Drilling in the Galisteo Basin

[Don Begley]

>
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 <drillingsantafe at earthlink.net >
> Date: Nov 21, 2007 1:44 PM
> Subject: Fw: Action Alert
> To: Drilling Santa Fe <drillingsantafe at earthlink.net>
>
>
> 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 drillingsantafe at earthlink.net .
>
> ----- 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: Sam_DesGeroges at nm.blm.gov
> ), 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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