Officials review energy drilling in Caribou National Forest
The Associated Press BOISE, Idaho -- The U.S. Forest Service is drafting a plan to lease areas of the Caribou National Forest and Curlew National Grassland along Idaho's southeastern border for oil and gas exploration.
The agency is reviewing potential lease sites on the forest's 970,000 acres in Idaho and 17,000 acres that extend into Wyoming and Utah.
There are no known petroleum deposits in Idaho. Every test well drilled in the state over the past 25 years has come up dry, but as gas prices and available resources become scarce, energy companies are hoping the vast basins of oil and gas discovered in Wyoming, Montana and other Rocky Mountain states might extend to Idaho's fringes.
Several national forests, including the companion Targhee National Forest in Idaho and Wyoming, have already developed plans to open areas to drilling. The review on the Caribou National Forest would take at least a year, said spokesman Lynn Ballard. There are currently more than 750,000 acres in the forest designated as roadless areas.
Oil and gas exploration is barred on that land, Ballard said. However, the protected area could shrink under a revised roadless plan proposed by former Gov. Jim Risch and awaiting federal approval.
After forest officials identify available parcels on the Caribou National Forest, the Bureau of Land Management, which has jurisdiction over all public mineral estates, would open bidding on the lease sites.
If a leaseholder decides to drill for oil or natural gas, the national forest would have to approve the project after conducting an environmental assessment, Ballard said.
"I think the industry has a pretty good idea of what's available," he said. "My guess is it's probably a fairly low potential overall, but there might be some spots out there."
John Robison, public lands director for the Idaho Conservation League, questioned why the government has been eager to develop pristine lands in Idaho, especially to drill test wells that would likely come up empty or produce relatively little oil and gas.
He said oil and gas drilling on the Caribou National Forest would sully nearby rivers and springs and threaten endangered populations of cutthroat trout and sage grouse.
"This is one of those things where you only have to look in our neighboring states to see how oil and gas has decimated our natural habitat," he said. "Even if they don't find something there, the act of punching a road in and drilling a well pad can have adverse effects for wildlife and sportsmen."
In 2005, Congress loosened controls on oil and gas drilling across public lands, hoping to encourage more domestic energy production. That has led to a flurry of interest among drillers, even in Idaho and other places with no proven reserves. Idaho has 9,150 acres of public land already leased for oil and gas exploration, said Karen Porter, a geologist in charge of the BLM's mineral program in Idaho.
However, prospectors have sent notice of their interest in leasing 430,000 additional acres in the past two years, Porter said. If the land is not legally protected from energy drilling, the BLM must process all complete leasing requests, she said. Lease sites are awarded for 10 years and cover no more than 2,560 acres. On the Caribou National Forest, the BLM is waiting to review requests for oil and gas leasing on 44,500 acres. The applicants are likely small operators or wildcatter, not energy giants like BP America Corp., EnCana Corp., Exxon-Mobil Corp. and other companies that dominate the fields in neighboring states.
"These are certainly names that I don't recognize," Porter said.
The Associated Press BOISE, Idaho -- The U.S. Forest Service is drafting a plan to lease areas of the Caribou National Forest and Curlew National Grassland along Idaho's southeastern border for oil and gas exploration.
The agency is reviewing potential lease sites on the forest's 970,000 acres in Idaho and 17,000 acres that extend into Wyoming and Utah.
There are no known petroleum deposits in Idaho. Every test well drilled in the state over the past 25 years has come up dry, but as gas prices and available resources become scarce, energy companies are hoping the vast basins of oil and gas discovered in Wyoming, Montana and other Rocky Mountain states might extend to Idaho's fringes.
Several national forests, including the companion Targhee National Forest in Idaho and Wyoming, have already developed plans to open areas to drilling. The review on the Caribou National Forest would take at least a year, said spokesman Lynn Ballard. There are currently more than 750,000 acres in the forest designated as roadless areas.
Oil and gas exploration is barred on that land, Ballard said. However, the protected area could shrink under a revised roadless plan proposed by former Gov. Jim Risch and awaiting federal approval.
After forest officials identify available parcels on the Caribou National Forest, the Bureau of Land Management, which has jurisdiction over all public mineral estates, would open bidding on the lease sites.
If a leaseholder decides to drill for oil or natural gas, the national forest would have to approve the project after conducting an environmental assessment, Ballard said.
"I think the industry has a pretty good idea of what's available," he said. "My guess is it's probably a fairly low potential overall, but there might be some spots out there."
John Robison, public lands director for the Idaho Conservation League, questioned why the government has been eager to develop pristine lands in Idaho, especially to drill test wells that would likely come up empty or produce relatively little oil and gas.
He said oil and gas drilling on the Caribou National Forest would sully nearby rivers and springs and threaten endangered populations of cutthroat trout and sage grouse.
"This is one of those things where you only have to look in our neighboring states to see how oil and gas has decimated our natural habitat," he said. "Even if they don't find something there, the act of punching a road in and drilling a well pad can have adverse effects for wildlife and sportsmen."
In 2005, Congress loosened controls on oil and gas drilling across public lands, hoping to encourage more domestic energy production. That has led to a flurry of interest among drillers, even in Idaho and other places with no proven reserves. Idaho has 9,150 acres of public land already leased for oil and gas exploration, said Karen Porter, a geologist in charge of the BLM's mineral program in Idaho.
However, prospectors have sent notice of their interest in leasing 430,000 additional acres in the past two years, Porter said. If the land is not legally protected from energy drilling, the BLM must process all complete leasing requests, she said. Lease sites are awarded for 10 years and cover no more than 2,560 acres. On the Caribou National Forest, the BLM is waiting to review requests for oil and gas leasing on 44,500 acres. The applicants are likely small operators or wildcatter, not energy giants like BP America Corp., EnCana Corp., Exxon-Mobil Corp. and other companies that dominate the fields in neighboring states.
"These are certainly names that I don't recognize," Porter said.
