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Valle Vidal opposition gains unlikely allies
APRIL REESE, GREENWIRE 8/19/05
A petroleum executive, a banker and a former director of the New Mexico game department joined opposition yesterday to a Forest Service plan that would open a lush northern New Mexico mountain basin to natural gas development.
The service plans to allow drilling on 40,000 acres of the 100,000-acre Valle Vidal -- famous for abundant elk, Rio Grande cutthroat trout and scenic vistas. Opponents say the proposal would drive away sportsmen and hikers, spoil views and fragment wildlife habitat.
Gary Fonay, former president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said in a news teleconference that while tapping new sources of oil and gas is important, "we must balance development with conservation." Valle Vidal reserves of coalbed methane, he added, represent a "small percentage" of natural gas available in the Raton Basin, one of several energy hot spots in the Interior West.
Fornay has joined a coalition of environmentalists, sportsmen and residents of surrounding communities formed to fend off the drilling plan the service is considering at the behest of Texas-based El Paso Corp.
El Paso Corp. says it would space drilling areas carefully and use stringent mitigation measures to reduce the operation's environmental effects, just as it is already doing with a project on Ted Turner's nearby Vermejo Park Ranch. But opponents say the risk of environmental problems in Valle Vidal is not worth taking.
Ron Schmeits of the New Mexico Bankers Association, called Valle Vidal "the Yellowstone [National] Park of New Mexico" adding that recreation and tourism is more important to the state than energy development, which accounts for only 4 percent of New Mexico's income.
Bruce Thompson, former director of the state Department of Game and Fish, which was a partner in the original agreement that conveyed the land from Pennzoil to the Forest Service in the early 1980s, said the agency has gone to great lengths to restore habitat in the Valle Vidal, and much of its work could be unraveled by energy development.
Environmental groups plan to hold three public meetings on the Valle Vidal in the coming weeks in an effort to raise awareness about the issue and attract additional opposition.
The Forest Service is accepting public comments on what issues should be addressed in the environmental analysis of the proposal until mid-September.
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