Summary
Minutes
Artesia
RAC Members Present:
Crestina
Max
Cordova
James
Bailey
John
Hand
Robert
Moquino
Anthony
Popp
Joe
Stell
Don
Tripp
RAC Members Absent:
Mickey
Chirigos
Michael
Eisenfeld
Gretchen
Sammis
Designated Federal Official:
Linda
Rundell
Chairperson:
Wayne
Price
BLM Staff:
Bill
Condit, NMSO
Greg
Costinas,
Ron
Dunton, NMSO
Stephen Fosberg, NMSO
Steve Henke,
Theresa Herrera, NMSO
Pat Hester, Albuquerque FO
Ron
Huntsinger,
Jan
Hurley, Las Cruces FO
Joe Lara,
Jim McCormick, Las Cruces FO
Kate Padilla, Socorro FO
Tom Phillips, Las Cruces FO
Ed Roberson,
Ed Singleton, Albuquerque FO
Hans Stuart, NMSO
Leslie Theiss,
Scribe:
Karen Meadows
FEBRUARY 25 FIELD TRIP (Attachment
1)
Due to a serious winter storm throughout
much of the state, the field trip was canceled.
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
Tony
opened the Public Comment Period at
Mike Casabonne, NM Public Lands Council, Hope
Mr.
Casabonne said he appreciated the RAC’s presence in Artesia. He had not prepared to speak, but said he is
interested in proposed grazing regulations and that his organization, along
with livestock organizations, would have a substantive recommendation. Some of the proposed regulations will be
beneficial to the livestock industry, but there are enemies of the proposals. He hopes the livestock industry will be
better able to work with BLM in the future.
He thinks things can still be done better than what has been proposed,
because these regulations don’t allow total ownership by permittees. Although they propose cooperative agreement
ownership, when government still owns a share, it is hard for ranchers to use
improvements as collateral.
Linda
asked whether the Section 4 Permit took a change in regulations or had been
decided in policy during the previous administration. He said it was changed by regulation as part
of Rangeland ...94¾that
BLM wouldn’t recognize further ownership on improvements. The proposed regulations do provide
further ownership of improvements.
Theoretically, if a permittee invested 100% he would own 100%, but that
is still considered a cooperative agreement, and makes a difference to
financial institutions. When permits
are transferred, the value of the improvement is transferred. On most water-based public lands, ranches are
intermingled public/private and are considered one unit. Therefore they can’t be separated when bought
or sold. All is done as a unit and
improvements are an important part of the ranch’s value. Ownership can affect ranchers’ ability to
finance, and their economic liability.
Judge Zimmer said it was up to the Secretary of the Interior’s
discretion, and Mike thinks it is still possible for the Interior Department to
change regulations.
Drought
has impacted everything about public lands, especially livestock. Most ranchers have reduced the number of cattle
they’re running. They are affected by
Endangered Species Act conflicts and would like BLM help with that.
Jim
Bailey asked him to describe endangered species conflicts. He said the primary conflict is over lesser
prairie chicken habitat on the east side of the state. That issue will be trouble if it continues as
it’s going. Aplomado falcon is
potentially problematic, as well as anything where habitat would be set aside.
Lewis Derrick, NM Cattlegrowers
Association Federal Lands Committee & Conflict Resolution Committee,
Mr.
Derrick met with Jim and others to work out resolutions for stakeholders. He is looking for incentives to address loss
of livestock, and has met with O&G representatives. Nothing has surfaced at this point. Any conservation plan needs incentives or we
might as well forget it.
The
way it’s going, 98% of the ranchers in the area think the drought will break
them. He looked at Farm Service Agency
drought assistance, but said ranchers get punished by reduced use of their
ranches. Cattlegrowers are working on
language that is more helpful to livestock operators for the millions of
dollars that have been set aside for livestock drought assistance. Those funds might be more possible than a special
appropriation. He thinks we’re missing
some things, maybe an offshore drilling arrangement. But there’s not a whole lot of push to get
something done. Drought funds are being
used to buy up property but not for incentives.
NM
Cattlegrowers committees have made progress in some areas and meetings
continue. We ought to work on the Otero
Mesa deal to resolve conflicts. Maybe we
could get ranking representatives down in this part of the state and have some
resolution. Conflicts include not keeping
up roads, and moving caliche off one location to another—then they’re in
conflict with counties. There are a lot
of cattlegrowers scattered through the area, and in some places 15-20 operators
go through an area but nobody claims a cattleguard so it isn’t maintained. He would like to get those O&G operators
to sign agreements, and maybe form a pool of all in that area—with a special
contact for ranchers. Shortcuts to locations
make more roads. OCD and the state are
included in discussions of these conflicting issues.
Don
asked how many operators cause problems.
Depends on the problem.
Cattleguards seem to affect most.
Some O&G operators are working on stopping shortcuts. He sees improvements. The state said operators have to contact
ranchers, and BLM met with them to see if there was any conflict before putting
blades on the ground, to resolve problems before they start. He and others have been contacted several
times and that has solved some conflicts.
Leslie
said CFO is looking at getting industry and rancher representatives involved at
the beginning of the process to problem-solve and work together. She would welcome RAC help with that.
Linda
said the northwest NM model is working and is helping others set up such a
thing.
Lewis said while we’re looking at how individual operations
and ranchers are affected by the Endangered Species Act, if the county loses
tax base over this, it will get involved.
There has to be some way that county and state are not losing that tax
base.
Jim
said some counties tax livestock as property.
How do counties benefit from O&G development? The revenue goes to
Debora
said NM counties have a direct county tax based on the value of the product so
it’s a big boost. Crestina said all
counties in NM tax livestock.
Tony
closed the Public Comment Period at
Tony called the meeting to order at
He
said NM is a poor state and often government jobs provide the best pay, as well
as health insurance. He was meeting that
morning with CFO to go over a new line for a fire tower¾400-500 feet higher
to enhance communication capabilities.
