The Wilderness Society's new Too Wild To Drill report illustrates how beloved wild places across Colorado are being hit hard by accelerated oil and gas development.

Of 17 special places highlighted nationally in the report, five are in Colorado-the most of any western state. The new analysis estimates that, over the next 10-20 years, at least 23,000 new oil and gas wells are anticipated in Colorado alone. In Garfield County, home to Roan Plateau, the annual number of new gas wells has tripled between 2004 and 2006; in nearby Rio Blanco County, where sage grouse and deer depend on undisturbed habitat, 10,000 new gas wells are projected over the next 20 years.

Leasing of public lands is also continuing at a record-breaking pace even though as many as 61% of leased lands in Colorado have not yet been drilled or put into production. This out-of-control energy policy raises the question of why the administration continues to lease additional special public lands-such as municipal watersheds, key wildlife habitat, roadless lands and proposed wilderness areas-when these lands are so important for other public uses.

Roan Plateau, Colorado
"If ever there was a place too wild to drill, this is it. In gas-drilling boom times such as these, we can afford to protect this small bit of our last best places."
- Steve Smith, The Wilderness Society

Rising 3,500 feet above the Colorado River near Rifle, Colorado, Roan Plateau is among the four most ecologically diverse places in the state, home to rare Colorado River cutthroat trout, a popular destination for hunting and other recreation, and includes 38,000 acres of proposed wilderness.

Although Roan Plateau is already an island of wild country surrounded by booming natural gas production, the BLM recently proposed opening all of Roan Plateau to gas development and the drilling, roads, traffic, and habitat fragmentation that comes with it.

Vermillion Basin
"If we do not protect Vermillion Basin, we will lose centuries of cultural artifacts that are a looking glass into the West's native peoples." 
- Jane Yazzie, Moffat County resident

Hosting sweeping views of northwest Colorado, the undulating, rainbow-colored Vermillion Basin contains important habitat for wildlife and rare plants as well as a fantastic collection of Native American petroglyphs. 

Literally surrounded by oil and gas leasing, the fate of Vermillion Basin and other proposed wilderness areas will be decided in the pending revision of the BLM's Little Snake management plan due out this winter.

Clear Fork Divide

"Our national energy policy is like Thelma and Louise…pedal to the metal right off the cliff… and it's dragging our sustainable quality of life with it. Folks around here are saying, "enough." We want something left after the boom goes bust and won't stand by watching as these last best places like the Clear Fork Divide are plundered for a few hours of energy. 
- Sloan Shoemaker, Executive Director of the Wilderness Workshop

The spectacular roadless areas of the Clear Fork Divide with their rolling mountainsides of majestic aspen and old growth spruce provide a critical wildlife migration corridor between some of Colorado's most well-known wilderness areas and help support the region's robust tourism, hunting and fishing, and recreation-based economy.

Some 15,000 acres of these roadless lands were auctioned in the BLM's August 2006 lease sale, highlighting the ever-increasing threat to the region's renowned landscapes. 

Grand Mesa Slopes
"Grand Mesa is of critical importance to the community of Grand Junction. The city's drinking water originates in the snowmelts and rains that accumulate on the slopes of the mesa . . . It is vital to the people of Grand Junction that the city council and the BLM protect this stunning landscape and water resource."
- Fran Didier, local resident

The cliffs and slopes of Grand Mesa dramatically define the eastern edge of Colorado's Grand Valley, are home to diverse forests and wildlife, provide a recreation bonanza, and serve as the primary municipal watershed for the cities of Grand Junction and Palisade.

Gas drilling, which has been recently proposed, is quintessentially out of place in such a diverse and popular place that is so essential to the health of Colorado's largest West Slope community.

HD Mountains Roadless Area

"The more of the land we destroy, the more we won't have for ourselves when there's no oil and gas left. It's all connected, and the HDs is one of the last pieces left." 
- Janine Fitzgerald, local ranch owner

This 40,000 acre lower-elevation national forest roadless area contains the largest remaining stands of old growth ponderosa pine in the Southern Rockies and provides tremendous backcountry recreation near Durango.

A proposed drilling plan threatens not only the integrity of this rich wildlife area, but would jeopardize the drinking water wells of local residents.