ve got a long way
to go yet. We need to maintain our
resolve, and double the noise and
passion. (See page 9 for ideas.)
We’re pleased to acknowledge
the Aspen Skiing Company Environment Foundation and an anonymous
donor for recent major grants to support WW’s defense of the Thompson
Divide.
FROM PAGE 8
in several other ongoing agency
processes – for example, the White
River National Forest’s revision of its
oil and gas leasing plan – because
those processes will dictate what
management direction the agencies
take moving forward. We’ll ask you
to join our comments on all of these
at the appropriate time.
Some of our supporters have
asked whether we can trust BLM
to listen to us now, given how deaf
they’ve been to public concerns so
far. Actually, they have listened, even
while pretending not to. Your uproar
helped spook them from rubber-
stamping unit requests (an almost
unprecedented act of restraint) and
elicited the grudging admission of a
“defect” in the leases in the recent
suspension decision. This counts for
major progress within the bureaucratic realm of public land management, so keep it up!
Finally, we encourage all of you
to find creative ways to make a (polite) ruckus and show that the public
is unified in its opposition to drilling
in the Thompson Divide. Citizen
activism is the fulcrum that leverages
all the other strategies.
Through our efforts to date, we’ve
SKYTRUTH OR DARE
O
ur partners at Skytruth recently created a series of
simulations to show what buildout of SG Interests’
leases in the Thompson Divide could look like. Predictably, industry has responded by challenging the assumptions about pad density and placement, noting that SG
hasn’t proposed anything like this scenario.
Well, that’s precisely the problem. SG doesn’t need to
Coal Basin
Skytruth
Spring Gulch
Nordic Area
present a full buildout scenario at this point, and in fact
it would be bad business to do so, since the company
doesn't yet know if there’s enough gas there to justify it.
No, standard operating procedure is to apply for only a
handful of test wells to begin with; if those wells prove
out, the company can then put in for the full development, and at that point the agency won’t be in a position
to say no. So it’s no use waiting
politely until SG lays down all its
cards – by then it will be too late.
Skytruth’s simulations are based
on pad densities in SG’s Bull Mountain Unit, a project on the other
side of McClure Pass, because the
company has said repeatedly that it
intends to undertake development
in the Thompson Divide like what
it’s doing there. If SG has any better
information to share, they ought to
disclose it publicly. In the meantime, we think the public deserves
to see what could be in store for the
Thompson Divide.
10 10 Wild
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REMEMBER THE ROAN
The defense of the plateau continues in the bureaucracy and in court.
also advocated for a full
analysis of the air pollution that may result from
development, including
the cumulative effects
from other natural gas
fields throughout the
region.
Meanwhile, one of
the oil and gas companies seeking to drill the
Roan has spent most of
the past year trying to
turn back the clock. Last
August, Bill Barrett Corp.
appealed Judge Krieger’s
The Roan Plateau is considered one of the most biologically
ruling to the 10th Circuit
rich areas in Colorado.
Court of Appeals, claiming that Congress ordered
BLM to manage the Roan
Plateau for energy development
above all other values.
ith all the upset about the BLM deciSo it was that WW’s attorneys
sion to suspend the Thompson Divide
found themselves filing yet more
leases, little note was made of the fact that two
legal briefs in April defending the
leases were actually allowed to expire on May
lower court’s ruling. We’re indebted
31.
to Earthjustice and Western ReWhile SG Interests requested – and received
source Advocates for their hard work
– suspension the 18 leases in its proposed Lake
preparing the 82-page brief.
Ridge Unit, it opted not to pursue development
WW staff attorney Peter Hart
of two other leases it held in the Thompson Disummed up the situation thusly:
vide. One was in Coal Basin, west of Redstone;
“BLM’s plan, which was adopted
the other was in the East Willow Roadless Area.
during the waning days of the Bush
The good news is that the threat of drilling
administration, would have sachas now been lifted from almost 3,200 acres in
rificed one of Colorado’s natural
the Thompson Divide. This is what’s supposed
gems to the oil and gas industry. The
to happen to leases when a company sits on
district court recognized that there
them for 10 years without developing them –
is a better way, and sent the plan
they expire.
back to BLM to reconsider. We hope
What’s disappointing and inexplicable is
the Court of Appeals will affirm that
that the same thing didn’t happen to SG’s other
ruling.
leases. It will be our work of the next year to
change that.
© Dave Showalter, LightHawk Aerial Support
A
new planning process for the
Roan Plateau appears to be
heading in a good direction, but the
forces of conservation continue to
face legal challenges.
