Sarah Gilman wrote a blog for High Country News titled “It helps to be irritating.” In it, she details the successes that involvement by local citizens have had in delaying the sale of leases for oil and extraction around their communities in Colorado’s North Fork Valley. Their concerns should sound familiar. “Oil and gas development could harm the area’s water and air quality and wildlife habitat, as well as its burgeoning tourism and local food economy.”
As a result, the BLM has deferred the sale of the North Fork Valley parcels. It is the second deferment as well as a reduction in the acreage offered. The blog concludes that “the local victory is a great reminder that, to effect change, especially in land management decisions, you have to be engaged and you have to be loud.”
We couldn’t agree more! PARA has been engaged in the Forest Service decision making process surrounding multiple proposed mineral explorations on Forest Service land just outside of the town of Patagonia. Our efforts, along with a lawsuit against the Forest Service with co-defenders Defenders of Wildlife and Sky Island Alliance, sent the Canadian Mining Company Wildcat Silver back to the drawing board. Wildcat Silver had received permission from the Forest Service to start exploratory drilling back in November 2011, which was then rescinded in April 2012. The further ripple effect of the lawsuit was the additional delay of exploratory drilling projects on public land by mining companies Regal Resources and Oz Exploration. Neither Oz nor Regal have received a decision yet for plans they submitted in November, 2011. The Oz project is even listed as ‘on-hold’ by the Forest Service.
Through a grant awarded from Patagonia® Inc., PARA is hosting a workshop with Sky Island Alliance to further amplify the voices of the citizens of Patagonia. Learn effective ways to be loud and irritating! Our plan is to stop the threat of mining in the Patagonia mountains. Won’t you join us?
