Can Frackers Be Paid Off? How One Community Is Trying to Buy Out Oil and Gas Leases
http://www.alternet.org/environment/how-one-community-trying-buy-out-oil-and-gas-leases
Craig Amichaux considers saving the Thompson Divide a last stand. Thats all weve got left, said Amichaux, an avid skier who runs a family campground in his native Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
The Thompson Divide encompasses 221,500 acres of national forest land in five Colorado counties (Pitkin, Gunnison, Garfield, Mesa and Delta) on the Rockies Western Slope. Its the Colorado of glossy calendars and adventure brochures: Aspen stands, forested peaks, clear mountain streams, boundless wildlife, including big game.
Its popular with outdoor enthusiasts of all stripesmountain bikers, skiers, hikers, climbers, snowmobilers, anglers and hunters. Its also been claimed by oil and gas companies, which won 81 mineral leases a decade ago (half of which are in roadless areas), courtesy of the Bush administration.
But a group called the Thompson Divide Coalition hopes to persuade the leaseholders, mostly three energy companies, to sell their stakes so the land can be protected from development.