Colorado Oil and Gas Association reacts to Biden proposal for 20-year Thompson Divide withdrawal
Along with President Joe Biden's move to name Camp Hale a national monument, he also announced his push to continue to conserve the Thompson Divide on Thursday.
He is proposing a 20-year withdrawal of the area, putting a pause on any new mining claims or issuing of any new oil and gas leases.
"Today, my administration is announcing steps to conserve the Thompson Divide," Biden told the crowd on Wednesday morning, "Let me be clear there is no current or planned oil production in the area we are just keeping it as it's been for years."
Dan Haley, the president and CEI of Colorado's Oil and Gas Association says that's due largely, in part, to changes that were already in place and made under the Obama administration.
The Thompson Divide area is part of the Piceance Basin on the Western Slope which has the second largest natural gas reserves in the country.
"We have an energy crisis developing around the world now is not the time to look to other counties for this energy we should be talking about how to enable and enact policies that allow for the responsible production of it here in this country," he said.
The president says his decision is in response to broad concerns about protecting the area's wildlife and recreation opportunities as well as protecting clean air and water.
"We are standing with Colorado's farmers, ranchers, hunters, anglers who have forged for generations to protect beautiful streams aspen groves," Biden said.
Before the proposal could move forward, there would be two years of studying the effects, and public input first.
"There's been production since 1947, in the Thompson Divide, it's an area that has proven you can have multiple use in Colorado you can have recreation areas you can have oil and natural gas and they can co-exist together," Haley said.
Any pre-existing natural gas leases in the area would be unaffected by this proposal. According to the U.S. Department of Interior, the current leases in the area makeup less than 1% of the more than 3,000 active federal leases in the state.
