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May 8, 2006
BLM Announces Another Land
Giveaway of 19,600 Acres to Oil Companies
Lands Slated for Auction in Kern, Ventura, SB, and SLO Counties,
Including Lands Along the National Forest Boundary
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has announced its final
decision to auction off over 19,600 acres of land to oil companies
in June. The move could pave the way for oil drilling along the
boundary of the Los Padres National Forest, nearby public lands
like the Carrizo Plain National Monument, and privately-owned
farmlands.
Concerned citizens can
challenge the inclusion of certain parcels in the auction.
Formal protests are due in the agency's Sacramento office no
later than Tuesday, May 30.
Lands in the Upper
Cuyama River Valley are slated
for oil and gas leasing in June. Photo ©LPFW
The BLM first announced the
auction back in April, and released a draft Environmental
Assessment for public review. Last month, ForestWatch submitted
a detailed letter pointing out that the agency's analysis was
scientifically and legally flawed, and that the agency had not
satisfied strict requirements designed to protect wildlife,
clean air and water, prime farmlands, and floodplains from oil
drilling damage. Officials have decided to ignore most of our
concerns and proceed with the land auction, despite these
shortcomings.
The auction is now officially
scheduled for June 14 in Sacramento, a five-hour drive from the
lands on the auction list. Every lease sale since 1999 has been
held in Bakersfield near the lands to be auctioned. This time,
officials have selected the Sacramento location, making it very
inconvenient for local landowners and other concerned citizens
to attend.
During the auction, oil companies will be
able to bid on the rights to extract oil and gas from these
parcels. The drilling rights will go to the highest bidder, with
minimum bids starting at only $2.00 per acre.
Existing
oil facilities in the South Cuyama oil field, several
miles north of the proposed parcels. Photo ©LPFW
Many of the lands slated for
auction are located along main access routes leading into the
national forest. Most of the parcels are undeveloped, and many
are under cultivation by farmers. Allowing a network of oil
rigs, pipelines, and transmission wires will significantly
change the rural landscape of this area.
In addition, each
of the 34 parcels provides habitat for several threatened and
endangered plants and animals, including the San Joaquin kit fox, the California condor, the California jewelflower, and the blunt-nosed leopard lizard,
according to the agency.
These lands were originally
slated for auction in December 2005. The BLM cancelled that
auction after ForestWatch challenged it. Not only did the BLM
fail to properly notify the public about the auction, but it
also forgot to conduct an environmental study. At the same time,
ForestWatch filed a Freedom of Information Act request and,
after the agency denied ForestWatch access to most of the
documents, we filed a lawsuit. That lawsuit is currently pending
before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
California.
Now, the BLM has announced that
most of these same parcels will be auctioned at an upcoming
"competitive lease sale" scheduled for June 14, 2006 in
Sacramento. This time, the agency has prepared an Environmental
Assessment to study the environmental damage caused by oil
drilling in these areas. Unfortunately, the EA does not meet
even the most minimal requirements to protect these lands.
Split Estates - Private
Lands, Public Minerals
Nearly 3,000 acres of the lands
to be auctioned are public lands administered by the Bureau of
Land Management. The remainder of the lands - 85% - are called
"split estate" lands (privately-owned surface lands with
federally-owned mineral rights).
Leasing split-estate lands has
become very controversial in other areas of the country that are
experiencing similar expansion of oil and gas drilling. This is
because the BLM does not notify the surface landowner when the
agency proposes to lease the underground minerals. Often, oil
companies bid on split-estate leases without the consent, or
even the knowledge of, the surface landowner.
Once an oil company wins the
right to drill for federal oil on private lands, the oil company
may have the right to conduct geophysical exploration and
seismic tests, to construct roads to drill sites, to take water,
to dispose of wastewater, to install tanks and pipelines, and to
enter the land for oil drilling.
Despite the significance of
this lease sale to private landowners in the Upper Cuyama
Valley, the BLM failed to notify a single one of them during the
public comment period. They did not notify ForestWatch either,
but did notify several oil companies, according to officials.
These oil companies, it seems, receive special treatment at the
expense of public participation and environmental protection.
