Oil And Gas Development On The Southern Ute Indian Reservation PDF Download

This programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzes the potential impacts of future oil and gas development on approximately 200,000 acres of Tribal land within a 421,000-acre Study Area. Most of the Study Area is already substantially developed for both conventional gas production and coalbed methane (CBM) production. The Study Area also supports substantial agricultural and residential surface use, with lesser amounts of commercial and recreational land use. The Study Area lies entirely within the exterior boundaries of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation (Reservation) and includes Indian mineral estate, a patchwork of Tribal and fee lands, and a small amount of State of Colorado park land. The Reservation is located in the San Juan Basin, a major oil-and-gas-producing area in northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado. Historically, development of the oil and gas resource on the Reservation has been the major source of income to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe (SUIT) and is an integral part of the local economies. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as agents of the Secretary of the Interior, have the responsibility for administering the development of oil and gas resources where the mineral estate is Federally owned and held in trust for the benefit of the Indian people.