The Roan Plateau

The Bureau of Land Management has decided to conserve the Roan Plateau and prevent almost all of the plateau top from being sacrificed for oil and gas development.

The Roan Plateau announcement is the decade-long culmination of a decision by a previous administration to allow for thousands of wells on top of the extraordinary plateau. A settlement between industry, conservation groups, and the government was reached only after years of litigation and controversy.

Under terms of the settlement, BLM would cancel the majority of oil and gas leases on ecologically sensitive top of the Roan Plateau. In addition, the BLM will consider a management plan alternative that would allow for some limited development on remaining leases, precludes new leasing on top of plateau for the life of the plan, and conserves important big game habitat at the base of the Roan.

“We have long said that some areas in Colorado are too wild to drill, the Roan Plateau is certainly one of those places. Thanks to leaders like Governor Hickenlooper and U.S. Senators Udall and Bennet, and Representative Tipton, Coloradans will have a greater opportunity to experience and enjoy the Roan Plateau’s trout filled streams, elk and mule deer herds and dramatic waterfalls and soaring scenic vista’s.”

— Pete Maysmith, Executive Director, Conservation Colorado