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Show AUGUST 31,2006 Page 12 T H E GARFIELD COUNTY INSIDER BLM leases 226,471 Acres in August Oil and Gas Lease Sale Utah Bureau of Land Management's quarterly oil and gas lease sale held August 15,2006, resulted in the leasing-of more than 226,471 acres of land. Fortythree registered for a chance to compete for the 200 parcels containing more than 316,231 acres of land. Duong the auction, L54 parcels were sold for oil and gas leasing. The sale netted more than 8 million dollars, half of which will be disbursed to the State of Utah. Bids ranged from $2 to $475 per acre. The high bid for one parcel totaled $578,160 and was received from Landgroup of Salt Lake City, Utah for a 2,408acre parcel in Carbon County, Utah. Marion Energy Inc, McKinney Texas, submitted the highest per acre bid of $475 per acre on a 280-acre parcel in Carbon County, Utah. The remaining parcels that received no bids will be open for noncompetitive sale for the next two years beginning Wednesday, August 16. Before deciding to offer lands, BLM must determine if leasing of a given parcel is in conformance with the governing land use plan, is compliant with (among others) the National Historic Preservation Act, Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and completes additional environmental reviews to consider new information or changed circumstances. During this process, many parcels receive protective stipulations (restrictions) and many others are deferred for further study and processing. "Each nominated parcel is scrutinized to determine if leasing can be done without significant environmental impact," said Henri Bisson, Utah State Director. "In a typical oil and gas lease sale, about half of the parcels nominated by industry are not offered for lease because of these considerations." BLM is also gave serious consideration to the Memorandum Decision and Order by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball filed on August 2, 2006, Case No. 2:04CV574 DAK in offering parcels for today's Oil and Gas Lease Sale. To allow for a more thorough review of the ramifications of the Court's decision, the BLM deferred about 20,000 acres from today'.s sale. The deferred parcels are located in the Price, Richfield and Moab Field Offices. The 16 leases which had been issued following the November 2003 sale which were the subject of the US District Court ruling are being suspended. At this time, no surface disturbing activities have occurred on those leases and none have applications for permits to drill. "The BLM works with various groups, including local governments, grassroots citizens groups and other stakeholders to gather public comment and make deci 1 sions in land use planning efforts that set the stage for these oil and gas lease sales,'*'said Bisson. "It is vitally important to ensure that citizens of Utah are involved in the process to help decide what is best for our communities and our local environment." In addition, prior to any surface disturbing activities on an oil and gas lease, the Bureau carries out further environmental analysis and determines the site-specific need for various types of impact-limiting or "mitigation" measures. To minimize impacts (the "footprint") on the land, the Bureau requires various practices including drilling pads and access roads to be of the minimum size necessary to conduct safe operations, revegetation with native species, which controls soil erosion and helps curb the spread of weeds; the strategic placement of above-ground structures and equipment, with locations and colors that blend in with the landscape so as to reduce visual impacts; timing/seasonal restrictions so that oil and gas activity does not adversely affect certain types of wildlife; and various other techniques such as burying of powerlines or pipelines under or adjacent to access roads to protect wildlife and minimize visual impacts. Overall, less than one percent of the acreage managed by the BLM experiences actual sur face disturbance from oil and gas activity. Oil and gas production in Utah contributes to meeting local and regional energy needs. Last year, Utah-BLM received $179 million dollars in royalties from energy leasing. Fifty percent of this went to the state of Utah. In addition, Utah produced 15.7 million barrels of crude oil and 303.6 billion cubic feet of snapshotmedia.com natural gas—enough to heat approximately four million homes. Utah consumed 51 percent of in-state natural gas, making it a net exporter. SIGNS, PRINTING & GRAPHIC DESIGN Call 616-2621 iSTATE' £AIRj GRANDSTAND ENTERTAINMENT KENNY ROGERS AND THE OAK RIDGE BOYS Wednesday, Sept 13 • 7:30 pm • 528 in advance SMASHMOUTH Thursday, Sept. 14 • 7:30 pm • S24 in advance v MIRANDA LAMBERTwithspeaai^65. JASON ALDEAN Friday, Sept. IS • 7:30 pm • S19 in advance Get your tickets at all SmithaTix outlets, online at www-smithstixcom, calll-80O888-TIXXorviBitwvfw.utat3tatofaJr.com. FREE SHOWS WITH PAID FAIB GATE ADMISSION: Reserved Matingtidcolloqulrod. Distributed at the Grandstand tide«t oftioa beginning at noon the day of lbs show. limit 6 tickets par person. RAVEN-SYMONE with special guest LE/J • Friday, Sept 8 • 730 pm KUTLESS with special guest DISCIPLE Saturday, Sept. 9 • 7:30 pm COUNTRY GOLD TOUR 2006 _Leroy Van Dyke, Rex Allen, Jr., T. Graham Brown, Helen Cornelius, and" Bobby Bare . Sunday, Sept. 10 • 5:00 pm JOSH GRACIN Monday, Sept. 11 • 7:30 pm ;^T? •&'-. • KANSAS * . ..' ' s TUosday, Sept 12 • 7:30 pm For details visit www.ulahfitalofaii.com or call (801) 538-FAIR {3247) Game Hens With Wild Rice Stuffing Taken from the 2003 Ultimate Turkey Challenge Ingredients: 4 game hens Fruit and Honey Glaze: 1 C. apricot, cherry or peach preserves 1/2 C. honey 1 Tbsp. brandy 1 Tbsp. orange flavored liqueur Stuffing: 4 C water 1 tsp. salt 1 C. wild rice 1/4 C. butter 2 Tbsp. chopped shallots 1 Tbsp. chopped green bell pepper 1/4 C. chopped celery 1C. mushrooms 1/4 C, chopped water chestnuts How to Prepare: • Mix all ingredients into a thick glaze. • Bring water and salt to rolling boil, stirriceinto boiling water. Simmer until nearly done about 30. minutes. Melt butter in skillet with Ultimate you can use the (top lid), saute shallots, green pepper, celery, mushrooms and chestnuts for about 3 minutes, add rice. • Stuff hens with dressing, do not over stuff. Put hens in Dutch oven and cook at 350 degrees, for 1 hour and 15 minutes. At the last ten minutes glaze andfinish cooking until glaze caramelize. Let stand 10 minutes.' Serves: 4 • Cook on any propane stove between low and medium heat Cooking briquettes 18 on top -9 underneath |
