Save Padre Island National Seashore Press Releases

Padre Island News Reslease: July 20, 2004 February 26, 2004 Sierra Club Blasts Congress and BNP Petroleum for Pushing Further Drilling on Padre Island National Seashore Calls for Senators Hutchison and Cornyn to Step Forward to Defend our National Treasure

July 20, 2004:

"Wildlands at Risk" Report Catalogues Bush Administration's Unprecedented
Assault on America's Wild Places, Highlights Padre Island National Seashore

AUSTIN, TEXAS - The Sierra Club released today a "Wildlands at Risk" report
highlighting places across the country where the Bush administration's unprecedented
assault on our public lands could have lasting impacts. Padre Island National Seashore,
threatened by BNP Petroleum's "aggressive drilling campaign" is one of 25 places
highlighted in the report. With Americans heading to the great outdoors this summer,
"Wildlands at Risk" is a sampling of wild places across the country, many of them
popular vacation spots, that represents the kinds of threats America's wildlands
face from Bush administration policies.

The report is available at http://www.sierraclub.org/wildlands/wildlandsatrisk

The Sierra Club is also running print ads in the following cities to highlight these same threats
to public lands: Charleston, West Virginia; Denver, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; Asheville,
North Carolina; Athens, Georgia; San Antonio, Texas; Anchorage, Alaska; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Phoenix, Arizona. The ad can be viewed at:

"The stories in this report show the scope and magnitude of the Bush administration's assault on America's wild heritage," said Rusty Middleton of the Sierra Club in Texas. "The administration's policies are reversing decades of progress on public lands protection and could destroy forever some of our most cherished hiking, hunting, fishing and camping spots."

Just last week, the Bush administration revoked critical protections for America's last remaining wild forests, replacing the landmark Roadless Area Conservation Rule with a convoluted system that forces Governors to petition the Forest Service to not construct roads in or otherwise develop inventoried wild roadless forest areas. This decision could destroy the very last pieces of roadless forest in Sam Houston National Forest. The administration also indicated that it intends to permanently exempt the national forests in Alaska from the wild forest protections. The administration has also moved forward with tens of thousands of new oil and gas leases, many of them in once 'protected' and environmentally sensitive places, as part of a departure from the traditional "multiple use" principle which formerly guided public land management. Here in Texas, the administration's aggressive energy exploration is threatening Padre Island National Seashore among other national parks and forests in the state.

"Hikers, boaters, surfers, hunters, anglers and families all seek the recreation and solitude that places like Padre Island National Seashore and other public lands provide," said Luke Metzger. "As owners of our great public lands estate, all Americans, not solely oil companies and the timber industry, should be able to enjoy these special places."

"Wildlands at Risk" highlights the following 25 places:

Alaska: Tongass National Forest; Teshekpuk Lake; Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arizona: Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument; Kaibab National Forest
California: Sierra Nevadas; Giant Sequoia National Monument
Colorado: Dinosaur National Monument
Georgia: Chattahoochee National Forests
Idaho: Owyhees Canyonlands
Minnesota: Superior National Forest
Montana/Wyoming: Rocky Mountain Front and Powder River Basin
North Carolina: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
North Dakota: Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Oregon: Zane Grey roadless area
Pacific Northwest: Salmon
Texas: Padre Island National Seashore
Utah: Fisher Towers
Vermont: Lamb Brook Wilderness
West Virginia: Appalachia/Moutaintop removal; Monongohela National Forest
Wisconsin: Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest
Wyoming: Yellowstone National Park; Upper Green River Valley

"Wildlands at Risk" addresses why each of these places is special and worthy of protection; how Bush administration threaten their beauty, integrity and sustainability; and how we can do better so that future generations can explore these same wild places.

February 26, 2004:

Bush Administration Approves New Drilling on Padre Island National Seashore

Sierra Club Demands a Federal Buyout of Gas Rights

At a time when Americans need their parks more than ever, Bush
administration has approved a third drilling site on Padre Island National
Seashore. The permit, announced today by the National Park Service, will
allow BNP Petroleum to drive 40 trucks per day to haul heavy equipment to
the drill site, about 7 miles south of Park Road 22.

"These drilling permits are the fruits of an administration that would
rather spoil America's natural heritage than protect our national parks
and invest in renewable resources," said Chris Wilhite organizer for the
Sierra Club. "Padre Island is the longest undeveloped barrier beach in the
world and a crown jewel of the National Parks System. It deserves the most
diligent protection, not encouragement to turn it into another gas patch."

"Turning the last, longest, undeveloped beach in the nation into a gas
drilling highway doesn't make sense for anyone but BNP Petroleum. It makes
no sense whatsoever for the Park visitors, most local businesses, jobs,
the environment, or the wildlife. Why would the Bush administration do
anything other than protect the Park?"

Drilling a single well on Padre Island means over 200 trips by heavy
equipment every week, up and down the beach within feet of family
vacationers, surf-fishers, and swimmers who come here for the rare
opportunity to enjoy a wild and natural setting.

"There is only enough gas under the park to provide one day's worth of
fuel for America," says Karen Ascot, Chair of the Sierra Club Austin
Group. "It's simply not worth a drop in the bucket to turn Padre Island
into an oil and gas patch. There's a better way."

Padre Island National Seashore brings an estimated (according to the
National Parks Service's own statistics) $39 million into the local
economy every year. An estimated 60% to 70% of the income generated
by BNP's drilling will, however, leave the country and go straight to the
BNP's foreign investors in Asia and Australia.

"Protecting Padre from oil and gas drilling is good for the local economy,
it's good for the endangered Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle and other marine
wildlife, and it's good for the citizens of Texas. This permit for a
third drilling site on Padre underscores the urgent need for a federal
buyout of mineral rights on Padre Island National Seashore," said Wilhite.
"Why is the Bush administration allowing our pristine island paradise to
be desecrated by foreign investors? There's a better way to strengthen the
local economy and protect our national seashore for all Americans: stop
the drilling. The drilling can be stopped by a federal buyout of the gas
rights under Padre. The Bush administration bought the gas rights on Big
Cypress National Preserve in Florida. The President can do the same for
the natural heritage of his own home state. It's just the right thing to
do."

Last year, President Bush supported a $120 million dollar federal buyout
for the drilling rights under Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida.
The Sierra Club and other environmental organizations praised the
President's decision regarding the Florida buyout.

The decision states on the one hand that there will be no significant
impacts but admits that a spill is possible. Now that BNP has approval,
drilling can begin any day. Sierra Club urges all Americans to become
involved in the campaign to stop the drilling on Padre, for our families
and our future. Learn How You Can Help>>

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