Colorado, Roan Plateau

Ranked as one of the four most biologically diverse areas in Colorado and rising 3,500 feet above the Colorado River and the Grand Valley, the dramatic Roan Plateau with its rolling aspen forests and meandering trout streams is surrounded by a sea of drill rigs and bulldozed roads below.  An extraordinary landscape in and of itself, the Roan has become the premier symbol of the pitched battle between the oil and gas industry and the growing alliance of local communities, hunters, anglers and conservation groups  fighting for the future of Western Colorado.

More than 90% of the BLM controlled area is leased or available for energy development, and oil and gas companies operating in the region have acknowledged that they have a decade's worth of drilling sites. Approved drilling permits have increased exponentially in the past several years all around and even on the private land within the Planning Area. 2007 saw another all time record set for drilling permits in Colorado. In Garfield County alone, over 2,500 gas wells were permitted last year.

Already over half of the Roan Plateau Planning Area is either owned outright or leased by oil and gas companies, and intensive oil and gas development is already taking place at the base and on the western one-third of the top of the plateau.  The issue of the protection of the top of the Roan Plateau was part of the revamped 2007 Energy Plan but unfortunately was removed at the last moment as part of the compromise to push the Energy Bill through the Senate.  Currently Colorado’s governor is recommending that only parts of the top be protected.  EcoFlight has many hours invested in protecting the Roan and we will continue to be extremely diligent on this issue.

Treasured by sportsmen, environmentalists and outdoor recreation enthusiasts, the Roan is a scenic plateau in gas-rich Garfield County that for years has been the subject of intense debate and litigation.