Photo by Pat Sunderland

The rally at the BLM headquarters in Montrose drew about a hundred concerned North Fork Valley residents.

BLM's Uncompahgre Field Office is evaluating about 30,000 acres near Paonia, Hotchkiss, Somerset and Crawford to draft an Environmental Assessment prior to the lease sale.

The opportunity to comment is the first step in determining whether all or some of the 22 parcels will be opened to oil and gas exploration.

The rally was organized by Citizens for a Healthy Community, a non-profit organization which formed quickly after the BLM announced the upcoming lease sale. Its mission is "to protect people and their environment from irresponsible oil and gas development in the Delta County region."

Paonia musician Mike Gwinn summed up the protesters' viewpoint in a song he wrote and performed. The refrain, "Leave our valley alone," was echoed throughout the song by those attending the rally.

Several individuals also spoke, including Daniel Feldman, vice president of the CHC board.

"Some BLM personnel have been quoted in the last two issues of the Delta County Independent as saying that the people of the North Fork Valley are misinformed around this issue," he said. "We're here to say that we are very informed about the realities of oil and gas development and the impact of leasing, and drilling, and fracking and longterm oil and gas production."

He cited several "very real concerns," from water contamination and air pollution, to declining property values and the impact on wildlife. He detailed specific cases across the country where damage to the environment and the health of individuals has been linked to oil and gas exploration.

"For these many informed reasons, we are asking that the BLM deny these 22 parcels for leasing.

"Over 200,000 acres are already leased for oil and gas development in Delta County, so why do we need to lease these parcels that encompass the most vulnerable parts of our valley?" Feldman concluded.

Paonia Town Councilman Lucien Pevec said there is no benefit to the town or its people that would outweigh the potential risks of oil and gas drilling.

The third speaker was Jack D'Orio, who has grown organic produce on Lamborn Mesa for 25 years. "People buy fruit from us because it is the epitome of health and well-being," he said. He is worried that oil and gas drilling will create uncertainty in the minds of an "informed clientele" that believes food should come from an area with clean air, pristine water and nutrient-rich soil.

"If somebody puts together a drill rig and sticks it out on one of the three sides of our farm that is BLM land, we think that will affect us," he said.

At the end of the rally CHC delivered a petition containing 3,400 signatures calling for a moratorium on further leasing. A 50-page comment letter with "thousands and thousands" of pages of exhibits, and all the testimony from the public hearings conducted in the North Fork Valley, were also turned over to the BLM.