Concerning ranching in a drought, BLM needs to look at what they allow a
rancher to do. His ranch is 2/3 deeded
and 1/3 federal and yet BLM controls how many animals he has there. He pays for the grass but is totally
controlled as to what he can do with it.
Because of the drought, mountain lions and coyotes have put him out of
the sheep business. The only thing left
is to put cows out there, even though they aren’t good for his ranch or the
watershed. He could put in a game ranch
or run half the cattle, but he needs BLM cooperation.
Ranchers,
not BLM, water, feed and provide minerals for deer. The ratio of bucks to does makes them welfare
animals. He’s looking at survival. Wells are 750 feet deep and drilling, pipe
and rods are expensive. His ranch
doesn’t generate enough money to support operating costs and three
employees. If BLM forces him to run cows
there it isn’t to anyone’s good. He
can’t afford to keep feeding the coyotes and mountain lions. We need to look at demonstration plots where
access is controlled, to figure out how people can make a living on the
land. It now costs about $30,000 a mile
plus materials to build a 7.5-foot game fence.
So regulations deny the opportunity to have a game ranch. Damaged areas along the river get worse with
cows than with sheep, but that’s the only choice he has. He would talk with the RAC or any BLM people
about other means of income.
Linda acknowledged Raye,
who had offered to host the RAC meeting in the MarBob offices. But it came to her attention that some people
were critical that RAC would meet in an O&G facility. She said the RAC talked at its last meeting
about unitization on Otero Mesa, and formed a working group under the Energy
Subcommittee. They received notice of
intent to sue from Earth Justice, which would have postponed the working
group’s first three meetings, so they decided it was in the best interest of
taxpayers to wait. Ed Roberson will be
the new Las Cruces FO Director, and will continue with the plan. She asked those who planned the field trip to
describe what would have been visited
Joe Lara of CFO said he and Raye looked at Bear Grass Draw,
sand dune lizard and lesser prairie chicken habitat, and well sites¾including a drilling
rig site¾to
show what BLM considers in an inspection.
Raye added that the oil locations near Bear Grass Draw had a disposal
well where water is being disposed at 9,000 feet. He planned a short course on how to assure
that there’s integrity in that process.
Next they planned to visit a central tank location to let O&G folks
speak about how facilities are set up and maintained. He wanted to address concerns about BLM's
inspection process. Jim Amos directs the
inspection program and would have been available to answer questions. Raye said it is a challenge to help the
public understand what is being planned for drilling on Otero Mesa. He distributed an article from the Albuquerque Journal about NM receiving
the 2nd largest return of federal O&G royalties¾$319 million.
(Attachment 2)
Linda mentioned that BLM and IRS are
the only two federal agencies that actually make money. Jim said he’d like to see an area that’s
recently been restored. Raye said there
are prairie chicken and lizard habitats on active sites with a recently closed
drilling pit. Things can be done to
enhance reclamation, and there are some site-specific things that industry may
buy into. On one site a company has
agreed to move caliche because of lizard habitat. It’s an evolving process.
Linda said RAC nominations are open to fill two
vacancies. Wayne Bingham declined, and
his alternate is being vetted in the
Max asked what percentage of wells
in the Artesia area were not in compliance.
He is concerned that groups get the wrong information out and the public
gets the wrong perception. In forestry,
a third-party verification process was formed to address that.
Raye said BLM demands that the
proper work be done down the hole, and there has been more emphasis in the last
few years on “idle” not-producing wells¾which may become problematic orphaned wells later. Generally, the longer things sit without
attention, the more problems arise. BLM
inspections identify violations and write them up, e.g., lack of site security
diagram filed with CFO. That doesn’t
mean there’s an environmental problem.
So if someone asks how many violations have been filed against O&G
companies, question whether those violations are endangering anything. Some of the work done on production
capability determines proper reporting and payment to government, yet is less
visible in write-ups.
Linda said Leslie is dealing with a
rancher complaint where BLM verified that there are numerous issues on his
allotment. The FO is getting the rancher
and operator together to talk about it.
Often the operator doesn’t know that contractors are doing damage. Those situations lead to assumptions that BLM
is not doing its job and that it’s impossible to have O&G operations that
are environmentally appropriate.
Max said public comments at the
Farmington RAC meeting were indicative of his belief that issues are blown out
of proportion. Linda said even if every
operator on Tweeti Blancett’s ranch was doing everything perfectly, O&G
operations would still be an annoyance, bring dust, and affect wildlife and
cattle. So it is problematic.
·
Sometimes
media has shown old photos of past wells and asked “What if this happens on
Otero Mesa?”
·
BLM continues
to get the O&G industry and ranchers together to work out conflicts.
·
It’s critical
to have OCD very involved with any meeting.
·
·
On private
land, the only watchdog is OCD. On
federal land, who calls the shots? The
O&G person applies to BLM but that application is sent to OCD for
review. Either may want changes. OCD on federal lands primarily focuses on
down-hole issues. On private land, there
is usually a surface agreement between landowner and company. On state land and grazing permits, O&G
companies apply to OCD. The State Land
Office does not generally do a site visit on an active O&G lease. First line of defense for a rancher using
state land therefore, would be OCD.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA & RAC MINUTES FROM
Tony
added as first order of business an Otero Mesa update.
Crestina moved and
Don seconded to approve the agenda with the addition. Motion approved.
November 2003 Minutes (Attachment 4)
Jim moved and
Crestina seconded to approve minutes of November 2003 as presented. Motion approved.
Tony
asked the RAC to recommend new members.
He hopes to have the process speeded up and new members approved so that
a quorum is present at meetings and business can be decided. Number of alternates depends on number of
applicants.
