The Gunnison Country!

A U.S. District Court judge today vacated a federal plan that allowed fracking across 35,000 acres of Colorado’s Western Slope.

The North Fork Mancos Master Development Plan would have allowed 35 new fracking wells in the North Fork Valley and Thompson Divide areas of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests that provide habitat for elk, black bear and the imperiled Canada lynx and drinking water for downstream communities. Judge Marcia K. Krieger’s order prevents new drilling and fracking in the area.

Spring is ramping up here in the high country, and with the promise of warmer weather I’m sorting camping gear, dusting off the lenses of my birding binoculars, and planning for summer public lands adventures. But in the meantime, I wanted to provide you with some updates and upcoming opportunities concerning our public lands.

On March 2, the Republican-controlled Delta County Board of Commissioners rejected a proposed 80-megawatt solar project on private land that would have supplied the Delta-Montrose Electric Association with renewable energy. The 472-acre solar farm, creating enough local energy to power 18,000 homes annually, also would have generated an estimated $13 million in tax revenue over 15 years. This baffling decision was unsupported by law or fact, and flies in the face of energy independence, local control, private property rights, and other of their touted principles.

As you may recall, in 2020 Mountain Coal Co. bulldozed a road into the Sunset Roadless Area to facilitate mine expansion, resulting in (amongst other things) a State-issued Cessation Order. On January 12, 2022, the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (DRMS) lifted that Cessation Order, but at the same time noted that Mountain Coal no longer has approval to construct roads under its state permit! If Mountain Coal sought such approval in the future, it would have to request a technical revision, a process that involves public notice and engagement opportunities

A mining company plans to propose that water quality standards on a creek near Sargents be lowered, a move that could allow more radioactive material to enter the Gunnison River watershed.

Mountain Coal Co. has committed to burning off methane and toxic pollutants through flaring at its West Elk Mine in the upper North Fork Valley while it pursues pollution permits, according to a lawsuit settlement approved by a federal judge Tuesday.

The consent decree was approved by U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore and requires the company to control its methane and volatile organic compound pollution using flares, and in the meantime, obtain legally required pollution permits, conservation groups said in a news release. The agreement will expire after Mountain Coal, a subsidiary of Arch Resources, complies with the terms of its pollution permits for two years.

Please join us for a screening of Patagonia’s “We the Power” followed by a discussion with rural cooperative organizers from the Sierra Club and Western Colorado Alliance. Learn more about the opportunity we have to push for change as part of Tri-State’s ERP process and discuss what we can do together to help power our community with affordable, clean energy.

All six coal mines operating in Colorado last year won cuts to the royalties they paid to the federal or state government, denying treasuries millions of dollars and flouting policy claims by President Biden and Gov. Jared Polis to curb coal’s intense pollution.

On Tuesday, September 28, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, the Forest Service’s Gunnison Ranger District will host a virtual open house to discuss the GMUG’s draft forest plan and its alternatives. High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) is asking all of our members and supporters who care about the future of the Gunnison National Forest to attend and speak up on behalf of wilderness, wildlife, and sustainable recreation.