San Juan Citizens Alliance



	April 17, 2012 Entries now being accepted until June 1st for the Photo & Video contest! Entry forms are due June 1st. Contest Categories Photo / Film / Poster Best Family Boating Image Best River Image from Southwest Colorado Best Short Film Buy your Animas River Days Reelfest Tickets online here, or at Maria's Bookshop, and 4 Corners Riversports. More about the contest and Reel Fest. For information about Animas River Days go to www.animasriverdays.org

	LPEA, La Plata Electric Association, Board Elections: The Status Quo Has Got To Go! This spring's LPEA elections offer the electric co-op's members an unprecedented opportunity for REAL CHANGE on the LPEA board. Be sure to vote. This will be a VERY close election and they need your vote. Make sure friends vote too. Just mail the ballot back in. For further reading, see Durango Herald article or go to LPEA director Jeffrey Berman's new blogspot. Also, see CLEAN La Plata on Facebook or e-mail cleanlaplata@gmail.com. This election can make a difference for our future as LPEA customers. There are four seats up this year, one from each Board district. Candidates are elected from the district they represent, not at large. The ballots will be mailed out Friday, April 20 and are due on May 11, 2012. Results will be announced at the LPEA Annual Meeting May 12 at the Sky Ute casino. Candidates who support SJCA goals: District 1 (Archuleta County):Kirsten Skeehan District 2 (South and West La Plata County):Bruce Baizel District 3 (Durango):Britt Bassett District 4 (North La Plata County):Heather Erb These four candidates will take LPEA toward a progressive, renewable, conservation and efficiency future. This means: Encouraging local energy development/our investment in our future Keeping our energy dollars local Stabilizing long term electric rates Improving air and water quality through reduction of coal emissions For more information about the candidates and the issues go to www.nswee.org

	March 2012 The Oil and Gas Accountability Project released a new report. Some key findings include: As the number of wells drilled increases in Colorado, the number of inspections is decreasing. It is physically impossible for existing COGCC inspection staff to inspect every well once per year. Many rule violations are not recorded, and very few violators are penalized. For those who are penalized, $1000/day maximum fines are inadequate to deter irresponsible operations. Oversight failure demonstrates local jurisdictions shouldn't be stripped of oil and gas regulatory authority. The complete report can be found at: COGCC: Inadequate enforcement means current Colorado oil and gas development is irresponsible.

	SB-088 killed in Committee SB-088, the Senate bill that would have barred local governments from regulating oil and gas development within their jurisdictions went down in flames with bipartisan opposition this Thursday February 16. This latest attempt by the industry to cut oversight of its operations rallied people from around the state to jam the Senate hearing room, all with the same message: Kill the bill! As part of this effort, the Alliance sent out an Action Alert on Monday February 13, asking people contact State Senator Ellen Roberts and ask her to please vote against the bill. She and a majority of the Local Government Committee did just that. So this is to tell everyone: We won another one! And Thank you to all who took the time to contact Senator Roberts. If you feel like sending her another e-mail, this time thank her for her opposition to SB-088 and for voting against her caucus. It mattered. If you want more information on this , please e-mail Josh Joswick or call at 259-3583

	Shale gas development in the Four Corners Long the epicenter for resource development in our country (coal, oil, natural gas, uranium) the people, land, air and water in the Four Corners have endured more than their share of degradation because of "green light" extraction. The nation’s premier “sacrifice zone” sits on the verge of another wave of drilling. What can we expect and what can we do about it? Across the United States, areas previously untouched by extractive industries are now living with what often times becomes a nightmare for local residents. That is because advances in technologies such as horizontal hydrofracturing (fracking) and microseismic imaging now make it possible for natural gas to be extracted from shale formations; and shale is almost everywhere. Not surprisingly, shale underlays our Four Corners region. In San Juan County, New Mexico and La Plata County, Colorado, there is the Mancos Shale. In Montezuma and Dolores Counties, Colorado, there is the Gothic Shale. The potential for these formations to become the next big resource “play” (development area) is looming larger and larger. Naturally the industry portrays this as the no-impact/low impact development of the future. However, in looking at how other shale play areas have fared: dramatically reduced air quality; ground water contamination; surface water contamination; disposal of untreatable toxic and radioactive waste, there is little reason to think that those same impacts would not happen in our communities. We do have several things in our favor. The main advantage we have is that other places have felt these impacts first, and we can learn from them before development here takes off in earnest, and insist that regulators address these issues prior to development. Of primary importance is how fracking will be addressed. Requiring huge amounts of water and generating huge amounts of contaminated flowback fluids, fracking is one of the things federal and state agencies can and must do something about before shale development begins in earnest. Time is also on our side. This newfound mother lode of natural gas in shales, and the race to develop this gas, has produced a market that is glutted; subsequently, for now, the price of gas is very low. That will change, as the history of natural gas development is a history of boom and bust. Producers are saying that it is not worth their while to drill here until that price rises, and until the shale reserves here prove to be economically developable. So the sacrifice zone waits to see if it will be hit again, and the Alliance is gearing up for that eventuality.

