Feds propose oil and gas leasing on Moab’s Slickrock trail

[Java]

"...The Bureau of Land Management now proposes leasing the world-famous outdoor recreation hot spot for oil and gas drilling, even though this land has very low potential for producing energy. Under a plan to be opened for public comment on Feb. 20, the agency would auction two parcels on Sand Flats, one of which is barely a mile form Arches National Park, and five others in Grand County....

One lease parcel covers nearly two-thirds of the historic 10.5-mile Slickrock Trail (https://www.sandflats.org/654/Slickrock-Bike-Trail), which put Moab on the map as a mountain bike magnet back in the 1980s. Some 144 campsites line Sand Flats Road, which provides access to other marquee trails, such as Porcupine Rim and the Whole Enchilada for bikes and the motorized Hell’s Revenge and Fins & Things trails. The 9,000-acre area receives 160,000 visits a year."

https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2020/01/23/feds-propose-oil-gas/

[Swank1975]

Yup this is a known objective of the current administration. Nothing is off limits.

[Java]

More genius:

"A Canadian mining firm says it will move forward with plans to mine minerals from land that was previously part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. These actions followed an executive order Trump issued in April 2017, when he instructed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review any national monument created since 1996. Trump said the review would return control of the land "to the people, the people of all of the states, the people of the United States...


https://www.npr.org/2018/06/21/622128554/firm-prepares-to-mine-land-previously-protected-as-a-national-monument?utm_campaign=storyshare&fbclid=IwAR09pz2hL_7c9RLejmlX8u0aUnTbBEui7lOjTq-QDvLm64764uIk6d2-5wE

[Jim]

Regarding Grand Staircase... wasn't it an executive order by the Obama administration that swept up those lands into National Monument status?

I recall some kerfuffle of people living there who could "do what they want" with the land they "owned" not being able to do so - by unexpected EO by the President.

If the land is desired to be protected - let's see about working through issues.



There's a fair bit of oil drilling / energy extraction just north of Canyonlands N.P. / Dead Horse Point N.P. and one has to be on the lookout to notice it.

[FINOCJ]

Regarding Grand Staircase... wasn't it an executive order by the Obama administration that swept up those lands into National Monument status?

Clinton in 1996....and if it matters, although it was put under monument status (which normally means its managed by the NPS), in this case, it is managed by the BLM (with some amount of joint cooperation with NPS).

Bears Ears just south of Needles district of Canyonland NP is the monument ordered by Obama.

[Java]

Without getting political I think it's pointless in 2020 to reverse the monuments in Utah. Cars are going electric, Excel is investing in wind and solar, many new houses generate as much energy as they use, blah blah blah etc... This focuses largely on opening coal development. If you go down by Hotchkiss you can drive under a coal mine that was closed just a few years ago, piles of coal just sitting there. Noone is buying, it's backwards thinking and there is no money or future in it.

This guy gives a good history of it:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwaO0plC3bU