The long-running tug of war over
the Roan – the mountainous wave
that crests over Rifle and the I-70
corridor – took a sharp turn for the
better a year ago, when U.S. District
Judge Marcia Krieger sent the BLM
back to the drawing board on its
2007 leasing plan. That reversal
came as the result of a lawsuit filed
by Earthjustice on behalf of ten conservation groups, including WW.
One of the most biologically rich
areas in Colorado, the 73,000-acre
plateau is an island of unspoiled
federal land in a sea of oil and gas
development. The Bush-era plan
would have turned it into an industrial zone with more than 3,000
natural gas wells.
Complying with the judge’s order,
the BLM began work earlier this year
on a new environmental review to
address “deficiencies” in the original
analysis by considering more protective management alternatives and
taking a hard look at the air pollution that would result from drilling.
The agency invited initial public
comments on the scope of the plan
in March. Kudos to all of you who
sent emails to the agency and attended the open house in Silt.
In our comments, we urged
the BLM to cancel the oil and gas
leases sold under the Bush plan and
forbid drilling on the surface in any
future leases atop the plateau. We
W
EXPIRED
June 2013
|
Wild Works
11
GOODBYE, LONE RANGER
climate change on
lake chemistry, he
notes – “an advance
in knowledge [that]
has international
significance.”
The wilderness
monitoring program
is funded primarily
by the Aspen-Sopris
Clockwise from above: David Richie,
Ranger District, PitAlex Bethel, Sue Edelstein.
kin County and the
ayusa and, for
City of Aspen. Given the federal budthe nonprofit
get sequester, however, David wonders
BARK, instigatwhether the Forest Service will be able to
ing action to
keep contributing to it.
stop a Nestle water bottling plant from
David and his family are moving to
being built in Mt. Hood National Forest.
Tucson, where the children have been
Finally, please welcome the newest
admitted into a competitive swimming
member of the WW board, Sue Edelstein.
program. We'll be seeking a replacement
A Carbondale resident, Sue has been a
for David, stay tuned for the job
WW supporter since 2005. She worked
announcement.
for the Forest Service for 11 years, includAnother new face on our staff is Alex
ing stints as a park superintendent and on
Bethel, who has joined the WW team
the teams that wrote the first master plans
to mobilize civic engagement for the
for the new national parks in Alaska, and
Thompson Divide. Alex’s background in
later worked as a real estate broker in
community organizing includes workDenver. Welcome, Sue!
ing with local farmers in the Amazon of
Ecuador to create a global market for gu-
WATCH NATURALIST NIGHTS ONLINE
W
e hope you caught some of this
winter's Naturalist Nights presentations at ACES and the Third Street Center.
But if you missed any, you can still watch
them online at our website.
Thanks to the following businesses and
individuals who made it possible for us to
have GrassRoots TV video the presenta-
JUNE2013
2012
12 Wild
Wild Works
Works || June
tions: Alpine Bank, Aspen Skiing Company,
Bristlecone Mountain Sports, Jim and Connie Calaway, Reese Henry & Co., St. Moritz
Lodge, Carl's Pharmacy, Days Inn Carbondale, Main Street Gallery & the Framer,
Pyramid Bistro, Tyrolean Lodge and the Ute
Mountaineer
Dave Reed
Deborah Richie
I
n July, WW’s wilderness monitor, David
Richie, will hang up his hiking boots
– at least for the purposes of hoofing to
collect samples of water from remote
mountain lakes.
Since 2005, David has been our “lone
ranger,” responsible for monitoring air,
water and invasive weeds in the Maroon
Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. The watermonitoring protocol is where he really
earns his stars: three times each summer,
he makes a circuit of five high-elevation
lakes, typically logging over 20 miles a
day. “I call it extreme hiking,” he says,
describing the routes he’s found to enable him to visit, for example, Tabor and
Brooklyn lakes in a single day.
In addition, every Tuesday throughout
the year he rides the lift, skins or fourwheels to the top of Aspen Mountain to
log air-quality readings. And wherever he
goes, he plots invasive weeds and reports
their coordinates to Pitkin County.
David has helped build what is now a
22-year record of data, providing us with
a baseline for detecting any increases
in pollution from oil and gas or other
activities. The data have also contributed
to our understanding of the effects of
Alex Bethel
Comings and goings at WW.
DONOR HALL OF FAME
The Wilderness Workshop wishes to thank the following generous people who have made donations since
the previous newsletter. New members are indicated
by an asterisk (*).
