Sportsmen thank Sec. Salazar for cautioned approach to oil shale in CO

One hundred Coloradoans show support for Interior's plan through print ad campaign

DENVER, April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --  The Colorado Wildlife Federation (CWF) has endorsed a Department of Interior draft plan for oil shale that considers the full impacts of development on water resources, important wildlife habitat and the West's hunting and fishing heritage before rushing to commercial leasing.

To underscore its position, CWF today ran ads in two state newspapers endorsed by more than 100 Colorado sportsmen, sportswomen and other outdoor enthusiasts. The ads thank Interior Secretary and Colorado native Ken Salazar for "standing up for our water and wildlife and taking a cautious approach to oil shale leasing and development."  The signers on the ad consider the health of Coloradan water sources and habitat as critical to their livelihood and quality of life. You can view the ad on CWF's website: http://bit.ly/JzPIyl.

After more than a 100-year history of false starts and booms and busts, oil shale has still not proven to be steady source of energy or jobs in Colorado, because industry's best engineers and scientists do not yet have a commercially viable way to create fuel from oil shale rock.

"Since there is currently no commercially viable technology to produce oil shale here in Colorado, we have ample time as well as a responsibility before commercial leasing to continue researching the impacts of development on our limited water supplies and wildlife habitat.  Anyone who says this is unimportant is simply ignoring Colorado sportsmen, local communities, water managers, ranchers and even some oil and gas companies," said Suzanne O'Neill, CWF's executive director.

CWF endorses the preferred alternative in BLM's draft programmatic environmental impact statement on commercial leasing of federal land for oil shale development.  This version would require energy companies to show they have the technological know-how on a commercial scale, a commitment to produce oil from shale, and that production will not have an unacceptable level of negative impacts to water and to important wildlife habitat in the Piceance Basin.

"Our water and wildlife and the outdoor jobs that they support are just too valuable to gamble away on oil shale speculation by premature commercial leasing that will tie up more federal public lands in Colorado without public benefit," O'Neill continued.

Colorado Wildlife Federation is Colorado's oldest statewide wildlife conservation organization, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, whose members consist of hunters, anglers and other wildlife enthusiasts. 

SOURCE Colorado Wildlife Federation