	The GBR, Green Business Roundtable The Green Business Roundtable helps INSPIRE, EDUCATE, and IMPROVE the business community on environmental issues through a monthly lunch networking event. More>

	Oil and Gas Surface Use Agreement to Help Landowners — If you are a landowner impacted by drilling, we have provided a copy of a Surface Use Agreement currently being given to land owners in La Plata County, Colorado, for your review. An annotated version is also available containing commentary and perspectives offered by landowners with experience dealing with oil and gas companies coming onto their property.

	Join, Renew, or Contribute! Our fundraising program is supported in part by a challenge grant from Earth Friends Wildlife Foundation!


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	April 6, 2012 Compañeros is in the NY Times Read the article, or pdf. The group's financing from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is in danger. Donate and learn more about Compañeros.

	The Spring 2012 SJCA newsletter is here.

	March 26, 2012: Send comments to Sen. Udall to support Wilderness Senator Mark Udall has initiated a community-listening process as he develops a proposal for new wilderness in the Central Mountains (Hidden Gems) and Browns Canyon. Just as we work locally to support the San Juan Wilderness Act, we are asking you to express your support for wilderness protections across Colorado. Wilderness opponents have been quite vocal - let's make sure the many voices of supporters come across clearly to Senator Udall to support his introduction of strong wilderness legislation. Please help by: a) Visiting Udall's website and providing comments on Browns and Central Mountains. (You should complete both web forms): Maps are available on Udall's website. Thank Senator Udall for his leadership and tell him why wilderness is important to you and your family. Specific stories about your experiences in these areas make your comments more personal and significant. Key points in the Central Mountain section: Express your support for all the lands in his proposal, as these lands have already been thoroughly vetted by the conservation community. Urge Senator Udall to add the crucial low elevation lands of: Lower Piney, Elliot Ridge, Crazy Horse, Basalt Mountain and Homestake. Key points in the Browns Canyon section: A National Monument including designated Wilderness at Browns Canyon would help sustain the local economy and keep wildlife habitat and big game winter range in a functioning ecological unit. The first three miles of the Turret Trail (FR 184), should remain open to provide access to the area. The remainder of the trail should be open to foot and horse travel only (no cherry stem). The Fourmile Area to the north provides motorized recreation opportunities on over 160 miles of trails and roads. b) If you are short on time, you can click here to send a quick note. Senator Udall's staff will also hold open office hours on Wednesday, March 28 from 3-5 pm at Colorado Mountain College in Breckenridge. For more information, please contact Jimbo Buickerood, jimbo@sanjuancitizens.org or at 970-259-3583.

	It takes incredible support to advocate for the people and land of the San Juan Basin - Thank YOU! Over 100 people attended the San Juan Citizens Alliance 25th Anniversary Celebration on October 16th, 2011. Food, fun and reminiscing was had by all.

	April River Protection Workgroup Meetings Tuesday, April 17th is the next meeting for the Piedra River Workgroup. The meeting will be held in Pagosa Springs from 5:30-8:30 pm at the Ross Aragon Community Center. The next meeting of the Animas River Workgroup is on Monday, April 30th at the Silverton Town Hall from 5:30-8:30pm. It is not too late to get involved with either of these Workgroups. All meeting agendas and summaries are housed on the River Protection Workgroup website. If you are new to the Workgroups, please read through the meeting summaries in advance of the upcoming meetings. Please join in the River Protection Workgroup process to show your love of the Animas and Piedra Rivers and to support permanent protections for these two iconic rivers of the San Juan Basin.

	Gassed! Air samples exposed alarming levels of toxins in the air from natural gas emissions. Read the full report, Citizen Investigation of Toxic Air Pollution from Natural Gas Development. July 12, 2011.

	Act Locally: Support the Hermosa Creek Watershed San Juan Citizens staff and members have worked tirelessly to protect the Hermosa Creek watershed and all of its resource values over the past few years. Hermosa's natural abundance and "wild backyard" nature feature. NOW we are poised to move the effort forward one HUGE step by supporting the Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act that Senator Bennet is poised to introduce to Congress later this year. Senator Bennet needs to know that we are STRONGLY SUPPORTIVE of the legislation that was crafted by the collaborative Hermosa Creek Workgroup. Read our overview. Write Sen Bennet a letter today. Let's join together to provide permanent protection for the Hermosa! For further information phone Wendy McDermott at 970-259-3583, or Jimbo Buickerood at 970-565-7191.

San Juan Citizens Alliance is a grass roots organization dedicated to social, economic and environmental justice in the San Juan Basin. We organize San Juan Basin residents to protect our water and air, our public lands, our rural character, and our unique quality of life while embracing the diversity of our region’s people, economy and ecology.


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SAN JUAN CITIZENS ALLIANCE - DEDICATED TO SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN THE SAN JUAN BASIN
Durango PO Box 2461, 1022 ½ Main Ave, Durango, CO 81302 • Ph: 970-259-3583 • Fax: 970-259-8303
Cortez P.O. Box 1513, 10 West Main Street, Cortez, CO 81321 • Ph: (970) 565-7191
Farmington 108 North Behrend, Suite I, Farmington, NM 87401 • Ph: (505) 325-6724