Tom
said BLM’s
Linda
said BLM would respectfully consider the governor’s comments and implement or
utilize whatever they can. BLM will not
reopen the planning process. NMBLM
received more than 2,000 comments, but not all fit the guidelines. They have to be substantive comments from
organizations that have participated at some point in the planning
process. As of February 25, there were about
12 valid protests, including three from the state—which submitted comments
throughout the process.
·
Will this be
business as usual, or is water contamination, road width, etc. restricted? BLM is minimizing disturbance on roads and
pads with unitization¾based on one operator who works with BLM on a plan of
development for surface disturbance of no more than 5%.
·
Raye said this
is certainly not business as usual, and that Governor Richardson’s
recommendations might cause more disturbance than BLM plans. However, Meade thought the Governor’s
recommendations might help state land restrictions.
·
What if there
was a well about half a mile from a fence and the operator left the gate open
and livestock could escape? If that was
federal land it would be a compliance issue and the rancher should go to BLM.
·
When operators
lose a well they’re out of there, but ranchers will be there for generations to
come. Water may become as valuable as
oil and gas, and we want to be sure it’s protected. Is there any guarantee that water quality and
quantity will not be affected? Ed
Roberson said BLM works to assure water protection. They look at zones producing fresh water and
do everything possible to minimize impact, and are taking extra precautions
with Otero Mesa plans.
·
Raye said some
operators drill with air. It’s a
lower-cost option, and has several benefits.
·
The 5%
stipulation was applied to Otero Mesa overall.
Jim said he disagrees that this is tough for the industry. At 32 acres per section, with 8 wells per
section over a large area, it would be easy to double that to 16 wells and stay
within the 5% stipulation. This is a
stalking horse.
·
Linda said
BLM’s plan covers a little more than 2 million acres with about 140 wells that
may be developed. Analysis foresees a
maximum of 84 wells that would be profitable.
This would not be a Permian-basin-type development. BLM staff thinks it has developed a
responsible plan and no one knows whether there will be claimable resources. It is a wildcat area, but BLM has done a good
job developing an environmental plan. Linda said she told Governor Richardson that
they might need to agree to disagree.
·
Tony pointed
out the map of Otero Mesa in packets and on the wall.
Las Cruces FO
Jan Hurley said LCFO has about 20 access issues. Urban interface, recreation, hunting and
changing ownership are problems. There’s
conflict between traditional and new attitudes and uses. Cooke’s Peak, north of Deming in
Tony said he would work with LCFO during subcommittee time
to get more information.
Leslie
said there are ongoing issues with too much access by hunters, and emerging
issues with off-road use.
Socorro
FO
Kate pointed out areas she had highlighted on a map in RAC
members’ packets. There is a lot of
development on private land surrounded by public land. Problems include new roads that provide
access for cattle to wander. The Catron
County Commission passed a resolution to close a county road previously open
and officially designated. As
development continues, BLM will face further legal implications. Reserve has a new museum and is planning
improvements to attract tourists.
John asked whether amending subdivision regulations would
help. Kate said that is critical. The FO is working closely with
Ed Singleton said the Majors Ranch and John Hand got both
county commissions and Acoma Pueblo involved to reopen the contested road. It is still a problem that long-term ranchers
sell and new owners don’t understand traditional usage so lock the gates.
Ed Roberson said there are the same
kinds of issues in
FFO
access to Thomas Canyon Special Use Area is through private land. The area is used for fuel wood gathering and
mule deer hunting. FFO is working with
the estate on a land exchange, but the heirs don’t all agree. There is some danger of blockage if that
tract changes hands.
Question/Answer/Comment
·
Mining claims
in the Cerrillos Hills have been resolved.
The real issue is too-much access.
·
Tony
reiterated the need to come up with a RAC policy.
·
Some larger
parcels have been put into conservation easements. Do they develop their own access? Does BLM have to work through them? Linda said it depends on the reason an
easement was set up. Some are meant to
keep farmland from being converted to subdivisions. This is being discussed as a possible
solution for sand dune lizard and prairie chicken territory.
·
Lewis Derrick
said his organization hasn’t gotten as far as proposals for conservation
easements. They can be detrimental to
ranching operations, but some ranchers might look at a 10-year rather than
longer-term deal. If an agreement is
written right it can be done.
·
Crestina has a
conservation easement with the Taos Land Trust on her ranch. The wording was changed numerous times until
it reflected what she wanted. A lot
depends on whom you work with. She
donated the easement forever so development would be stopped. Wildlife and agriculture are addressed
specifically.
·
Kate said
Socorro FO is looking at land tenure adjustments, disposal, acquisition and
easements, and what staff positions need to be added—like realty specialist—to
address these problems.
Ed Roberson,
Helen Miller is RFO weed
coordinator. Salt cedar and Russian
olive are problems. Ed hopes for new
national legislation. Projects are
underway to address Russian knapweed, several thistles and African rue. When an area is cited, the FO takes a GPS
readout and loads it into the system to show exactly what is infested. They have an interagency cooperative
agreement to treat those areas. African
rue is believed to have come from TX on O&G trucks. Livestock won’t eat it unless there’s nothing
else. When they do consume it they
spread it. BLM aggressively treats in
fall with Arsenal, and then monitors.
Russian knapweed came through the 380 corridor east of the
Question/Answer/Comment
·
Is there a program for reseeding after removal of salt
cedar? There’s been no reseeding along
the river, because they think the seed is there and will sprout after the
drought. Concern along the
·
After reseeding 1,000 acres along the border, kochia came
back first, which they didn’t seed. Now
some of the seed used is appearing.
·
Washing pipeline trucks is done but not broadly required or
regulated. NM is behind neighboring
states in laws concerning weeds in hay or on trucks.
·
LCFO approval of drilling at Crow Flats required that
equipment brought in be cleaned.
·
RFO has twenty years of monitoring data and tracking
composition at study sites that is used in making decisions.
