Hi everyone,
On this beautiful fall day here in the Rio Chama Watershed I am writing to remind you that if you’d like to submit a comment to the BLM regarding their Resource Management Plan Amendment for our public lands, the due date is this coming Friday, the 25th, 5pm.
Thanks to all of you that have already submitted a letter. We have tried to make it as painless as possible via our website and I swear it will take only minutes to write and send. Let’s let the BLM know we are here and we will protect the Rio Chama Watershed!
Here is a sample letter from Youngsville. We chose it because she used the talking point we provide on our site about the geology and hydrology of the western boundary of our watershed. That is the vulnerable area for all of us in an oil and gas industry scenario. After reading the sample below you can click here to go to our website and submit your own letter. Thank you!
BLM Project Manager
Atten: RMPA Comment Submission
6251 College Blvd, Suite A
Farmington, NM 87402
Ms. Scott,
Dear Ms. Sarah Scott,
We purchased raw land in Youngsville because of the great views, dark night sky, open space, and relatively untouched earth. Mineral rights weren’t included in the purchase of the land because there were no desirable minerals there. We plan on building a small house so we can enjoy our land, so we will need to use local water, so the Rio Chama Watershed is very important to us. We also recreate on the Abiquiu Reservoir, a beautiful area. The recent agreement with Albuquerque to use the water in the reservoir has decreased water levels there drastically, and made it harder to enjoy the lake. So it’s even more important that the water we DO have in the area is clean.
Any time there is oil and gas development, the drilling companies claim it is safe and won’t affect neighboring areas. But there is never any research conducted or proof shared. I am against oil and gas development (I drive a hybrid car, use solar energy as much as possible, and reduce my energy usage as mush as possible) because of the proven adverse effects it has on the earth. But I understand some oil and gas development is necessary. This does not seem to be the case with this development, but if it is, I would need to see research and results from a hydrology and geology study of the Continental Divide which marks the Western boundary of the RCW before allowing it to happen. I don’t see how the development from the BLM Amendment being proposed wouldn’t cause toxic water pollution from oil and gas waste.