Huerfano County Requests Leasing Delay Near Great Sand Dunes, Sangre de Cristo Wilderness

DENVER CO -- Huerfano County Commissioners today asked for oil and gas leases near Great Sand Dunes National Park and the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness be deferred.  The Commission voted in favor of asking the Bureau of Land Management to hold off on leasing the sensitive lands until further study can be completed on the impacts of dirty fuel development would have on the area’s waters and environment. The vote follows concerns raised by Citizens for Huerfano County and other community members.

“Citizens for Huerfano County thank the Huerfano County Commissioners for asking the BLM to defer their lease sale until a thorough hydro-geo study is completed through the EIS process and a new Resource Management Plan for the Eastern Colorado BLM is in place.  It is heartening to know, that although CHC and the Huerfano County Commissioners have different perspectives on mineral development, we can agree that this lease sale must be seriously studied to make sure it doesn’t harm the Great Sand Dunes National Park, the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, and the upper watershed of the Huerfano River,” said Jeff Briggs, president of Citizens for Huerfano County.

“We applaud the Huerfano County Commissioners for listening to the local community and heeding their serious concerns. The Commission's vote reinforces the need for Secretary Zinke’s Interior Department to consider the consequences of it’s rush to drill, mine and frack every acre of public land. The public deserves more than a token comment period and incomplete information-- especially when the lands at stake hold such irreplaceable cultural, wild and economic value,” said Kimberley Pope, Sierra Club Our Wild America organizer in Colorado.