Steve Henke,
FFO
Steve said FFO’s Eddy Williams is a
godsend to the weed program in NM. His
focus is developing a cooperative agreement to address noxious weeds that calls
for inventory, monitoring, education and treatment. He formed a rapid response team with the
Cooperative Extension Service. When
infestation is discovered, there is a cooperative agreement to treat, tied to
13 road management units in the
·
Is Siberian elm a problem?
There’s a plan in place outside Tularosa to remove a large number of
Siberian elms.
Jan Gamby, Las
Cruces FO (Attachment 7)
Jan identified major problems with
primary target species: African rue,
Russian knapweed,
The 2003 budget includes a total of $87,000
for weed treatment. Accomplishments
include 1,500 acres sprayed, 1,600 evaluated (for past treatment practices and
sites), and 16,000 acres inventoried.
She outlined 2004 objectives in all six counties in the FO management
area, and addressed limitations. The FO
is seeking alternative funds, distributing staff workload, and building
partnerships. The challenge is to keep
collaborative efforts moving forward.
·
The main herbicide used is tebuthiuron and the primary
target is creosote bush. NMSU is testing
new chemicals and combining old ones, and has recommended mixes, rates, and how
and when to treat each species. The FO
lends equipment and provides chemicals to licensed permittees.
·
How is the general public being educated? The calendar is good but lacks
close-ups. There are booklets and
videos. Dr. Richard Lee was a key
player, holding short courses and conferences.
Frannie Miller, lead for NM, holds workshops in communities. There is a statewide multi-agency team. Newspaper inserts have been the broadest
help. PBS has programs but is not
reaching a large audience. Children are
being taught.
·
This educational role was traditionally addressed by
counties and agricultural organizations.
·
One-third of the work is done on non-federal land. Is BLM stepping into a vacuum? State and local agencies receive funding
applied 90% to private lands. BLM has been
a catalyst and leader in cooperative agreements to address the problem.
·
In noxious weed control and in fire fighting, all agencies
realize this needs to be a cooperative effort.
·
Joe said the Legislature passed a statute on noxious weeds
that might be a way to approach problems in some areas.
·
Nothing is done about weeds in hay. The highway department spreads hay along
roadways to stop weeds and then the weeds in the hay grow where it was
spread.
·
Ed Singleton recommended advocating for a NM weed-free hay
policy. Most Western states have weed
regulations.
Leslie Theiss,
She introduced Ray Keller, staff
coordinator for the noxious weeds program.
He said the FO has numerous partnerships, and showed a map of treatments
done in 2003. The FO has spray equipment
and chemicals they give to county and state road departments, S&WCDs and
other licensed entities. He attends an
annual meeting to discuss the prior year’s treatment and plans for the coming
year. The FO has an MOA with state,
federal and
Question/Answer/Comment
·
Water viability is not being checked specifically, but they
have not noticed any fish kill¾24c labeling allows them to go to the water’s edge.
·
The FO and cooperators have chopped, chained and burned in
numerous ways. That was helpful because
some areas looked good at the time but vegetation returned, while others didn’t
seem so successful at the time and have remained clear.
·
On the
·
Endangered species personnel, however, may not be
aware.
·
Give the noxious weed handbook to other agencies.
·
O&G companies were applying soil sterilant to keep weeds
down. Applying those every year may mean
that eventual reclamation/revegetation would be impossible. Raye said his company made an internal policy
to stop applying sterilant. There may be
more weeds, but if something is identified, his company will address that. He asked for recommendations. Ray said apply Roundup yearly.
·
CFO is using 1% Arsenal.
Fall treatments are better than spring.
Roundup causes cattle to abort.
Ron
Huntsinger,
White top, knapweed and henbane are the
primary infestations, associated with transportation routes, mostly from CO
hay. He reiterated that the RAC could
help by getting a state statute in place to address weed-infested hay. On BLM land people need to use weed-free hay
or straw for events, and trucks are washed.
The FO doesn’t treat with chemicals.
They grub invasive species in waterways, have agreements with
Kate Padilla,
Socorro FO (Attachment
9)
Socorro FO has an integrated
management plan for controlling invasive/noxious weeds. They inventory, educate, treat, reclaim and
monitor. Socorro too could not achieve
what’s needed without partnerships. Main
partners who have signed an MOU are City of
Ed Singleton,
Albuquerque FO (Attachment 10)
AFO is in fairly good shape, with about
1,000 acres treated yearly and 20,000 inventoried. Ed recently visited with BLM weed
specialists, and said they think the West is losing 2,000 acres/day to noxious
weeds, down from 3,000 acres 8-10 years ago.
Weeds are a nightmare in the
REHABILITATION
OF OLDER OIL & GAS WELL SITES
Bill Condit,
Special Assistant to the NMBLM Director (Attachment 11)
Bill was assigned to pull together the
disparate interests of traditional users of public land. On the field trip at the Farmington RAC
meeting he stood on a
He is working now to identify such
issues and write up ways to address them.
An orphaned well is one that is not producing and does not have a viable
operator. Part of OCD’s work is to plug
those wells. BLM now requires operators
to have a bond, but orphaned wells had no bond, or had an insufficient
bond. While the legacy program isn’t
about plugging abandoned or orphaned wells, it would collaborate with OCD on
addressing them. Senator Domenici‘s bill
would appropriate about $25 million for that purpose.
Bill hopes the RAC will help him pull
together an advisory team to build consensus on the magnitude of the problem
and to come up with funding ideas. He
distributed maps of the two NM basins of O&G interest with black dots
representing well bores.
Congress in the late 1990s considered
an idea called Eco-Royalty Relief that came out of the
Lessees would put money up and be paid
back later. The legal conclusion was
that the Secretary of the Interior did not have authority to give eco-credit,
so they were told to go to their legislators.
Senator Domenici accepted that language in section 325 of his energy
bill that should be voted upon by end of March.
