Elk herd [12-14-07] Sorry for the fuzzy pic. I don't have a real hot telephoto and this dratted card reader/printer seems to auto-reduce my resolution.

Elk have moved down from the high country.

This herd of mostly cows numbers around 250. I saw four or five bulls with this herd - none of which had much of a rack. The elk lying down on the far right of the picture immediately above is a young bull - you can barely see his antlers sticking up.  The elk moving to the left in the center of the photo is a bull, also.

So, far, this herd is wintering in a neighbor's hay field and grazing on stubble. In the coldest of winter, and as snows pile up in the mountains above 7000 feet, elk often move into the lower elevations and feed on such fields, occasionally breaking into hay stacks which is considered a plague to many ranchers.

The area near the Schwartz site is about a mile and a half away as the crow files - and elk migrate. The Schwartz meadow has lay fallow for years while part of the property to the east (site of the proposed M1E Juniper pad  is planted in dry land wheat and is in a conservation easement).  The herd utilizes this entire area off of the county road as winter range. The area around the Schwartz, the Juniper and our property offer a coveted and unique combination of secluded cover, water and forage - which is why it is favored as a calving ground.

With good grazing in the high country from plentiful seasonal rains, many of these cows can be expected to calve in February and March... right in the midst of EnCana's proposed drilling operations on the Schwartz site. I've sent a letter to EnCana, the COGCC, DOW and the BLM asking for a plan to reduce impacts to this herd as it prepares to calve later this winter and into early spring - even suggesting that EnCana reallocate its drilling resources to other of its vast holdings; or, possibly feeding the elk to attempt to contain them to an area away from the chaos of drilling and fracing operations.

No dice.

In fact, the DOW is the only agency who even responded to my letter, agreeing that EnCana should work with their agency in an attempt to lessen impacts. In years past, I've seen the elk smash into one another and tear down barbed wire fencing in a panic over the digging of a pipeline through this area at the same time of year. Then, as now, I asked authorities to please intervene and halt drilling until the elk travel back into the high country.

No dice.

Several years ago in Grass Mesa (above Rifle) the BLM imposed rules on winter drilling to protect wintering/calving elk herds. This year, EnCana tossed a million bucks on the table and managed to sway a thin majority of the residents in that area to agree to allow winter drilling - which the BLM agreed to with the support of the residents. The results of that clever move = Industry 1, elk 0.

Meanwhile, back at our end of the valley, I've been told that one of the landowners of the proposed drilling sites is anxious to get the drilling underway. No surprise there... with royalties from mineral rights glimmering on the horizon.

Unfortunately, such noisy and physical disruptions to intensely habitual herd animals like elk can lead cows to easily overstress and abort calves. Even when calves make it to birth under such conditions, poor quality milk, reduced milk production and emotional trauma of mother elk who neglect or abandon their calves can lead to high calf mortality. Already, under the best circumstances, up to 50% of elk calves succumb to predators like eagles, coyotes and mountain lion - all of which live here - though the eagles are only just beginning to make a comeback.

What's worse, is that few in a position to do something about it seem to care. I really don't know how some of those greedy misers and no-account lackeys live with themselves.

For now, I'm just hoping the elk confine themselves to areas where there is no activity, and that those areas possess enough forage to contain them. To my knowledge, there is no study of this particular herd and their mortality rates are not tracked.

With impacts from industry operations literally blanketing this entire region, the elk aren't left with a lot of choices nor can they, as mere animals, comprehend the purported importance of recovering these small, difficult-to-extract domestic reserves at their expense. Under imminent circumstances, wild animals don't question, nor analyze, nor plan. They simply react - much the way people do in emergency situations. People on the other hand  - that is, industry executives and agency personnel can plan, but clearly do not value the lives of these animals sufficiently to account for their welfare. Lackeys.

We are not against the pursuit of natural gas resources. In fact, we strongly support the development of multiple forms of safe and environmentally friendly energy. Natural gas can have a prominent place in that mix. But there is a right and a wrong way to go about its development.

Genuine resource development requires long-term planning, options, alternatives and safeguards. What is going on around here is not only the pursuit of resources, it the pursuit of profit and this herd is just one more casualty of greed and failed policy.

The saddest thing is, I look at their placid grazing and see what's coming. They, on the other hand, haven't got a clue. There is something almost criminal about that, and, on a very personal level, I share responsibility for it... because I know it but could not do enough to change it.
 

COGCC Pond Sampling Results

COGCC has returned results of their sampling effort at the old and newly enlarged beaver pond and the results are reported as follows: "Overall, the results are very similar to the sample results for pond samples that were collected in November." Presumably, this refers to those collected by EnCana. A more detailed report is to follow which will discuss all of the sample results and summarize all recent drilling observations reported to COGCC engineers as required under Notice to Operators (Feb, 09, 2007).

Well Progress Update

No calls from stakeholder relations. Maybe the honeymoon is over.

I hope the folks in the stakeholder relations division don't misinterpret my frustration at others in their industry as a disgruntled verbal offensive leveled at them. This department in particular works pretty hard to mitigate conflicts between their sometimes heathen overlords and occasionally inflammatory and demanding landowners. But, no... not everyone in this industry is a crud. There truly are some very good people operating at all levels. 

From what I can ascertain, there is no advance on the Schwartz pad. Old rig is still down and the new one isn't up yet.
 

In compliance with 2007 legislation, specifically House Bills 1298 and 1341, the  COGCC is working to redefine it's protocol, which will hopefully, finally bring a little bit of balance to an agency which has, in the past, focused nearly exclusively on the "conservation" (that is development and non-waste - which translates into haul-ass development) of oil and gas resources. This is an extremely important and long overdue overhaul given how much authority this agency has any time oil and gas and all their exemptions come to play in the neighborhood.

