June 23, 2012 02:41 AM UTC

BREAKING-Roan Plateau Victory! Colorado Landmark to Get 'Second Look'

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• by: ClubTwitty

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

[Updated w/ Brief addition and photo] After nearly four years since these public lands were leased for oil and gas drilling in the waning days of the Bush administration against overwhelming public opposition, the Roan Plateau leases have been suspended.

The Bush-era plan they were based on has been sent back to the BLM, which will have to prepare additional analysis to bring it into compliance with the several laws the court found the Bush Roan Plan to violate.    

Dennis Webb, who has covered this story since its very beginning–as reporter and then editor of the Glenwood Post (or Independent…I cannot recall) when there were two local papers in Glenwood Springs–has the first story up in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.  

A federal judge has ruled in favor of conservation groups in their lawsuit…

The ten wildlife and conservation groups that were plaintiffs in the suit, represented by EarthJustice, made four claims–three of which were ruled upon favorably by the court.

The Sentinel article notes:  

In a 38-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Krieger ruled that the agency failed to adequately address an alternative that would have kept drilling off the plateau top by making use of directional drilling from surrounding lands. It also failed to sufficiently consider cumulative air quality impacts in conjunction with anticipated development on surrounding private land, or to adequately address ozone impacts.

Krieger’s order sets aside the BLM planning decision leading to the 2008 leasing and remands the matter back to the agency for further action.

Over the years I have written numerous diaries posted here among dusty gigabytes of data, on Roan Plateau and why it is such a special place.  It is a place, and an issue, very near and dear to my heart, one I have spent countless hours on.

This is a victory for Colorado.  For pure strains of native trout that find habitat there, for the outstanding recreational opportunities these popular pubic lands provide.  The bottom line is the Bush plan was illegal.  Now there will be another chance to work with the BLM to craft a sound and balanced plan for the Roan.  

So a toast!  To sending a bad plan back to the drawing board–and a hope to a better plan for the Roan Plateau that truly protects this remarkable treasure.  

Court ruling can be found here.