Bill wants the RAC to get excited
about the idea and perhaps write a letter promoting this potential solution for
legacy issues. Eco-credit may even be
more pertinent for dealing with lesser prairie chicken and sand dune lizard
habitat. However, Senator Domenici said
that because of storing consequences, it would cost Treasury revenue ($160-$300
million for 5 years) so its inception was postponed until 2009. The philosophy could be put in motion
administratively, although that is not considered ideal.
Another mechanism would be to raise
current fees. The president’s ’05 budget
includes that approach. Bill encouraged
RAC discussion on whether they’d like to pull together groups representing the
northern and southern basins associated with O&G development.
Tony said this is probably an
appropriate topic for the RAC to participate in, perhaps starting with a
subgroup. He would like to see a report
on the possibilities.
Bill said he does not want to
interfere with Steve Henke’s voluntary agreements with operators. That’s a forward-looking thing. This effort would find funding for old
impacts.
Question/Answer/Comment
·
We don’t know yet how many of the dots on his maps are
legacy wells. He’s working on that. There will be legal applications for where to
draw the line.
·
Realize that some folks don’t like eco-credit because they
think it’s re-budgeting administratively.
The mineral-processing fee would probably bring more resistance than
higher rental fees on new leases.
·
Jim didn’t want to make decisions without seeing bill
language. If this is on the Senate floor
by end of March, does Bill want RAC response in one month? No, if passed it will go to the House.
·
This might work best by testing on something small, e.g.,
prairie chicken or lizard habitat.
·
Committees will consider this and Tony will talk with Linda
about RAC involvement.
·
Max said it’s best to fix a leaky faucet with a new washer
while we get experience and find better ways to deal with this. It’s hard to fix a big problem.
·
We know it’s going to be fixed in little bites. RAC could help FOs prioritize potential small
projects to approach in innovative ways.
Determination of projects would lie in the hands of the state director.
·
This plan would impact cultural management. Bill introduced archaeologist Don Peterson.
OIL & GAS
CULTURAL MANAGEMENT IN THE
Jim Lara,
CFO is testing a new approach to cultural management using
3-D real-time seismics as:
·
A method of exploration for O&G potential
·
A method to target future oil and gas drilling
·
A method to identify cultural sites
Jim showed an example of a traditional
3-D seismic process, including land survey, archaeological survey, data
collections and reclamation, which is very time-intensive. Other problems are:
·
Loss of flags and stakes
·
Rushed preparation of final report
·
Difficult scheduling
In
real time, functions and actions occur simultaneously. That brings good news and bad news.
Good news
·
No re-survey to replace lost flagging
·
Better crew scheduling
·
Better quality final reports
Bad news
·
More initial pressure on contract archaeologists
·
More pressure on BLM archaeologists
·
Review of final report is backlogged
So BLM can adopt the real-time option or:
·
Return to the traditional method
·
Accept longer review times for preliminaries
·
Ensure adequate “headstarts”
·
Increase staffing
·
Survey lower-site-density/sensitive areas only
When CFO started this new process,
survey, archaeological and seismic companies all had to be right on the money,
so communication and continuity were enhanced and all involved are happy about
that. Some things need to be worked out
but he hopes this process will be successful.
The front end works great. Management
is aware that steps must be taken to assure that it doesn’t result in mounds of
paperwork.
·
The 3-D seismic approach looks for O&G formations from
shallow to deep. It produces a map with
information in layers, in length, width and depth. The archaeological part shows the resource on
the surface that could be damaged by development, and looks at soil types that
indicate where cultural resources might be buried. BLM knows where cultural sites are, and if
the area is small, they can reroute O&G activities.
·
The backlog continues.
Reports can be massive, and some of them take 2 1/2 years to get to
ARMS.
PREFERRED
UPSTREAM MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (PUMP) III PROJECT
Tim Seaman, Archaeological Records Management Systems (ARMS)
Program Manager
Eric Ingbar, Gnomon, Inc.
PUMP is a cultural resource GIS
database focused on O&G fields. This
project examined two questions:
·
Can we learn more from cultural resources in O&G
development?
·
Can the management process be more adaptive?
Specific measures are being created,
and the Loco Hills study area (6,000+ cultural resource inventories in 8
quadrangles) will be the first test case for measures. Using automated data they will “replay”
inventories through time and examine alternative inventory strategies, working
with experts to identify gaps in past information and examine ways they might
have been or might be filled.
The NM study areas represent different stages of
development:
·
Loco Hills (mature in-filled field)
·
Azotea (developing and starting to in-fill)
·
Otero Mesa (proposed)
Project tasks
·
Data development for GIS approach
·
Geomorphology and site visibility
·
Predictive modeling of site density
·
Inventory simulations
·
Management recommendations
Desired outcomes
·
Full GIS and data systems
·
Implement “learn more” strategies
·
May involve trade-off in investigation strategies and
staging
·
Develop field tools—manuals, etc.
·
Utilize geomorphology buried site models, erosion field
indicators and field assessment tools they will develop
·
Involve appropriate parties in the whole process
·
Focus on knowledge, not just information
The project is on schedule, with one
technical report on Loco Hills completed.
Tim listed major project participants and collaborators.
Data development
·
The PUMP database is larger than most state databases, with
23,000 surveys and 9,000 sites
·
Lessons learned
·
case-by-case survey is very inefficient
·
case-by-case survey produces a difficult data set
·
case-by-case management process itself may have adverse
long-term impact on resources, and at best is temporary avoidance in an in-fill
situation
They showed slides indicating site
density¾useful for
forecasting, and likened them to weather service forecasting. Before, they only collected data, but now can
make predictive models. The issue is how
to use data and models to make better decisions. The project should be complete by end of
2004.
·
Tim thought all sites on BLM land had been identified and
surveyed.
·
Eric added that leased units in production are essentially
fully inventoried.
