Oil & Gas

An ongoing problem around here is the push to achieve what's called "energy dominance" by the current administration, applying pressure through the Interior Department to lease BLM public lands for oil and gas development -- specifically, for purposes of fracking. The North Fork Valley is right on the front lines of this fight -- just to the north of us, extraction of coal, once a cornerstone of the economy here in the valley, has left a toxic time bomb in its wake in the form of methane leaking into the atmosphere from the mines that have shut down. Ironically, it's the abundance of natural gas that has kicked the pins out from under the market for coal, resulting in the mine closures.

Colorado passed a new law last year requiring the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission to put the health and safety of communities as the top priority in assessing additional development, and, possibly as a response to that regulation, COGCC has started to include flow line information to their GIS online site. Good to know if you need to start digging somewhere.

The little red cross at the center of the map (14S91W) is my location. The little brown dots seem to be existing well pads. The green circles seem to be potential drilling sites. By the way, that cluster of existing and potential well sites to the north of us, running along the 133 highway, also is one of the most geologically unstable regions in the state.

You can add to or subtract from the visible layers on the map, so I thought it might be a good idea to have a look at the surrounding watershed (below).

Rivers and streams in the neighborhood (the expanded blue areas around some streams are apparently regarded as "buffer" zones.