FINALLY people - finally!!

From the COGCC website: "The COGCC will hold public meetings and facilitated stakeholder work groups to gather comments and information prior to the development of draft rules.  The draft rules then will be subject to public notice, comment and a hearing pursuant to the Colorado Administrative Procedure Act, with adoption of the final rules expected by July 1, 2008.  This website will be maintained so that all parties can stay informed of the rulemaking process, including access to all documents, comments from the stakeholders and a schedule of meetings/events."

This is, quite frankly, a hammer-down initiative involving the immediate participation of multiple departments such as the Division of Wildlife, together with other stakeholders - like industry, non-profit groups and YOU! Yes, individuals can have a say in how these things play out.

I herald this complex undertaking and am grateful for the way in which the COGCC has structured its development, involving multiple view points.

The initial pre-draft rulemaking proposal to implement HB 1298 and HB 1341 has been trotted out and is ready to view. Check out some of the changes that have been sought and proposed by citizens and environmental advocacy groups for years.

http://www.oil-gas.state.co.us/rulemaking/

Release? Spill? Contaminant? A loss of potentially hazardous - but not yet confirmed fluid - that cannot technically be defined as a "spill" in accordance with COGCC rules on such matters.

A neighbor called to share news with me of a fluid 'spill' he suspected was condensate and which he had initially discovered on 12-06-07 near county road 331, and which had run down a hill and into Dry Hollow Creek.

There is some investigation into whether the fluid was actually condensate... let alone what might be considered "waste".  And the amount is still unclear, as the neighbor noted that the 'spill' had occurred during an overnight rain event, so who knows how much of it actually went into the watershed. Condensate contains many substances - both known and unknown, and at least some of which are recognized as carcinogenic and otherwise hazardous to human health. According to preliminary reports, the County Health Dpt. was notified of the event and noted to COGCC that the estimated quantity of lost fluid was "'10-30 gallons' and therefore NOT a spill per se by COGCC standards."

According to the report, EnCana had been notified by the neighbor and they had sent personnel out to clean up the area. It is still not clear whether EnCana was responsible for the 'spill'; however, it is not uncommon for a company with EnCana's resources to react pro-actively (at least these days) to a potentially hazardous situation and attempt containment - regardless of the offending party. This is a good advancement in corporate policy, and I appreciate that level of responsiveness. It's like a neighbor helping a neighbor regardless of who did what. It's also in their best corporate interest to do so, since the quicker a mess is cleaned up, the less of a black eye there is for industry to deal with and the less time, anyone - like media - have to get involved in witnessing and/or reporting it.

The neighbor noted to me that that the substance appeared to have spilled from a truck hauling fluids. When the neighbor asked to see the driving log so as to better identify the driver involved in this incident, he was apparently told there was no record for that particular day - though there were records for other days. 

At any rate, it appears that whoever spelled the fluids should have notified the COGCC director of the event since it seemed to have impacted a waterway. Re: COGCC Rule 906 "Spills and Releases" Subparagraph (3) "In addition, spill/releases of any size which impact or threaten to impact any waters of the state, residence or occupied structure, livestock or public byway, shall be verbally reported to the Director as soon as practicable after discovery."

This issue still pends...
 

Canary Watch Update on Flare

This event was reported on this site under Canary Watch "Gunky Eye"
12-12-07

According to a report by the COGCC, Bill Barrett Corporation noted that a compressor/gathering station and wells (some of which were purportedly EnCana's) experienced mechanical problems and were being "flowed back". While the report stated that the flares were neither scheduled nor planned, they occurred none the less on 12-12-07.

Finally, I abandoned the idea of trying to connect while in my normal state, while in earshot of the happenings up on Schwartz. Instead, I grabbed my jacket and headed for the cliff where I sat on the stone in a snowstorm and with my hands on the gritty surface of our Earth, I cleared my head, closed my eyes and opened - really opened my heart. In that way, I simply prepared to receive whatever may come my way.

I listened.

Of course he was present. He always is. And he reminded me that my perceptions are confined by my physical senses - my physical confinement - which is limited, very limited, in its scope of understanding. Though my interpretations may alight on the plane of truth, the shape of that truth - the continuity and scope is far beyond what I may be able to discern or clearly conceive. We have to try to attune ourselves to the broadness of our being and our relationship to our physical world, while realizing that all that we see, believe, and embrace may be only a tiny aspect of the continuum. And without a larger context through which we can recognize our belonging, we are at a disadvantage perceptually to really know the value of what we hold close to our hearts.  It is easy to loose site of the value of our efforts against the nebulous scape of time. But, are efforts and the consequences of them are real and contribute to the density of our existence and that of others together with us. I believe this. I feel this in my heart. It is a truth I hold, though I cannot see its full silhouette. And this is what faith is. It is something beyond your definition, but it is something you hold on to. Something that guides your actions your effort. And, if you are like me, sustains your efforts against the elusive and ethereal enemies of ignorance and greed.

Steady on.... message to myself.... steady on.

We celebrate not only the journey and gifts of his life, and the integration of his spirit within ourselves, but also his unique physical and ethereal presence among us. We celebrate the blessings we were given by the spirit world in his extraordinary transition, and we celebrate his mission which we believe he has embarked upon.

Ever present in a way which we can only hope to come to understand, he lives within us and lifts us when we falter, he encourages and fills our hearts with love - not only his own, but a larger embrace of a much fuller peace and knowing.

For our beloved earth home and all those you are bound to care for and carry in the way of peace and love, we send you, now and everyday, all our love forever and always....

Blackcloud's flight...

in courage, strength and resolve
we pray for
fulfillment of your purpose

December 15, 1942 ~ and evermore....

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear"

-- Mark Twain

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