GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo.—Garfield County commissioners are seeking financial protection in case any existing federal oil and gas leases on the Roan Plateau northwest of Rifle are canceled, hoping to protect the county from having to pay back millions of dollars of federal mineral lease funds.
County officials said it already has been spent on schools, higher education and fire departments, and it would be difficult to get the money back.
According to the Glenwood Springs Post Independent ( ), the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is re-examining the Roan Plateau oil and gas resource plan following complaints from environmentalists, leaving county officials in a quandary.
“It’s important for us as a county to take this stand, and we should encourage those around us to do the same,” said Commissioner Mike Samson.
If the county is ordered to repay the money, Commission Chairman John Martin said the federal government most likely would hold back future mineral lease payments rather than asking the local governments to return funds already paid out on the nearly $114 million worth of leases.
A resolution adopted by the county on Monday covers more than 54,600 leases issued on and around the Roan Plateau by the BLM in 2008 and 2009 under a previously approved oil and gas resource management plan.
Under current lease agreements, 51 percent of mineral lease funds are retained by the federal government and 49 percent comes back to Colorado. Half of that amount goes to the county where the leases were issued.
Garfield County has since set up a separate Federal Mineral Lease District to provide funds to local municipalities, schools districts and other special districts for a variety of projects, capital purchases and programs.
The federal review could allow the leases to remain in place, perhaps with stricter protections, but some leases could be withdrawn or canceled.
Samson said he will encourage fellow members of the Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado later this week that could be affected to pass similar resolutions. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs has also expressed concerns about the potential payback of the lease funds or withholding of future lease payments.
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Information from: Post Independent,
