FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ONDA Protest Halts Oil & Gas Drilling

BLM withdraws 122 parcels of Malheur County land from March 8th auction after ONDA asks for environmental impacts to be considered

Portland OR: As a result of a protest filed by the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA), the Oregon State Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced that they were withdrawing 122 of the proposed 151 oil & gas leases from the BLM quarterly auction scheduled for March 8th.

The challenged leases were all located on public land in the rugged and scenic backcountry of Malheur County. The basis of the ONDA administrative protest was that the BLM failed to consider the environmental impacts of oil and gas drilling on these wilderness-quality desert lands.

“Oil and gas drilling creates serious environmental consequences with the construction of access roads and drill pads,” said Bill Marlett, executive director of ONDA, after the withdrawal was announced.
“It would be irresponsible to lease public lands for oil and gas drilling without first looking at the environmental impacts it would create,” Marlett said.

The ONDA administrative protest asserted that, under the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws, the BLM is required to evaluate and consider the impacts of these activities on resources such as wildlife habitat, soils, wilderness values, recreation values, and cultural resources.

“We’re very concerned about the inevitable loss of wilderness values that would result from oil and gas development,” said Marlett. “Oil and gas exploration and development would leave lasting scars on this magnificent landscape, including fragmentation of wildlife habitat, long-term damage to fragile desert soils, and loss of wilderness values such as solitude,” he said.

ONDA is a grassroots conservation group that has been working since 1989 to protect, defend and restore forever Oregon’s deserts.
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