ON THE AUCTION BLOCK: Los Padres Forest Boundary
6 parcels, 7,292 acres
 Four
of the parcels share a boundary with the Los Padres National Forest, in
Santa Barbara and Kern counties near the intersection of Scenic
Highway 33 and the Maricopa Highway (Route 166). Two others are
within a half-mile of the forest boundary.
Many of these parcels are in
Santa Barbara Canyon, which serves as a
gateway leading into the northern portion of the Dick Smith Wilderness Area in the forest.
These lands are located in the
Upper Cuyama River Valley, which federal biologists have called
an "Area of High Ecological Significance" because of the
abundance of rare plants and animals here. According to the BLM,
this area is home to the endangered San Joaquin kit fox, the
threatened blunt-nosed leopard lizard, the threatened San
Joaquin antelope squirrel, the endangered California jewelflower,
and the endangered California condor.
The various
parcels proposed for auction are shown in red. The large light green area on the bottom half of the
map is the Los Padres National Forest. Highway 33 is shown in
red coming up from the bottom of the map and intersecting with
Highway 166, the red line near the top of the map.
ON THE AUCTION BLOCK: Cuyama River
2 parcels, 1,000 acres
 Two parcels along the
banks of the Cuyama River are slated for auction. According to
the agency, these parcels are located in the floodplain
of this river. Oil drilling in a floodplain is not appropriate
due to the increased risk of oil s pills into the river.
Drilling, access roads, and power lines would also interfere
with farmlands in the area that are currently under cultivation.
ON THE AUCTION BLOCK:
Carrizo Plain National Monument Bdy
4 parcels, 1,876 acres
 Four parcels are located along
the eastern boundary of the Carrizo Plain National Monument, an
area set aside by Presidential Proclamation in 2001 to protect
one of the last remaining untouched ecosystems in the San
Joaquin Valley.
These parcels are home to the
threatened San Joaquin kit fox, the threatened San Joaquin
antelope squirrel, the threatened blunt-nosed leopard lizard,
and the endangered California condor.
ON THE AUCTION BLOCK: Bitter Creek National Wildlife
Refuge
2 parcels, 2160 acres
 Slated for auction are two parcels
just outside the boundary of the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge,
in the southwestern San Joaquin Valley foothills. The refuge
shares a boundary with the Los Padres National Forest. The
federal government purchased this 14,097-acre refuge in 1985 to
protect dwindling California condor foraging and roosting
habitat, and it's now protected as "critical habitat" for the
endangered bird. It's the site where the last female condor was
trapped in 1986 for the captive breeding program.
OFF THE AUCTION BLOCK: Wind Wolves Preserve
4 parcels, 203 acres
In December, the BLM proposed
leasing four parcels located inside the Wind Wolves Preserve,
the largest privately-owned
nature preserve in
the West. The 97,000-acre preserve is located in the southern San Joaquin
Valley, adjacent to the Los Padres National Forest. The preserve is in an ecologically unique
region where the Transverse and Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada
Mountains, western Mojave Desert, and San Joaquin Valley
converge.
We are happy to announce that
the BLM has removed these parcels from the lease sale. The Wind
Wolves Preserve is protected from additional oil drilling for
now.
What's Next
This auction comes on the
heels of a plan, approved in July, to open up 52,075 acres of
the Los Padres National Forest to oil drilling. The parcels up
for lease in June are outside of the forest, and not a part
of that plan. However, allowing drilling on lands right along
the forest boundary could eventually make it easier for oil
companies to expand their operations inside the forest.
Concerned citizens can
challenge the inclusion of certain parcels in the auction.
Formal protests are due in the agency's Sacramento office no
later than Tuesday, May 30. Consult the Lease Sale Notice for
information on how to file a formal protest. If you intend on
filing a formal protest, contact us so that we can help
coordinate various protests that may be filed.
If the auction goes ahead as
scheduled, the oil company placing the highest bid wins
the right to drill for oil in the lease area. The oil company
may then conduct surveys, often using explosives or "thumper
trucks" to detect the location of oil. The company then submits
an Application for Permit to Drill and a Surface Use Plan of
Operations for approval. Once approved by federal agencies,
drilling can begin immediately.
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