Two Utah politicians who normally support oil and gas development questioned a decision by the state's School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration to lease acreage it controls in the Book Cliffs area between Vernal and Moab.
"This land has the potential to generate millions of dollars in Utah's school trust fund," Gov. Gary R. Herbert and US Rep. Rob Bishop said in a Sept. 5 letter to the Utah Board of Education, which oversees SITLA. "Under virtually any other circumstance, we would applaud this entire move."
But the proposed agreement with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. would include a roadless area that is "a critical element in an ongoing, broader Utah land planning discussion," the two Republicans stated, adding that the deal could jeopardize possibly exchanging land valued highly by hunters, fishermen, and environmentalists for developable federal acreage elsewhere in the state.
The Book Cliffs contain significant energy and mineral resources, including crude oil, natural gas, oil shale, tar sands, building stone, sand, and gravel, according to the US Bureau of Land Management. BLM oversees about 70% of the area, SITLA 25%, and private landowners 5%.
Anadarko is no stranger to Utah. The Houston independent is the Beehive State's largest gas producer. It uses horizontal drilling, water recycling, and best management practices in its Greater Natural Buttes operations. It has received the Utah Oil, Gas & Mining Division's Earth Day Award three times.
This time, it has its eye on part of the Mancos shale formation in the southern Book Cliffs and believes it needs the roadless Bogart Canyon to make a project worthwhile, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Beyond politicians' reach
The state board of education unanimously voted Sept. 6 to support SITLA's decision to lease 96,000 acres of its Book Cliffs land to Anadarko for 5 years, the Deseret News reported. It quoted some Utah legislature members' submitted statements saying SITLA was created in 1994 to keep Utah's school trust out of politicians' reach.
"It is not the place of the governor's office, the governor's energy advisor, or even a congressmen to tell the SITLA board what land they can keep and what land they can give away, or to tell them where they can and can't drill for oil," one statement said. "These are not state lands. These are school trust lands."
Bishop doesn't oppose opportunities for SITLA to generate revenue for Utah's public education system, but remains concerned about the possible disruption this decision could have on efforts he's leading to have everyone there work together to reach the best land use decisions, one of his staff members told OGJ on Sept 10.