St. Moritz Lodge
John and Ingrid Seidel
Richard Voorhees*
Katie Soden
Jay Webster
Diane and John Stine
Paula Zurcher
Bill Stirling, in memory of
Katharine Thalberg
$250-499
Annie Ware
Anonymous
Lucy Hahn / Humphreys
Foundation
Randy and Althy Brimm
$100-249
Phil and Sunny Brodsky
Diana Alcantara*
Joe Henry
Linda Bush*
Barbara and Robert Andre
Felicity Huffman
Carl's Pharmacy
John Baird
Fred and Elli Iselin Foundation
Gesine Crandall
Michael Behrendt
Johno and Sunni McBride
Kristine Crandall
Donna Fisher and Skip Behrhorst
The Cohen Family Fund of the
Community Foundation for
Southeast Michigan
David Newberger
Lynn and Judy Hancock
Lynn Nichols and Jim Gilchrist
Ann Harvey and Mike Campbell
Neal and Amy Beidleman, in
memory of Keith Beidleman
Casady Henry
Richard Beresford
Peter Looram
Wendy Paulson
Marj Perry and Bill Fales
Kristen Henry
Leslie Bethel*
Rob Pew
Gail and Phil Holstein
Diana Beuttas
Sandy Jackson
HC and Dee Blakewell
Warren Kanders*
Jay Blong*
Tita and Dan McCarty Advised
Fund at the Aspen Community
Foundation
Beth Cashdan and Paul D'Amato
Martha and Mike McCoy
Gesine Crandall
Greg McKennis
Dale and Pam Darnell
Kent and Elizabeth Meager
Douglas and Lynne DeNio
$10,000-25,000
Anonymous
Aspen Skiing Company
Environment Foundation
Jim Bonesteel and Caroline
Cochener
Cynthia and George Mitchell
Foundation
Cheryl and Sam Wyly
$5,000-9,999
Ruth Brown Foundation
Henry Lord*
Marcie and Robert Musser
Advised Fund at the Aspen
Community Foundation
Oak Lodge Foundation
Aron Ralston
Garry and Sharon Snook
John and Adelaide Zabriskie
$1,000-4,999
Alpengow Foundation
Anonymous
Arches Foundation
James Aresty
T.A. Barron
Chelsea Congdon and James
Brundige
Carol Racine
Ford and Susan Schumann
Isa Catto Shaw and Daniel Shaw
Advised Fund at the Aspen
Community Foundation
Sierra Club, Roaring Fork Group
$500-999
Anonymous (2)
Pyramid Bistro
Angora Ridge Foundation
Anne Rickenbaugh*
Steve and Molly Child
Sally Cole
continued on next page
Bruce Berger
Barbara Bush
Jim and Connie Calaway
The Craig Family Donor Advised
Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater
MetroWest New Jersey
Crystal Valley Environmental
Protection Association
Days Inn
Shane Evans
Annie Cooke
Kay Hagman
Christin Cooper and Mark Taché
Jane and Dick Hart
Mary Dominick and Sven
Coomer
Ann and Sam Johnson
Barbara Dunaway
Blanca and Cavanaugh O'Leary
Sue Edelstein and Bill Spence
Floreat Foundation
Frank Peters and Marjory
Musgrave
Marty and Sarah Flug
Roaring Fork Rotary Foundation*
Henry and Nancy Lowe
There must be limits, somewhere, to the
human footprint on this earth. When the
whole of the world is reduced to nothing
but human product, we will have lost the
map that can show us how we got here,
and can offer our spirits an answer when
we ask why. Surely we are capable of
declaring sacred some quarters that we
dare not enter or possess.
