Contact:

John Robertson, Save Our Sugarite, info@saveoursugarite.org Dave Simon, Director, New Mexico State Parks, 888-NMPARKS Bob Dye, Superintendent, Sugarite Canyon State Park, 505-445-5607

SUGARITE CANYON STATE PARK UNDER THREAT OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

July 12, 2007

New Mexico State Parks Director Dave Simon says a plan to drill for coalbed methane gas in Raton's Sugarite Canyon watershed could devastate the area's "biological heart" and the effort should be “stopped cold.”

“This is a grave threat to these places,” Simon told about 60 people who gathered recently at Raton's International Bank for a meeting called by the newly formed “Save Our Sugarite” (SOS) citizens’ group. He added he thought the impacts of any drilling for coalbed methane gas would be "significant and extremely negative.”

Coalbed methane gas drilling can allegedly pollute water, impact fish and wildlife, spread noxious weeds, and create air, noise and light pollution, according to research cited by SOS member Pat Walsh. However, she added an EPA report stated such drilling “poses little or no threat” to drinking water.

Parks director Simon noted Raton is “in a difficult legal situation”

because it does not control the mineral rights, and he praised city efforts to protect Raton’s water. However, Simon added that drilling has “the potential to devastate the real biological heart of this wild area,” and it would be “best if (the drillers) were stopped cold. This proposal needs to be defeated with all our effort.”

The city of Raton owns the surface rights of the town’s entire watershed, which straddles the Colorado-New Mexico state line. The Colorado land is managed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife as the Lake Dorothey State Wildlife Area.

The New Mexico side is managed by New Mexico State Parks as Sugarite Canyon State Park. In 2006, Camping Life Magazine named Sugarite as one of the top 10 state parks out of more than 5,000 parks nationwide.

However, Raton does not possess the mineral rights to the watershed. Those rights are held by Denver-based Newmont Mining.

TDC Engineering of Abilene, Texas leased some of the mineral rights and notified Raton it plans to put in five exploratory wells in the southwest corner of Colorado's Lake Dorothey State Wildlife Area. The wells would be west of Segerstrom Creek, which drains into New Mexico's Lake Maloya -- a primary source of Raton's drinking water. Lake Maloya is located in Sugarite Canyon State Park.

TDC wants to drive its vehicles through Sugarite Canyon State Park to reach Colorado, then build a road about 4.5 miles long across the wildlife area to reach the drill site.

Hikers reported finding orange flagging in the area on June 29 and spoke with workmen who said they were marking the proposed roadway. SOS John Davidson of Raton said he had also hiked the area and presented photos of the flagging and views of the state wildlife area during the recent meeting.

The city of Raton has hired lawyer Lance Astrella of Denver to represent the city in negotiations with TDC. The negotiations, which are continuing, are aimed at reaching an agreement between the city and TDC on mitigating the impacts of the drilling and access to the drill site.

Raton Waterworks director Dan Campbell said the city is like other private landowners who do not own the mineral rights and are therefore “unable to stop oil and gas development.” He said the city is negotiating with the drilling company to “minimize impact” and “ensure that the action taken does not harm the water supply,” which he noted comes from a “pristine, virgin watershed.”

“This is the last thing we’d like to see happening,” said Campbell, who sat with Mayor Joe Apache and City Manager Pete Mileta. Campbell added the city planned to “test the impact of the initial wells” to provide “hard data” in case the city wants to modify future drilling operations.

But Sugarite Canyon State Park Superintendent Bob Dye said he was “adamantly opposed” to any drilling in the area and added, “You as a citizens group may be able to do a lot of things the city can’t do.”

SOS has initiated contact with members of the New Mexico and Colorado congressional delegation to explore possible options. SOS organized the July

5 meeting as an informative session and to recruit concerned volunteers.

Meeting attendee Roy Fernandez urged citizens to go “with a strong voice” to any hearings where TDC would be seeking a drilling permit, because “we need to stop this permit.”