The Cuyama Valley, where an oil spill occurred in 2015 (pictured), could see considerable expansion of oil development under the proposal.
In August, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced they were launching a year-long study that will ultimately determine whether to allow drilling and fracking across 1.6 million acres of public land and federal mineral estate in eight central California counties, including Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura.
After the BLM released an impractical project map that did not display many of the parcels that could be opened to drilling and fracking, ForestWatch obtained the agency’s mapping data and found that thousands of acres of land near schools, along trails, on conservation lands, around national wildlife refuges, and in state parks area being proposed as “open” to drilling and fracking. We created an interactive online map that allows the public to easily see all of the lands included in the proposal, as well as an online system for submitting comments to the BLM.
The agency received more than 8,000 comments during a 30-day comment period that ended in September. Nearly all were in opposition to the plan. The agency received strong letters from Congressman Salud Carbajal, Governor Jerry Brown, Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Assemblymember Monique Limón, Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartmann, Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, several state conservation agencies, Patagonia, and other groups.
Some of the guest speakers at the rally included (pictured left to right) Cate School Director of Strategic Planning Hallie Green, Supervisor Joan Hartmann, ForestWatch Executive Director Jeff Kuyper, Alisal Properties Vice President CJ Jackson, and Supervisor Das Williams.
Community leaders and citizens rallied against the proposal on Thursday, October 11 at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. Speakers at the rally included Congressman Salud Carbajal, County Supervisor Joan Hartmann, Los Padres ForestWatch Executive Director Jeff Kuyper, Alisal Properties Vice President CJ Jackson, Cate School Director of Strategic Planning Hallie Greene, and Supervisor Das Williams.
The BLM’s official scoping period ended on September 7, and many community members and stakeholders were not able to submit comments during this very short time frame. Congressman Carbajal officially requested that the agency extend the comment period to allow the public more time to digest the information and submit comments. The BLM did not grant the request. However, the public can still submit comments to the agency until the draft Environmental Impact Statement is released. At that time, another official public comment period will also be opened.
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