The oil industry is secretly working behind the scenes to gain the right to drill for oil in Upper Lopez Canyon, a remote area northeast of Arroyo Grande surrounded by the Los Padres National Forest. ForestWatch and landowners along Upper Lopez Canyon Road have joined together to oppose oil development in this remote, ecologically sensitive region that serves as a gateway to the adjacent Santa Lucia Wilderness area.
A representative of the Nahabedian Exploration Group has been knocking on residents’ doors along Upper Lopez Canyon Road, according to several landowners who live along the road. The oilman urges landowners to sign over their underground mineral rights to the exploration company. The company is a subsidiary of Pacrim Energy Ltd., an international energy conglomerate based in Australia, according to the Pacrim website.
Lopez Creek is a year-round stream that flows along several scattered residences in this remote canyon, eventually feeding into Lopez Lake, a municipal water source for more than 45,000 people in the five cities region of Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Oceano, and Avila Beach. Lopez Lake is also a popular recreation destination for camping, boating, fishing, and windsurfing. The canyon above the lake provides public access to the Santa Lucia Wilderness Area and popular hiking and equestrian trails to Big Falls and Little Falls.
This renewed drilling effort comes on the heels of a plan proposed by the U.S. Forest Service in 2002 that considered opening the federally-owned portions of Lopez Canyon to oil drilling. In 2005, the U.S. Forest Service decided to prohibit any oil drilling in this area, citing environmental concerns. A study commissioned by the federal government estimates that if drilling occurred in Lopez Canyon, it would likely produce 350,000 barrels of oil. This represents a 24-minute supply of oil, based on current consumption rates for the United States as calculated by the Energy Information Administration, which tracks official energy statistics for the U.S. government.
“People come here from all over the County to marvel at the magnificent waterfalls and ancient oak trees in this remote canyon,” said Jeff Kuyper, Executive Director of Los Padres ForestWatch, a nonprofit organization based in Santa Barbara working with landowners to protect this area of the forest from oil development. “It’s not worth ruining this special place for a few minutes’ supply of oil.”
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