December, 2002 -- January, 2003

CONSERVATION NOTES

by Dave Johnson

    Congratulations to the voters of Prowers, Crowley, Bent, Otero and Pueblo counties for resoundingly approving creation of the Lower Arkansas Water Conservation District. The vote demonstrtes that a large majority of the citizens (62%) want to keep Arkansas River water where it belongs—in the Valley. The water speculators whose sole interest is to make a buck and the cities of Aurora and Colorado Springs are sure to oppose this.

    High Plains A&M, the company which has been buying shares in the Ft. Lyons Canal has already filed a frivolous lawsuit as a delaying tactic. I am confident that if the people of the five counties remain united, further attempts to siphon off our water can be beaten back. Pessimists may say it’s too little too late. I say “Better late than never.” Let’s all unite behind the Lower Arkansas Water Conservation District!

  vOther groups up and down the Arkansas are also striving to protect this endangered river. The Arkansas River Coalition in Wichita is a broad-based conservation group, including Audubon members. The Coalition publishes an excellent newsletter which gives many tips on general water conservation issues in addition to specific information about the state of the river in Kansas and Oklahoma. I highly recommend joining this sister group. They may be reached at Arkansas River Coalition, P.O. Box 3056, Wichita, Kansas, 67201.

  vThe Arctic National Wildlife Refuge faces even greater danger since Nov. 5. Much has been written about the threats to the caribou herds, nesting birds and other wildlife. Still, many people might find that threat an unavoidable trade off if oil in the Refuge is really vital to protect our national interests. But is it?

    Consider these facts: All the suspected oil reserves in the Refuge would provide only a six-month supply of oil and this would probably not be available for ten years even if drilling started next year. Given the rate of increase in oil consumption, our dependence on “foreign oil” would increase from 56% to 60% even with maximum production from the Arctic NWR. Furthermore, only 12% of our imported oil comes from the Middle East. More dependable supplies such as Canada, Venezuela and Mexico account for the rest. Russia, which has become our ally, has the world’s largest supply of untapped oil reserves and is trying to develop its reserves and sell us more oil.

    The Arctic NWR will not decrease our dependence on foreign oil or strengthen our national security. If the Arctic is opened to drilling, the environment will loose and the only winner will be Big Oil.

  vThe Bush Administration continues its broad based attack on the environment on many fronts. Now the Administration has refused to ban snowmobiles from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks despite the recommendation of its own EPA. The EPA recommended the ban because of the overwhelming evidence that snowmobiles are major sources of air pollution and major threats to wildlife. The Administration has thrown the environmental community a bone by putting a “cap” of 1100 snowmobiles in the parks per day, starting in Dec. 3, 2003!!

  vThe next two years will see threats to the environment unprecedented since the days of James Watt. We all have to gear up our vigilance to defend our precious and fragile natural world.