Greetings,:

With the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) putting all 55,000 acres of the Roan Plateau's public lands on the auction block at their August 14th lease sale, the Save Roan Plateau coalition is taking a stand. 

We have two efforts underway to prevent drilling on the Roan's undeveloped public lands: the first is an effort to get outraged citizens like yourself to sign on to a formal protest of this rush to lease the Roan; the second is a lawsuit that challenges the legality of the BLM's plan.

Sign the 'Citizen Protest' of the BLM's plan to lease the Roan
Citizens from across Colorado have a critical opportunity to put a halt to this irresponsible drilling plan. We have until July 30th, 2008 to submit a formal protest asking that the BLM pull the Roan Plateau parcels from their upcoming lease sale. 

Add your name to the protest now!

The protest respectfully requests that the BLM rescind the decision to lease these lands under the current plan, and that it pulls all the parcels listed above from the August 2008 oil and gas lease sale. 

Roan Plateau drilling plan goes to court
This past Friday, ten conservation and wildlife groups filed suit in Denver District Court, arguing that the BLM ignored federal law and failed to properly consider development alternatives in promoting industrial gas drilling of biologically-diverse, wildlife-rich Roan Plateau.

Further, according to the complaint filed by EarthJustice in the lawsuit, the BLM also violated federal law by failing to analyze foreseeable impacts to air quality and wildlife populations and the cumulative impact of adding more than 1,500 new wells in the Roan planning area to the thousands of wells surrounding the plateau's unspoiled public lands.

In hearing after hearing and through multiple public comment processes local government officials, sportsmen, outfitters and tens of thousands of citizens have urged that options like these be considered and have called for a management plan that respects other public uses besides energy development. 

"We've done everything possible to avoid this lawsuit, but BLM offered us no other choice," said Jim Angell, who filed suit on behalf of the 10 groups. "When a government agency ignores its legal obligations, it's up to citizens to hold them accountable."

You can view a copy of the press release here.

This message was sent to . Visit your subscription management page to modify your email communication preferences or update your personal profile. To stop ALL email from Save Roan Plateau, click to remove yourself from our lists (or reply via email with "remove or unsubscribe" in the subject line).