Letter To Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary, Department Of The Interior

Letter

Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne urging him to postpone controversial oil and gas lease sales on lands previously identified as having wilderness character and on over 50,000 acres of lands adjacent to national parks in the state of Utah.

Cantwell, along with eight of her Senate colleagues, believe that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lease sale planned for December 19, 2008 should be postponed until serious concerns raised by the National Park Service (NPS), the state of Utah, and the public can be resolved. As of now, potential impacts to pristine wilderness quality areas and National Parks like Arches National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, and Canyonlands National Parks are not yet fully understood. Over half of the proposed 360,000 acres for oil and gas lease sales are within the proposed in America's Red Rock Wilderness Act (S. 1170), of which Senator Cantwell is a cosponsor.

"We have a responsibility to protect our nation's natural heritage for the benefit of all people and future generations," said Cantwell. "I am concerned that an outgoing administration is rushing to complete an oil and gas lease fire-sale before they understand how it could harm the experience millions of visitors enjoy every year at some of our nation's premier public parks. These are some of the most magnificent places in our country, and we must ensure that hurried decisions do not permanently destroy their pristine character."

According to recent media reports, BLM reached out to NPS to reinstate some of these historic protocols and address current concerns. Senator Cantwell and her colleagues believe that this is a step in the right direction, and hope that this collaboration will ensure that all impacts can be understood.
Historically, the Department of the Interior has provided the NPS with 90-days advanced notice of areas that might be made available for lease that could affect NPS resources, followed by a comment period before the maps are released publicly. The state of Utah usually has a similar opportunity. In this instance, the NPS, state of Utah, and public were denied the opportunity to provide public and interagency comment. Sens. Cantwell, Akaka, Durbin, Feingold, Whitehouse, Sanders, Cardin, and Harkin are requesting that the sale of sensitive areas be deferred until a consensus way forward can be reached.

Cantwell has long emphasized the need to protect America's public lands, including in our National Parks and National Forests. Responding to similar questions from Cantwell regarding initial decision to approve an application for hardrock mining on environmentally sensitive land at the edge of Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, the BLM earlier this year announced it would change course and reject the application. Cantwell believes the BLM should do the same thing with the decision to hold the December 19 oil and gas lease sales near sensitive and pristine wilderness study areas and lands near several national parks in the state of Utah.

Since being elected to the Senate, Cantwell has committed herself to protecting our nation's environment and natural resources. She has opposed making the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge available for oil exploration, introduced the Roadless Area Conservation Act which would protect 58.5 million acres of the United States' last remaining pristine forestlands, and championed legislation that designated 106,000 acres of land in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest as the Wild Sky Wilderness Area.

[The text of the letter follows below]
November 25, 2008
Honorable Dirk Kempthorne
Secretary
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240
Dear Mr. Secretary,

We are writing to urge you to postpone the December 19 oil and gas lease sales in sensitive and pristine wilderness quality areas near several national parks in Utah, announced by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on November 4, until serious concerns raised by the National Park Service (NPS), the state of Utah, and the public can be fully resolved. The time remaining before the December 19 lease sale is not adequate for stakeholders to analyze the likely impacts to parks in the area, particularly Arches National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, and Canyonlands National Park.

We understand that longstanding Department of Interior policy is to provide NPS, as a sister agency to BLM, 90-days advanced notice of areas that might be made available for lease that have potential to affect NPS resources, followed by a comment period, before the maps are released publicly. We also understand that a similar policy is followed with the state of Utah. In this instance, however, both the NPS and the state of Utah were initially denied that opportunity.

We appreciate that, according to press reports, BLM recently reached out to NPS and is trying to reinstate historic interagency protocols and address Park Service concerns. It is our hope that this collaboration will ensure oil and gas activities do not occur adjacent to these magnificent public lands and harm the unique natural experience enjoyed by over 2 million visitors each year. We encourage you to continue this important work and postpone the entire sale until stakeholders can research likely impacts and reach consensus on a way forward.
Sincerely,

Sens. Cantwell, Akaka, Durbin, Feingold, Whitehouse, Sanders, Cardin, and Harkin

http://cantwell.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=305340