·
They are building a statewide data set but it’s slow going
with survey data. All archaeological
inventories of the southwest corner will be entered into the ARMS system by end
of year. BLM is an ARMS system
user. Eric showed a bar chart indicating
total surveys done by year. Quite a bit
of land was re-surveyed
·
Density of archaeological sites will affect bidding. It ties in to geomorphological work. We’re at the stage where it makes more sense
to sample different sites and see what they reveal.
·
We can model and predict and define areas but when do we
make the decision that we don’t survey because we know what’s there? Not under current legislation.
·
CFO hopes to hammer out agreements to provide a legal basis
to do things differently.
·
Similar studies and management approaches have been done in
GEOMORPHOLOGICAL
LOCO HILLS STUDY
&
APPLICATION TO CULTURAL RESOURCES INTEGRITY ASSESSMENT
Stephen
Fosberg,
NMBLM has numerous cooperative
agreements for working with cultural resources, including one with NM Historic
Preservation Division and geologist Dr. Stephen A. Hall, who helped determine
cultural sites in sand dunes. Project
objectives included identifying areas that contained or had potential to
contain archaeological sites; and developing a model for evaluating occurrence
and integrity of sites elsewhere.
Stephen distributed Dr. Hall’s reports on the Mescalero Sands, also
posted on the NMBLM website.
Principal findings:
·
The sand sheets are based on a foundation that’s derived from
eroded soils of weathered permian and triassic bedrock. Above that are two prehistoric sand units
accumulated during discrete periods.
·
Coppice dunes are relatively thin, less than a meter.
·
Dr. Hall was able to directly date sand grains in the dunes,
which had never been done before. He
could then assign ages with confidence, bracket units and determine which might
have cultural resources.
Stephen distributed a page from Hall’s
guidebook showing composite stratigraphy with dates. Early archaic people are underrepresented in
the study area so either they avoided that area or their sites were
obliterated. The Mescalero Sands were
stable from 500-5,000 years ago, so most sites relate to that time bracket. Most have been disturbed. Artifacts in the field today are the result
of erosion. They lose their original
context and heavier objects are left behind.
Coppice dunes protect some sites.
The process of creation of those dunes is historic in age, probably only
the last 100 years. Processes are well
underway for destruction of the dunes within the next 100 years, which gives
urgency to studying them now. Dr. Hall’s
guidebook provided standard terminology, tips and categories of descriptors, so
observers could use the same language.
He compared the depositional sequences with other sites in the
Dr. Hall taught his findings to BLM
contract archaeologists in
·
·
Most of the sites here are much more recent.
·
In the early 1950s there was a mound of broken pottery near
·
That’s partly why there have been so many surveys. Because this area is extremely changeable,
reliability of surveys is questionable.
·
Dr. Hall found some deposits from pleistocene area springs
that would have attracted creatures from the time mentioned above.
·
Will these hills be gone in 100 years, or rearranged? Dr. Hall projects they’ll be gone. The sand builds to a point where it can’t
maintain its slope and collapses, plus being blown downwind.
UNITIZATION OF FLUID MINERAL LEASES (Attachment 13)
Ed Roberson, BLM Roswell Field Manager
Armando Lopez, BLM
What is a unit, how does it work and
how would we use the concept on Otero Mesa?
Why do we need agreements? In the
1800s, the country was developing and the law of the land was the “rule of
capture.” You drilled a well and
whatever came out was yours, no matter where the lease lines were. People drilled next to fee areas in a race
against competitive operators. Results
were rapid depletion of reservoir pressure, loss of ultimate recovery and
environmental disaster. In the mid-1930s
courts got involved and the Correlative Rights Doctrine was adopted. It dealt with the opportunity to
receive a fair and equitable share of the source of supply, not a
guarantee. Most state conservation
regulations include pooling, unitization, spacing or proration.
Agreements are tools used to support
the Correlative Rights Doctrine. Unit
agreements provide environmental, O&G and lease benefits. Operation of multiple leases as a single
lease under a single operator will be used on Otero Mesa and extended
nationwide.
Unitization means that fewer well pads
and roads are necessary; there is less surface disturbance; and waste is
reduced¾with higher
ultimate recovery. Operators determine
where there is better geologic possibility.
They are the entrepreneurs. But
BLM says drilling has to be done on a unit basis.
Lease benefits of unitization
·
Leases can be extended without actual production on the
lease.
·
Currently, leases get a 2-year extension upon unit
termination—BLM wants to avoid this regulation.
·
Federal leases are exempt from the statewide acreage
limitation of 246,080 acres.
BLM is responsible for administering
unit agreements, monitoring and termination.
The approval process extends from designation to final approval. Normally operators come up with a likely
geologic area that they want to form into a unit. In the new process, BLM will determine unit
outlines that are not based on geology.
·
Lewis Derrick asked how unitization affects an operator
drilling in different zones from shallow to deep. Operators drill first for discovery. Once found, they set up participating areas. Currently, two competitive operators would
drill a certain formation exclusively until it was no longer economically
feasible¾so one did not
deplete that zone to the detriment of the other.
·
BLM wants to have units and terms of units in place before
leasing so potential lessees know whether they want to lease under those
circumstances. Unit operating agreements
set costs, how operators will participate, and how conflict will be
resolved.
·
NM Oil Conservation Division has statutes. Does BLM have authority to unitize, or will
they have to go through OCD? They don’t
go to OCD on exploratory units, but do for secondary drilling.
·
Kate said the State of
·
How will private and state lands be involved? They will fall within the boundaries of
whatever units BLM sets, but only federal minerals will be managed by BLM. They will invite, but cannot force, NM and
private landowners to join. Hopefully
there will be benefit to joining so they will choose to.
·
Unless private landowners join the agreement, BLM will have
no control over use on private land. BLM
cannot change existing leases, but will offer opportunity to join. There are several active leases within the
grasslands.
