For those of you following this issue, it appears that BLM holds most
of the mineral rights in the Galisteo Basin and is working on a land
use plan in its Taos office, which has the basin in its territory.
Don Begley
5 Cagua Ct
Santa Fe, NM 87508
505.466.6748
505.670.9432 (cell)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Drilling Santa Fe <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >
Date: Nov 21, 2007 1:44 PM
Subject: Fw: Action Alert
To: Drilling Santa Fe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
It seems that the email address below is incorrect. Anyway, based on
the voice mail information from the BLM, Taos Field Office http://www.nm.blm.gov/tafo/tafo_home.html
, there will be a separate email address set up for public comments
on this subject. There will also be a BLM newsletter coming out
after the Thanksgiving holidays addressing the RMP. Finally, the
draft will be ready in May of 08 for public review and comments. By
the way, the area code to the BLM, Taos Field Office is 575 instead
of 505. USPS mail may be the most effective communication for this
issue ( http://www.nm.blm.gov/tafo/taos_rmpr/taos_rmpr.htm ). Along
these lines, I received an email reminding me of the Red Lodge
Clearing House post: http://www.redlodgeclearinghouse.org/legislation/oilandgas3.html
. Of course, it is the position of DSF that the County has the
authority to protect its resources, including groundwater, from oil
& gas activities.
Following is from an email from someone who spoke with Mr. DesGeorges:
"Taos BLM office is still in the process of writing a draft of the
Land Use Plan. They will be sending out a newsletter in 3 weeks
with more information about the process.
In May, they hope to have a draft available for public comment.
They hope to have a final plan by September '09, but they realize
that it could be appealed and take longer to finalize.
They will continue to deny any attempts to nominate minerals until
the final plan is enacted. Several areas will absolutely be safe
from drilling in the final plan, i.e. archeology sites.
He asked that people wait to have their thoughtful recommendations
sent hard copy until at least after the newsletter comes out in
December. His advice is that most of our concerns would probably
be addressed, and until people see what is going on with the process
it is wasted energy to e-mail him.
I questioned the quote that "65-70%" of the minerals in the Basin
are owned by BLM. He said that that included the minerals in
Sandoval County too, and probably minerals north of I-25 but still
in Santa Fe County. "
In addition, received an email about the New Mexico Cattle Growers'
Association (NMCGA http://nmagriculture.org/registernewmembers.cfm )
for those landowners in Santa Fe County. Evidently, NMCGA helped
SOPA (Surface Owners' Protection Act: http://www.sanjuancitizens.org/energy/sopa_brochure_web.pdf
) to become enacted. NMCGA has clout and the legislature listens to
the rural constituency. If you are interested, please go to the
NMCGA link above or email [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
----- Original Message -----
From: Drilling Santa Fe
To: Drilling Santa Fe
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 10:28 AM
Subject: Action Alert
Received the below email alert. Please read it and contact the BLM
with your concerns about drilling in the Galisteo Basin.
"FYI, I attended annual New Mexico Archaeological Council meeting
yesterday at UNM = WELL DONE!. Theme for the day's papers was
Galisteo Basin (and associated Galisteo basin Arch. Sites Protection
Act). As a SiteWatch volunteer steward (+ "another hat" being the
state Coordinator for the program), and resident of the area, I'm
glad I went (postponing a SiteWatch Intro/Orientation in Los Alamos
to 12/8). It was mentioned that the Taos District/Field Office BLM
has been working on their Resource Management Plan (RMP) that will
guide how resources are managed in the District (which includes BLM
lands in the Galisteo Basin) for the next couple of decades. The
public meetings for the RMP were conducted before the "proposed"
drilling came on the public or BLM's radar. Even though BLM has
little surface lands in the area of the proposed exploration, they
(BLM) owns/manages approx. 50% of the subsurface mineral rights for
the area. Anticipated that EIS for the RMP will be out for review
later this coming spring. Folks need to contact/write the BLM Taos
Field Office Manager ASAP with their concerns con/pro drilling for
the RMP. The District Manager is Sam DesGeorges, (e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
), BLM, Taos Field Office, 226 Cruz Alta Rd., Taos, NM 87571. The
RMP will guide management decisions for the foreseeable future, so
this is a critical time for the public to be part of the planning
process for our public resources."
The mission of Drilling Santa Fe is to protect the cultural,
environmental, and economic resources of Santa Fe County from the
adverse impacts of oil and gas exploration and production within the
County.
Drilling Santa Fe
We are a growing number of citizens concerned about the impending
oil & gas drilling in Santa Fe County. Tax deductible donations
[501(c)3] for DSF should be made to the Concerned Citizens of
Cerrillos for the Drilling Santa Fe Fund, P.O. Box 23921, Santa Fe,
NM 87502. Also, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center has been
retained by DSF. Donations to the law center are also appreciated.
Contact Sebia Hawkins at 505-989-9022 x27.
Johnny Micou
http://drillingsantafe.blogspot.com/
or
http://www.drillingsantafe.org
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