– Barbara Kingsolver
June 2013
|
Wild Works
13
DONORS
Lisa Wuerker
Shelley Kaup*
Thelma and Garret Zabel*
Ted Zukoski
Mary Jo Kimbrough and Jim
Harrison
$50-99
Pamela Kling and Michael
Rausch
George and Frances Alderson
Steve Knous
Hilary Back*
Mary and Paul Kobey*
Nancy Berry
Jim and Jamie Kravitz
Judy Byrns and Joe Bergquist
Robert Leavitt*
Kay Callison
Lee Cassin
Scottie Leddy and Tom Cooper,
in honor of Leslie Cooper
Trish Chew
Rachel Light-Muller
John Clark
Martha Madsen
Ned and Jan Cochran
Renee Maggert*
Janet Coursey
Joanie Matranga
Bob Purvis
Ken Crouse*
Eliza McCutchen*
Maggie Rerucha
Barbara D'Autrechy
Matthew McKenna
Mark Fuller
Jim Risser*
Ray Meyer*
Catherine Porter and James Fuller
Kathy and Bill Rodman
Don Davidson and Sandy
Simpson
Kristen and Wally Graham
Michael and Gayleen Rothrock*
Johanna Mueller*
Donna and Bernard Grauer
Will Roush
Rachel Dayton and Chip
McCrory
Joyce and Bill Gruenberg
Beth Schaefer
Angela Hanley*
Tara and Casey Sheahan
Sue Helm
Carolyn and Dick Shohet
Ann Hopkinson*
Carlie Siemel
Judy Hutchins
Sandra Smith
David Hyman and Barbara Reid
Pat Spitzmiller
Christie Interlante
Deidre Stancioff
Albert Kern
Sandy and Stephen Stay
Junee Kirk
Lelia Stege
Carole Kirschner
Karen Stokes and Yves Delepine
Reiner and Mary Klawiter*
David Stonington, in honor of
Anne Stonington
FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
Annie Denver
Darrell Munsell
Jeff and Priscilla Dickinson
Jim Nester
Doris and Chuck Downey
Werner and Judith Neuman*
Buck and Holly Elliott
Kerry and Vicki Newman*
Paul David Ellis
George Newman
Scott Ely
Lynda Palevsky
Olivia Emery
Ginny Parker
Anne Esson
Bruce Parlette
John Fielder
Jacquelyn Powers Powers, in
honor of Karin and Harry
Teague
Connie and Ted Finan
Jim Finch
Mark Fox, in memory of
Dottie Fox
John Korrie
Tom and Carol Kurt
Bill and Carol Lightstone
David Swersky
John Swomley*
David Eberhardt*
The Ellsperman family*
Kyle Ferrell
Don Fleisher
Lynelle Fowler*
Ruth and Peter Frey
Elizabeth Fulton
Walter Gallacher, in memory of
Mary Frost
Jon Gibans
Andy Githens*, in honor of Jim
Githens
Randy Gold and Dawn Shepard
Anne Goldberg
Les Gray
Cathy Montgomery*
Ann Mullins*
Virginia and Rick Newton
Anders Norstebon*
Tom Oken and Janie Lowe
Judy Olesen*
Connie Overton and James
Gilliam
Fonda and Charlie Paterson
Lily and Todd Patrick
Kenneth and Diane Payne*
Fred and Sandra Peirce
Ruth and Mike Podmore
Susan Pollack
Sanford Pooler*
Irma Prodinger
Glenn Randall
Tom and Roz Turnbull
Doug and Peggy Graybeal
Ute Mountaineer
Jonathon Greenberg*
Redstone Art Center*
Denny and Linda Vaughn
Debra Grove
Ty and Terry Reed
Linda and Chuck Vidal
Mary and Shep Harris
Pauline Reetz*
Craig and Becky Ward
Richard and Sheryl Herrington
Gerry Roehm
Margot and Norman Welch
Ann Hodges
Greg Russi
Gayle and Richard Wells
Jeffrey Hoffman*
Paula Sahr*
Trudi Wilkes
Katherine Hubbard
Marius and Clare Sanger
Maggie Pedersen and Bob
Millette
Dexter Williams
Janis and George Huggins
Terry Schaefer
Marilyn Wilmerding
Virginia Ikeda*
Renata Scheder-Bieschin
Mary Beth Minion
Laurie Wilson
Sarah Johnson
Jill and Michael Scher
Charles Moore
Suzanne Jones
Tim and Max Schlumberger
Martha Moran and Jim Kirschvink
Hugh and Mary Wise /
Flunison Fund
King Woodward
Deborah Jones and John
Katzenberger
Judith Schramm
Barney and Dot Mulligan
Dave Munk*
Jeffrey Wuerker*
Stephen and C.P. Kanipe
Rosalina Shearwood
Laurel Loeb
Patricia Maddalone
Howie Mallory
Alex Marks
Donna and Tim McFlynn
Andrew McGregor
Michael McVoy and Michal
Brimm
14 14 Wild
JUNE2013
2012
Wild Works
Works || June
Jen Seal and David Cramer
Mark And Suzanne Silverthorn*,
in memory of William Mounsey
Sharon DeQuine*
Maciej Mrotek
Mary Doerr*
Mt. Daly Enterprises
Skye and Steve Skinner*, in honor
of Thompson Divide, Sloan and
Dave!
