SANTA FE, N.M. – En los estados del oeste, incluso en Nuevo México, hay enormes extensiones de tierras públicas que pudieran estar generando dinero para el gobierno del país, pero permanecen inactivas debido a un tecnicismo legal.

Así lo revela el reporte reciente de la Sociedad de lo Silvestre (“The Wilderness Society”). El documento dice que los permisos otorgados para la explotación de gas y petróleo, que no se trabajan, son frecuentemente “suspendidos”. Este proceso permite a los desarrolladores retener la tierra –a veces durante décadas– sin pagar ni un dólar por esa ocupación.

Lo anterior es posible debido a que la Oficina de Administración de Tierras (“Bureau of Land Management” – BLM) está permitiendo que miles de acres de tierras públicas de los estados del oeste, incluyendo Nuevo México, permanezcan ociosas, en vez de trabajarse como concesiones de petróleo y gas –que es para lo que se les permite ocupar el terreno.

La investigación detectó permisos para más de tres millones de acres de tierras públicas a lo largo del oeste ¬–casi 80 mil en Nuevo México– que están suspendidos y sin beneficiar al público.

Nada Culver, co-autora del reporte y directora “senior” de políticas de agencia en The Wilderness Society, dice que las lagunas que tiene el programa de suspensión de permisos han costado unos 80 millones de dólares tan solo por concepto de rentas no devengadas.

“Y mientras esos permisos estén suspendidos, a los operadores no se les exige pagar una renta; ni pagan regalías, porque no están produciendo petróleo y gas. Y ¬–una gran preocupación de The Wilderness Society– el BLM no da ningún otro uso a esa tierra.”

De acuerdo al reporte, las empresas consiguen concesiones pero no las desarrollan, y luego piden suspensiones del BML que pueden durar décadas. Culver agrega que si se permitiera que las concesiones vencieran, la tierra podría ser recuperada para desarrollos de energía de sol o de viento, dedicada a la conservación o aprovechada para diversión.

Culver añade que los pagadores de impuestos ya han perdido en Nuevo México más de 3.3 millones de dólares en concesiones que fueron suspendidas antes de 1980.

“Lo que realmente vimos en Nuevo México es que las suspensiones del estado son de las más antiguas, docenas y docenas de permisos que datan de los 60s y 70s. Y aún así, se han solicitado y concedido una gran cantidad de suspensiones en los cinco últimos años.”

El reporte concluye que la Oficina de Administración de Tierras (BLM) debe realizar una revisión a fondo de las concesiones de largo plazo que estén suspendidas.

The Wilderness Society también hace un llamado a la Oficina de Auditoría del Gobierno (“Government Accountability Office”) que inicie su propia investigación y recomiende mejoras para el sistema de suspensión de concesiones.

Vea el reporte (en inglés) en: wilderness.org.


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Conservation groups are rejoicing over the decision Friday by the Biden administration to reject a proposed mining road in Alaska.

The 211-mile Ambler Road would have sliced through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, severing the migration route for a Western Arctic Caribou herd.

Alex Johnson, interior Alaska director for the National Parks Conservation Association, said it was important for the feds to take a stand in Alaska so mining interests do not start eyeing other national parks.

"This is a very expensive, destructive and just highly speculative project that does not in any way support our clean energy goals as a country," Johnson contended. "And ultimately would permanently threaten the health and well-being of local communities and the tribes."

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski slammed the decision, warning it could limit jobs and tax revenues for Alaska by preventing exploration for minerals she said are important to national security, like copper, cobalt, gallium and germanium.

Jayme Dittmar, a photographer and filmmaker from Fairbanks, said the road would have been very disruptive to the 66 Native American villages along the proposed route.

"That'd be 168 trucks passing through close vicinity to the villages," Dittmar pointed out. "There would be hundreds of bridges built. It would dismantle a subsistence livelihood that's been in place for thousands and thousands of years."

The road was seen as a negative for tourism to the Brooks Range area. According to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, Californians make up 9% of visitors to Alaska.

Arizona conservation groups and sportsmen alike say they're pleased the Bureau of Land Management will now recognize conservation as an integral part of public lands management.

The agency's new rule puts protecting the environment on par with other land-use priorities.

Scott Garlid, executive director of the Arizona Wildlife Federation, said historically the BLM has done what he termed a "pretty good job," not only managing about 12 million acres of public lands in Arizona, but also protecting natural resources.

"They've got a tough job," Garlid acknowledged. "I think this rule helps make their job a little bit easier because it gives them some tools to balance those different demands on the 12 million acres that they manage."

Garlid predicted the rule will raise what he terms "harder-to-quantify conservation values" to the same level of importance as more extractive land uses like oil and gas exploration and mining. He thinks most Arizonans will recognize the new rule as a positive. A solid majority of Arizona voters across party lines say they are conservationists and use public lands for recreation.

To Garlid, the rule makes it clear the BLM is recognizing certain parts of federal lands, in Arizona and around the West, have been degraded. He contended restoration leases will be a good tool, allowing the BLM to lease acres to groups specifically to improve the conditions on a given landscape. He noted opponents of the new rule might see the leases as a way to "lock up" land but he argued it is not true.

"One example could be a nonprofit, like the Arizona Wildlife Federation," Garlid pointed out. "We could get a conservation lease from the Bureau of Land Management to do riparian restoration work, or work to remove invasive species along a creek bank."

According to the BLM, while a restoration or mitigation lease is in place, casual uses of the leased lands like recreation, hunting, fishing and research activities would generally continue.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

State and federal agencies are collaborating to increase the use of prescribed fires in the Northwest.

Prescribed fire is the controlled use of burns to minimize the larger risks of wildfires and smoke. It is seen as an increasingly important strategy as wildfire seasons pose greater threats to the Northwest.

Casey Sixkiller, Northwest regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said authorities want to work together to maintain forest habitats.

"Prescribed burn is one of the best tools we have for making our forests more resilient against catastrophic wildfires and they help to manage and target hazardous fuels and make for healthier forests," Sixkiller explained.

Sixkiller pointed out the EPA is involved because wildfire smoke poses risks to people's health. The collaboration is between federal agencies, departments in Oregon and Washington, and tribal governments.

Sixkiller noted the collaboration needed a formal agreement to move forward.

"That is what we've been able to do here with this agreement," Sixkiller emphasized. "To get federal land managers and states and us all in the same room, making sure that we're all on the same page about what success looks like."

Sixkiller added the collaboration has another advantage: It helps drive engagement with communities potentially in the path of prescribed burns.

"They have the confidence that the effort that's gone into planning that activity has been thought out from soup to nuts," Sixkiller acknowledged. "And that they have a seat at the table and are being engaged and their concerns are being addressed as we go forward with that activity."


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