·
Why would they want to unitize? They might see benefit, e.g., if their
remaining term is short. Non-committed
acreage does not receive any benefits of the unit.
·
The NM State Land Office uses unitization.
For final approval, BLM must show that
all parties within a unit area have been invited to join the unit. For effective unit control, staff hopes to
have 85% of acreage within a unit area committed to the unit agreement. Federal lands have not been unitized under
this concept in the past. NM has
statutory authority for unitizing, but Armando thought that was only for
secondary activities. If a wildcat well
is drilled, OCD does not approve that well on federal land. BLM considers such a well exploratory
throughout its life even though it is producing.
Key Concepts in Drilling to Discovery
·
Must commence drilling obligation well(s) to the target
formation within six months of the approved effective date.
·
Failure to drill the initial obligation well will invalidate
the unit.
·
Drilling over the expiration date of any committed lease is
the same as drilling over the expiration date for all leases committed to a
unit.
Three Possible Well Outcomes
·
Unit paying well
·
Unit non-paying well
·
Dry hole
For a unit paying well, all leases
committed to the unit agreement are HBP; further drilling requirements are now
handled under the Plan of Development (not required to drill six months after
previous well completed); and a unit participating area will be formed. BLM plans orderly development and
non-competitive drilling for Otero Mesa.
If the whole lease participates, all will benefit from the first
production. They have to decide how a
non-paying well will be dealt with, and plug dry ones very well. BLM will probably require that operators file
an annual Plan of Development.
Question/Answer/Comment
·
What if there is groundwater contamination? Does BLM have plans to address problems
beyond the drilling stage? Once
contamination is detected, the problem well would be tracked down and
fixed. But is there a contingency plan and
resources to address contamination?
·
If we lease with good intentions, there are state, federal
and operating practices to follow.
·
OCD has statutory authority for protection of ground water,
so OCD should be in the loop. BLM is
already working hand-in-hand with OCD.
Raye concurred from his perspective.
Staff geologists for both agencies talk almost daily and also talk with
the NM Water Engineer. Linda said BLM
looks forward to an OCD contingency plan.
·
The operator would pay expenses for something being
fixed.
·
Are there provisions for dissolving a unit? Operators who drill dry holes can request
that a lease be terminated. That will
have to be reconsidered for leases on Otero Mesa.
·
In a normal exploratory unit operators can drill as many
wells as they want, but there will be no more than 5% disturbance in a unit on
Otero Mesa. Armando thinks units should
be formed for 10-12 year leases regardless what happens, and longer if a well
continues producing. The 5% applies only
to protected grasslands.
·
Jim thinks BLM should project potential scenarios of what
might happen with operators that want to expand units. Operators can lease another unit if they have
reached the 5% limit, but it is not yet known how many units there will be on
Otero Mesa. Raye thought these questions
were very valuable for raising difficult issues.
Subcommittees announced time and place
of meetings. The RAC meeting recessed
for the day.
Tony
called the meeting to order at
BLM DIVISION OF RESOURCES EMERGING ISSUES
Ron Dunton,
Ron is working on resource issues for the present and
future, including habitat for the lesser prairie chicken, black-tailed prairie
dog and sand dune lizard. An area along
the
Jim said of the 77 townships where the most prairie chickens
reside not a lot of area is left unleased¾ only about 4.5 full sections per township. About 39% of the land inside prairie chicken
habitat has unleased state or federal mineral rights.
Ron introduced Taos FO fisheries biologist Greg
Costinas. Greg spoke about a CO/NM
conservation agreement meant to protect the genetic integrity of the
Seven strategies were
outlined:
1. Population inventory
2. Population maintenance
3. Population expansion
4. Protect sustaining habitats and restore degraded habitat
5. Conservation education and interpretation
6. Database sharing
7. Planning/coordination
There
is good cutthroat habitat throughout northern NM. BLM is working with schools, communities and
individuals on restoration efforts.
There is no common database, and biologists have been doing different
things. There are a lot of cutthroat in
high streams of the Sangres, Jemez,
·
Avoid federal
listing
·
Develop
cooperative framework for aquatic habitat management
·
Reduce expenditures
·
Active
participation with little risk
Seven
Springs Hatchery is successfully breeding cutthroat from eggs collected in the
wild. Greg didn’t think there was
whirling disease there, and NM Game & Fish tests for that. The cooperative framework is working
well. CO and NM together are focusing
efforts to reduce expenditures. BLM
doesn’t have a large cutthroat population, so there’s little risk in taking
part.
Question/Answer/Comment
·
The habitat
west of Truth or Consequences is in the
·
The BLM
habitat NE of Alamogordo is along the Animas, with the Turner Ranch backing it.
·
NMG&F
collects genetic information every year from different streams.
Ron turned to the
Question/Answer/Comment
·
·
There are
provisions for state agencies and private forestry to receive funds through
USFS.
·
Joe Stell said
S&WCDs would play a large part in this.
Their representative did not attend the
·
Chris Blazer
said he’s going to a meeting at Mescalero after word that the last sawmill in
that area is shutting down. There is no
infrastructure to deal with forest products, and no one is selling timber on a
large scale.
NMSO
hired a new biologist whose job is to get projects done on the ground. A first initiative is to establish contacts
and develop partnerships with sportsmen’s organizations. He has been asked to attend wildlife summits
where he can get reacquainted with one of BLM's main constituents. The emphasis is to put habitat management
projects back on the ground in the context of large-scale initiatives.
·
Tony has been
involved with such partnerships out of LCFO, and Ron thought that office was
already lined up to work with the new biologist. FO staffs have had planning and rangeland
health deadlines that kept them behind their desks, and are very pleased about
getting into the field.
·
Tony said when
you start these projects, set up procedures so everything doesn’t fall apart
when the point person leaves or is unavailable.
Assign an intern assistant to make sure things keep going.
