Posted by David Chauvin on November 17, 2008 at 1:06 PM
If anyone has any doubts about this administration's views on what constitutes "wise use", put them to rest. To place drilling operations within sight (and sound) of an iconic location such as Delicate Arch borders on criminal.
BTW,,,,,I realize the political slant of the Huffington Post site, but the story itself is from the AP.
Posted by Steve Foss on November 17, 2008 at 1:43 PM
Yeah, I saw that yesterday and my temperature immediately started rising. My question (and none of the half dozen news reports I saw even addressed this basic question) is can the Obama administration reverse the sale after he takes office?
Posted by David Chauvin on November 17, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Steve,,,,,,,,I wish I could find the source (and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong) but I've read that if more than thirty days has passed since the order was issued, it becomes much more difficult for the new administration to overturn. That's the reason a lot of de-regulation is being pushed through before mid December.
Posted by Carl Donohue on November 17, 2008 at 3:06 PM
Hey David
Yes, you're correct. The entire review/public comment period, etc needs to be processed at that point, ,which makes reversing the legislation a lengthy and expensive process.
Cheers
Carl
Posted by Jerry Greer on November 20, 2008 at 10:14 PM
We have a real problem with what Bush is doing! Not only is he opening almost everything to drilling he is relaxing the endangered species rules. He is doing everything he can to payback all of his contributors before he leaves. I hope that now, those whom voted for him understands that he NEVER cared about anything other than his self and his business interests. Yeah, and some of my friends still like him and think that what he is doing is helping the free-market!
Posted by Carl Donohue on November 21, 2008 at 1:04 AM
Hey Jerry
"free market"???? My paw always tole me, when I was jest a boy, "Son, ain't nothing in this world is free". You callin' my paw a Larrrh?? :) :)
If you walk up the Salt River from Wolf ranch, the park boundary is only a couple of miles. If you drive southeast on the 4WD road from the lower Delicate Arch viewpoint, you hit the park boundary within about a mile. If you go north on the dirt road through the Salt Valley past the Klondike Bluffs turnoff, you hit the park boundary again within a couple of miles.
Arches is a TINY park, and oil appetites are huge. I think BLM is the management agency for all those lands I cited. And BLM is the oil industry entre into government.
Just for frame of reference, there are already a series of abandoned well heads just outside the boundary up the Salt River almost within sight and certainly within hearing of Delicate Arch. Hard to miss them when you walk up there. Last year an exploratory well worked for months just outside the north boundary in the Salt Valley. And in fact there's a large buried natural gas pipeline running right through the middle of the park.
I'm not putting down the issue, rather I'm pointing out that the interest of BLM and the industry in the area has been sustained over several decades. I don't think there's anything really new about the latest manouver, even if I don't like it. With that much drilling history all around the park, the oilies, the Bushies, and the BLMers can demonstrate pretty clearly that no harm has been done. It's going to make it really hard to fight it on legal or environmental grounds.
Yeah, Pete. I posted photos of the drill rig in the Salt Valley. You can see Klondike Bluffs and the LaSal Mountains small in the background. At night you could see the lights anywhere ranging from Balanced Rock through to Doc's point.
I suspect that if they do the drill just outside the park on the 4WD road originating near the Delicate Arch viewpoint, you'll be able to catch a lot in the background, especially since there's so much relieve in the immediate vicinity (allowing you to elevate your position and adjust POV). If they come in the other way to the existing well heads I referenced, most folks will never walk far enough to get behind the rig, though I'm betting you'd be able to see it from the Wolf Ranch parking lot.
Because of the exploration history and pipeline in the vicinity, it's going to require extremely focused and probably innovative efforts to stop it, because the deck is stacked against the same old opposition methods.
Discussion
8 replieshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/16/ennvironmentalists-slam-b_n_144195.html#
BTW,,,,,I realize the political slant of the Huffington Post site, but the story itself is from the AP.
Yes, you're correct. The entire review/public comment period, etc needs to be processed at that point, ,which makes reversing the legislation a lengthy and expensive process.
Cheers
Carl
"free market"???? My paw always tole me, when I was jest a boy, "Son, ain't nothing in this world is free". You callin' my paw a Larrrh?? :) :)
Cheers
Carl
If you walk up the Salt River from Wolf ranch, the park boundary is only a couple of miles. If you drive southeast on the 4WD road from the lower Delicate Arch viewpoint, you hit the park boundary within about a mile. If you go north on the dirt road through the Salt Valley past the Klondike Bluffs turnoff, you hit the park boundary again within a couple of miles.
Arches is a TINY park, and oil appetites are huge. I think BLM is the management agency for all those lands I cited. And BLM is the oil industry entre into government.
Just for frame of reference, there are already a series of abandoned well heads just outside the boundary up the Salt River almost within sight and certainly within hearing of Delicate Arch. Hard to miss them when you walk up there. Last year an exploratory well worked for months just outside the north boundary in the Salt Valley. And in fact there's a large buried natural gas pipeline running right through the middle of the park.
I'm not putting down the issue, rather I'm pointing out that the interest of BLM and the industry in the area has been sustained over several decades. I don't think there's anything really new about the latest manouver, even if I don't like it. With that much drilling history all around the park, the oilies, the Bushies, and the BLMers can demonstrate pretty clearly that no harm has been done. It's going to make it really hard to fight it on legal or environmental grounds.
Pete D.
I suspect that if they do the drill just outside the park on the 4WD road originating near the Delicate Arch viewpoint, you'll be able to catch a lot in the background, especially since there's so much relieve in the immediate vicinity (allowing you to elevate your position and adjust POV). If they come in the other way to the existing well heads I referenced, most folks will never walk far enough to get behind the rig, though I'm betting you'd be able to see it from the Wolf Ranch parking lot.
Because of the exploration history and pipeline in the vicinity, it's going to require extremely focused and probably innovative efforts to stop it, because the deck is stacked against the same old opposition methods.