U.S. Senator Ken Salazar Member: Agriculture, Energy, Veterans' Affairs, Ethics and Aging Committees 2300 15^th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
For Immediate Release June 27, 2006		CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Comm. Director 303-455-7600 Andrew Nannis – Press Secretary 202-224-5852
Sen. Salazar Presses BLM on Public Input WASHINGTON, D.C. – From his seat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, United States Senator Ken Salazar today pushed the director of the Bureau of Land Management on the importance of public input before final oil and gas leasing arrangements are made. The BLM has recently moved ahead with plans to lease public lands for oil and gas exploration in the Grand Junction-Palisade area despite nearly unanimous public concern about the drilling’s effect on the area’s watershed. This proposal is under protest and will be reviewed further. In addition, the BLM is apparently preparing to release a final plan for exploration and development of natural gas on the Roan Plateau even though many key aspects of the plan were never made available for public review and comment. Senator Salazar has requested another round of public input on the plan before it is made final. “Local communities must be given the opportunity to weigh in on decisions that impact their lands as greatly as drilling,” Senator Salazar said. “The BLM cannot be allowed to initiate plans without informing the public, nor can they ignore concerns that a vast majority of the public share.” At today’s hearing, Senator Salazar asked BLM Director Kathleen Clarke how important community input is in the BLM’s decision making process. Senator Salazar also pushed Clarke to produce BLM’s list of their “best-practices” to ensure that disagreements between industry, government and the local communities are limited. # # #