Kerry Donovan, in memory of
William Bird Mounsey
Colin Mukellips*
Mary and Bill Dorais
Shari Nova and Tim Myers
A.D. Fielder
Gracie Oliphant
Gregory Fitzpatrick*
Marta Parker
Renee Fleisher and Greg Smith
Shana Parker*
Paul and Barbara Freeman
Julie and Tom Paxton
Jose Fuentes*
Liz and Tom Penzel
Bruce Gabow and Deborah
Murphey
Lorna and Bert Peterson*
Karn Stiegelmeier
Shelley Supplee and Hawk
Greenway
Chris Taché
Mimi Teschner
Dr. Diana Tomback
Margaret Truman*
Rein Van West*
Tom and Donna Ward
Sylvia Wendrow and JD Sturgill
Sara Wille
Marion, Jean and Hayden
Winkler
Robert and Linda Zaparanick
Toni Zurcher
Up to $49
Catherine Garland
Sara Garton
John Gasperetti*
Joco Gomes Neves*
Bogdarick Goywa Camiler*
Doug and Peggy Graybeal
Allen Griffiths*
Mary Lou Haflinger*
Bryce Hayes*
Sandy, Mary Lynn and AJ Munro
Zuleika Pevec
Doc Philip
Melanie Poole*
Bob and Gabriella Rafelson
Jim Rahman*
Jolie and John Ramo
P.O. Box 1442
Carbondale, CO 81623
Offices in the Third Street Center,
520 S. 3rd St., Carbondale
Tel (970) 963-3977
www.wildernessworkshop.org
info@wildernessworkshop.org
The Wilderness Workshop’s mission is to protect and conserve the
wilderness and natural resources
of the Roaring Fork Watershed, the
White River National Forest, and
adjacent lands.
Emily Reid*
Board of Directors
Rosine Ribelin
Steve Smith, President
Carolyn Richard*
Karin Teague,
Vice President
Rachel Richards
Marty Ames and Steve Hach
Benjamin Hellerstein*
Anonymous (3)
Robin and Kendall Henry
Becky Anslyn
Sue Hess, in honor of Karen Beard
Alan Apt
Ron Hochfield*
Cailey Arensman*
Kelly Baker
Lindsey Huddleston*, in honor of
Erin Erickson
Connie and Buddy Bates
John Isaacs
Roger and Debbie Bath
Sandy Ives
Eric Baumheier*
Kenneth Jones
John Bender and family
Ann Keller
Robert and Tracy Bennett
Jocelyn Kelso*
Maralyn Bloomer*
Diane Kenney
Mary Sue Bonetti*
Pat Kiernan
Dakota Bostic*
Erin King Robinson*
David and Janet Boyle
Laura Kirk and Dave Carpenter
Richard Burchell*
Kathleen Kopf*
Deborah Burek*
James Kosmicki*
Bob Burgos*
Priscila Lambert*
Helen and Roger Carlsen
Robert Leavitt
Kim Chang and Jim Condit
Kimberly Levin
Kate Cocchiarella
Tricia Louthis
Jade Colin
Deborah Luscomb*
Barbara Collins
Megan Malone*
Andrew Cook*
Marissa McKinney*
William Lukes + Associates
Architecture
John Cornely*
Luke Meiers*
Daniel Yuhascik*
The Crawford-Arensman Family
Patricia Merritt
Michele Zebrowitz
Kelli Cupp*
Maria Minick*
Desmond Dennis
Zachary Monteith*
Suzanne Richman
Peter Van Domelen,
Treasurer
Peter Rispori*
Polly Ross
Beth Cashdan
Joanne and Richard Rubinoff
Mary Dominick
Sue Edelstein
Cici Fox
Charles Hopton
Peter Looram
John McBride, Jr.
Tim McFlynn
Michael McVoy
Aron Ralston
Mike Stranahan
Andy Wiessner
Annie Sanders*
Cam Scott
Michael Soulé
Nick Stahlin*
Eric Stoctamire*
Kevin Studley*
Laura Sugaski
George and Jenny Tempest
Charles Torinus
Aaron Treeson*
Founders
Megan Vanzandt*
Joy Caudill
Dottie Fox
Connie Harvey
Kevin Ward
Catherine Ward*
Debby Webster and Steve
Blanchard
Staff
Sloan Shoemaker,
Executive Director
Jim Wessely
Gail Westerman*
Alex Bethel
Melanie Finan
Peter Hart
Dave Reed
David Richie
Will Roush
Polly Whitcomb
June 2013
|
Wild Works
15
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this newsletter - pass it on to a friend!
rally for
thompson
divide
EcoFlight
Save the date
sat, jul. 13
4 pm - 8 pm
2 rivers park, glenwood springs
all the pretty horses
river f lotilla
defiance string band
kids activities
yoga
additional bands and speakers to be announced soon*
*citizen suggestions welcome