Op-ed: Former Dinosaur Natl. Monument superintendent calls on BLM to take balanced approach to oil & gas leasing

Today’s Denver Post features an op-ed by former Dinosaur National Monument Superintendent Denny Huffman. Huffman calls on Colorado BLM Director Helen Hankins’ to withdraw oil and gas drilling leases next to Dinosaur and Mesa Verde National Park.

Huffman also ask Hankins to follow the balanced energy development approach outlined in the Administration’s 2010 leasing reforms, and adopted by other state BLMs. He  notes that several of the proposed lease sales are being offered without proper input from agencies, like the National Park Service, that should consult on which lands are best-suited to drilling.

Dinosaur National Park’s current superintendent, Mary Risser, has said that the parks concerns about the lease offerings are the “cumulative impacts on air quality, on groundwater quantity and quality, night skies, soundscapes, migration routes of animals … and potential impacts on the endangered fish species in the rivers.”