·
A shortcoming
is that these kinds of projects are rarely evaluated. Jim recommended planning for measurement
before and after.
·
Ron said land
treatment projects, which they want to shoot for, are monitored. BLM does what it can with what it has.
·
Monitoring is
limited by changes in weather patterns, what happens when the ranch next door
sells, etc. BLM needs control and
replication.
·
After a few
years of wildlife treatments in
·
In future, BLM
would like to treat large blocks of land with similar characteristics,
encompassing water and vegetation. They
discuss plans with permittees, county commissioners, wildlife groups, NM Game
& Fish. But BLM's job is to manage
habitat, not control wildlife numbers.
·
What about
restoring fish habitat along the lower
·
The lower
·
Maintenance
following restoration is important.
Sometimes thinning stimulates more tree growth. Establish management plans for
maintenance. Ron says BLM is looking at
getting lands classified to determine when and how thinning done. We have to work at it a little bit at a time
over years.
·
Tony said BLM
and USFS have not had success coordinating with NMG&F over time. He would like to see greater coordination to
address the overall picture. Ron said
that is a goal but there are institutional barriers.
Ron
continued. In-house monitoring
activities assure that rules are obeyed and operators are doing what’s
needed. As Otero Mesa develops, BLM is
looking at different ways to monitor.
Jim McCormick is developing monitoring procedures centered on Otero Mesa
but applicable to other areas. Otero is
undeveloped significant rangeland, and BLM would like to establish significant
monitoring prior to development. It is
important to incorporate the 4Cs, so they are moving slowly, monitoring health
of the plan and working together with rangeland specialists. Ron will present information to the Range
Improvement Task Force, and others are at the table to provide good science in
developing monitoring plans. BLM did
develop a subsurface hydrologic survey, working with landowners and
universities. They have to be careful
about where to go and how to put it in place.
Each FO has funds to implement improvements on the ground. Biologists make sure there are wildlife
objectives. BLM hasn’t weighed in and
demonstrated to groups what’s been accomplished. They tend toward monitoring special status
species, while struggling with how to look at broader species.
UPDATE ON
OTHER STATES’ RACs
Crestina
Ron Dunton
Ron said there’s not a lot that BLM
can do about WSAs in NM. Legislation is
pending on the Ojito WSA near
John
would like for BLM or the RAC to send a letter to the NM Department of
Agriculture asking that it make NM a weed-free area, as are surrounding
states. Instead, all the trash from
other states is coming into NM and spreading noxious weeds. This needs to be addressed.
·
Tony said the
BLM Washington office last year asked the RAC’s opinion on dealing with noxious
weeds, resulting in the FOs’ update to the RAC the day before. He thinks that plans and programs in place
are adequate given funds available.
·
Recommendations
should come from NMSU—or at least with its support.
·
Has there been
a noxious weed bill proposed in the Legislature over the years? No, but there have been funding requests that
didn’t get past the Appropriations Committee.
The Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee is cognizant. Joe thought such a bill would require
guidance from NMSU, and funding availability.
To this point there’s not much support for it. Counties can start weed control districts and
apply mill levy funding.
·
How do other
states enforce weed control?
·
It seems
futile to fund control of weeds when new ones keep coming in.
·
Ron will
gather information on how other states fund and enforce weed control.
·
Joe said there
used to be truck check stations. A law
could be added against bringing contaminated hay into the state. The Highway & Transportation Department
could stop hay trucks, sample and analyze, and send tickets. AZ stops trucks at the border entry for
fruits, vegetables and hay. This takes
FTEs. There are just so many dollars and
every Legislature struggles over how to use them.
·
Keys are
having a law and becoming a cooperating Western state. Checking would only be for a
certificate. Fields are certified.
·
Lewis Derrick
suggested getting a representative from NM Farm Bureau before even having a
discussion, to know how proposed legislation would affect the agricultural
industry.
·
Figure out
who’s against it and consider, e.g., exempting the dairy industry but covering
shipments of non-certified hay.
·
Hay is an $800
million industry for NM.
·
The RAC agreed
for representatives to provide an information session at the next meeting on
ways of addressing noxious weed control.
They were asked to include information about the TB quarantine, mad cow
disease, and what the NM Farm Bureau is doing.
·
Socorro is
setting up an agreement with the Alamo Navajo Band to train contractors and
mark trees to be thinned. They talked to
NM Tech about contract training, but have to find funding. The goal is for the program to be
self-sustaining. It’s a good concept but
will take time to accomplish. There
needs to be a market for the wood. One
premise is that contracts would be available at a lower price because they
could use the wood. Good potential.
·
Could
permittees cut standing dead pinon? John
has places on his leased land where dead trees near fences could fall and take
down the fence. Taos FO did a resource
area environmental assessment on cutting dead pinon for a nominal fee. FOs are talking about expanding that to the
rest of the state. The issue always is
archaeological clearance. People now
come in for permits, so staff can explain where and how to cut.
The
Energy Subcommittee considered several issues and determined that its focus
should be Otero Mesa. Subcommittee
members will await BLM’s comments on what role to take.
·
Tony will put
together materials on access and give a report at the next RAC meeting.
·
Don
distributed geological maps of NM and books on water issues along the
·
BLM needs a
more concerted effort to inform people about the public comment period. Wednesday nights were still considered a good
time. Raye suggested that when no public
shows the RAC be prepared to begin RAC meeting presentations. Theresa will check with BLM’s
·
The Utah RAC
meets for one day and allows one hour in the morning and one in the afternoon
for public comment.
·
Weed-free
strategies
·
Healthy Forest
Watershed Plan report
·
Prairie
Chicken Group report
·
Field trip
reflecting topics
·
Presentation
by
·
Otero Mesa
update
·
NMDA and NM
Farm Bureau representatives—Ron
·
Visit from
former Governor Carruthers, now NMSU Dean of
The meeting adjourned
at