BLM proposes oil-drilling leases near Zion National Park

No oil and gas leases have been issued on public lands in Washington County for a decade, but that could change June 15 when the Bureau of Land Management proposes to auction two parcels just west of Zion National Park.

Conservationists and some local residents quickly denounced the proposed leases, identified recently in a draft environmental assessment analyzing 23 proposed leases covering 28,463 acres in BLM's Color Country District, lands administered by the St. George and Richfield field offices.

The leases would straddle the Kolob Terrace road a few miles north of Virgin. Zion visitors use the road to access the park's northern highlands and Kolob Reservoir, and often camp along it when they can't find a place to camp at the crowded campgrounds in Zion Canyon.

"There isn't a single producing well in Washington County and this is not the place to start," said Cory MacNulty, a program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association.

Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/news/4816545-155/blm-proposes-oil-drilling-leases-near-zion