A recent study of oil and gas drilling activity by The
Wilderness Society found that the gas industry is stockpiling
leases and drilling permits on 34 million acres of public lands
in the Rockies, but is only producing oil or gas on 32 percent
of that land. Over the past 10 years, the industry has received
permission from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to
drill 25,000 new wells, but has only drilled 19,000. Based on
the record pace of drilling over the last few years, it would
take several years to finish drilling the wells that have
already been approved by the BLM.

While some industry representatives and Republican leaders
accuse environmental groups of allegedly causing a slowdown in
gas drilling activity, drilling is currently at its physical
limit: there aren't enough drilling rigs in the Rockies to
satisfy the abundant drilling prospects already made available
to the gas industry. Further, some experts suspect that the gas
industry is sitting on all that land in order to keep gas prices
high -- many firms in the Rockies are posting record profits
while families and businesses struggle to pay their energy
bills.

"If sensitive areas on public lands were the only places left to
drill, the BLM's actions might be explainable," the Denver Post
said in a recent editorial. "But they're not. Energy companies
have plenty of promising places to drill without invading
proposed wildernesses or creating disturbances near parks and
monuments."[1]

Meanwhile, the industry continues to push BLM to lease more land
in even more remote areas -- many of which had already been
nominated in Congress for wilderness protection.

One recent such proposal in Colorado drew the ire of U.S. Rep
Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat who has legislation pending
to protect nearly 19,000 acres of critical habitat and
watersheds in her state's high country. Next month the BLM plans
to offer all 19,000 acres for lease to the oil and gas industry.

"I realize that it is not a mistake that these particular areas
are picked out for drilling, and all of us intend to protect
them," DeGette told the Rocky Mountain News.[2] "(The) vast
majority of federal land in Colorado already is open for
drilling," she added. "Only a small amount is eligible for
protection as wilderness, and the Bush administration should
respect that."

The reasons behind Bush's push to give away public lands may be
less obvious than they appear. The President's industrial
backers and business partners are consistent opponents of
federally-designated wilderness, because it precludes industrial
activity like road building, timber cutting and oil and gas
drilling.

But oil and gas industry executives, working from inside the
administration, may have a more pressing reason to give away
public lands to their once and future employers.

The energy industry, rocked by the Enron scandal and its own
dubious business decisions, is saddled with massive amounts of
debt. Large gas companies like El Paso have been forced to sell
off major assets in order to keep Wall Street off their backs.

But questionable accounting practices common in the industry
encourage gas firms to book potential future profits as a way to
improve their earnings outlook. By stockpiling leases and
drilling permits, the gas industry could be sacrificing
America's wilderness heritage in order to pay off its junk debt.

###

SOURCES:
[1] "Public Lands Under Attack," Denver Post, Apr. 11, 2004.
[2] "Foes seek protection for land Bush plan targets for
drilling," Rocky Mountain News, Apr. 30, 2004.