Natural Gas development not only stuffs poisonous chemicals into ground water aquifers and degrades the integrity of forest, field and desert, it also has disruptive impacts on animal migrations

San Juan National Forest Gas Development Disrupts Migration Corridors

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are developing plans for 3,000 new natural gas wells in and around San Juan National Forest in western Colorado. The project would cover 10,000 acres of USFS and BLM land. The draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), originally published in 2007, was recently supplemented to include the development potential of a shale gas play.

The land included in the new drilling plan for the Gothic Gas Shale Play intersects with migration corridors of big game species, including elk (Cervus canadensis) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). Environmental groups worry that habitat fragmentation due to the energy development project will negatively affect populations of these species.

 The draft EIS and supplemental documents are available on the San Juan Public Lands Center website. Individuals interested in submitting comments on the supplement can do so via e-mail to: comments-planrevision-sanjuan@fs.fed.us This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , by written mail to: SJPL Supplement Comments, Attn: Shannon Manfredi, 15 Burnett Court, Durango, CO 8130, or by fax: Attn: SJPL Supplement Comments and Shannon Manfredi, 970-375-2331. Comments are being accepted through 25 November 2011.