A coalition of nine environmental groups is protesting the planned auction of oil and gas leases on two tracts of land encompassing nearly 4,400 acres of the Monongahela National Forest.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A coalition of nine environmental groups is protesting the planned auction of oil and gas leases on two tracts of land encompassing nearly 4,400 acres of the Monongahela National Forest.
The two lease tracts -- 2,480 acres along Gandy Creek near the Swallow Rocks Campground in Randolph County and 1,917 acres along Teeter Camp Run and adjacent to the Virginia border in Pendleton County -- are among 81 parcels of federal land in six eastern states up for auction. The sale is scheduled to take place March 18 at the federal Bureau of Land Management's Eastern States Office in Springfield, Va.
Asking BLM eastern states director Juan Palma to remove the Monongahela National Forest tracts from the auction are: The Wilderness Society, the Friends of Blackwater, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Friends of Beautiful Pendleton County, the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, the Friends of Allegheny Front, the Stewards of the Potomac Highlands and the Laurel Mountain Preservation Association.
According to the environmental groups, the development of wells on the Mon Forest tracts would harm the wilderness character of the land, threaten endangered species of bats, and violate federal law by failing to conduct site-specific environmental impact reviews before putting the tracts up for bid.
The environmental groups also charged that the BLM failed to consider the impact exploration and drilling would have on the proposed Seneca Creek Wilderness Area, which encompasses most of the Randolph County lease parcel, and the nearby Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area.
The effects of exploration and drilling on 12 trout streams -- including a nine-mile stretch of Gandy Creek -- located within the drill lease boundaries were also not adequately considered, according to the protest letter.
Last year, the BLM put plans to auction oil and gas lease rights to more than 2,300 acres of Mon Forest land on hold following similar protests by environmental groups.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A coalition of nine environmental groups is protesting the planned auction of oil and gas leases on two tracts of land encompassing nearly 4,400 acres of the Monongahela National Forest.
The two lease tracts -- 2,480 acres along Gandy Creek near the Swallow Rocks Campground in Randolph County and 1,917 acres along Teeter Camp Run and adjacent to the Virginia border in Pendleton County -- are among 81 parcels of federal land in six eastern states up for auction. The sale is scheduled to take place March 18 at the federal Bureau of Land Management's Eastern States Office in Springfield, Va.
Asking BLM eastern states director Juan Palma to remove the Monongahela National Forest tracts from the auction are: The Wilderness Society, the Friends of Blackwater, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Friends of Beautiful Pendleton County, the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, the Friends of Allegheny Front, the Stewards of the Potomac Highlands and the Laurel Mountain Preservation Association.
According to the environmental groups, the development of wells on the Mon Forest tracts would harm the wilderness character of the land, threaten endangered species of bats, and violate federal law by failing to conduct site-specific environmental impact reviews before putting the tracts up for bid.
The environmental groups also charged that the BLM failed to consider the impact exploration and drilling would have on the proposed Seneca Creek Wilderness Area, which encompasses most of the Randolph County lease parcel, and the nearby Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area.
The effects of exploration and drilling on 12 trout streams -- including a nine-mile stretch of Gandy Creek -- located within the drill lease boundaries were also not adequately considered, according to the protest letter.
Last year, the BLM put plans to auction oil and gas lease rights to more than 2,300 acres of Mon Forest land on hold following similar protests by environmental groups.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.
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