ASPEN – — Pitkin County will urge the Bureau of Land Management to take a conservative approach to leasing federal lands in western Colorado for oil-shale development, limiting activities to research and development in areas where those efforts are under way.
County commissioners on Tuesday endorsed comments on a draft Environmental Impact Statement issued by the BLM for oil-shale and tar-sands development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The county is limiting its input to what could occur in Colorado — the leasing of lands for oil-shale research and development, or commercial production, in the Piceance Basin outside of Grand Junction. The comments are due May 4.
The BLM has identified four development alternatives, including one preferred by the agency. Commissioners favored an alternative that is more restrictive than the BLM’s preferred option.
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