{"id":647272,"date":"2018-11-20T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T15:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=647272"},"modified":"2018-11-22T07:40:49","modified_gmt":"2018-11-22T14:40:49","slug":"in-nm-drilling-overwhelms-agency-protecting-americas-lands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/11\/in-nm-drilling-overwhelms-agency-protecting-americas-lands\/","title":{"rendered":"In NM, drilling overwhelms agency protecting America&#8217;s lands"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_647283\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-647283\" src=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-50-771x514.jpg\" alt=\"Wayne Smith and J.W. Todd\" width=\"771\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-50-771x514.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-50-336x224.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-50-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-50-1170x780.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-50.jpg 1386w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robin Zielinski \/ for the Center for Public Integrity<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wayne Smith (foreground) and business partner J.W. Todd have objected to the way the federal government manages oil production on public land that ranchers also lease in southeastern New Mexico.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>CARLSBAD, N.M. \u2014 Wayne Smith was hardened to a certain level of chaos here, on land the American public owns. But even he was incredulous as he surveyed an area he leases for grazing, now cleared of grass and cluttered with above-ground pipelines, a drill pad for multiple wells and other oil and gas infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI still pay a grazing lease right there,\u201d Smith said in May, pointing to a government map showing there should be no more than 17 acres of development on the site instead of the 125 acres he saw in front of him. \u201cNow, what\u2019s my cow going to eat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t what\u2019s supposed to happen on publicly owned land the federal government oversees. The Bureau of Land Management can lease the same property to more than one party at once, but if New Mexico ranchers request it \u2014 as Smith did \u2014 the agency\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5029388-07-25-2003-IM-No-NM-2003-056-Oil-and-Gas.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has instructed<\/a>\u00a0its field offices to contact them before such a build-up occurs. Smith said no one notified him. The BLM declined to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Violations, from oil spills to haphazard land restoration, are becoming more common in this hotbed of oil and gas activity, according to ranchers and conservation groups. One sign of the area\u2019s increasing appeal for drilling: A September federal oil and gas lease sale brought in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/pressreleases\/they-said-it-couldnt-be-done-trump-admin-dominates-billion-dollar-oil-and-gas-sale\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">record-breaking<\/a>\u00a0$972 million. A local BLM official, Jim Stovall, has admitted his team doesn\u2019t have the resources to enforce all the rules on the books, according to people who heard his remarks.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This story comes from the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apps.publicintegrity.org\/blowout\/us-oil-public-lands\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Center for Public Integrity<\/a>, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative media organization in Washington, D.C. Support their work <a href=\"https:\/\/give.publicintegrity.org\/campaign\/blowout-inside-americas-energy-gamble\/c140649\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Fixing these problems isn\u2019t the Trump administration\u2019s priority. Instead, it\u2019s working to speed up oil and gas permitting and open tens of thousands of additional acres to drilling here.<\/p>\n<p>For years, the industry in New Mexico has had outsize access to local BLM officials \u2014 federal employees relying on the private sector for everything from money to expertise. Now, it\u2019s getting assistance from Washington.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to make the BLM a better business partner for the oil and gas industry,\u201d Michael Nedd, then-acting director of the agency, said last year at the Carlsbad Mayor\u2019s Energy Summit.<\/p>\n<p>Conservationists, ranchers and others worry that allowing more drilling without addressing the problems already created by ramped-up production could threaten one of the most biologically diverse deserts in the world and scar the land so it can\u2019t be used for other purposes afterward. As the Trump administration calls for \u201cenergy dominance,\u201d some here fear their way of life will become collateral damage.<\/p>\n<p>The conflict is happening against a backdrop of record U.S. production of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/dnav\/pet\/hist\/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&amp;s=MCRFPUS1&amp;f=M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">oil<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/dnav\/ng\/hist\/n9070us2A.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">gas<\/a>, juiced by demand from international markets that federal rule changes opened up to American firms earlier in the decade. Much of what\u2019s being sent abroad comes from the Permian Basin, a geologic formation in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico that includes about 2 million acres of land and 3 million acres of minerals such as oil and gas managed by the BLM around Carlsbad. In New Mexico, production is occurring ever closer to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, a United Nations\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/whc.unesco.org\/en\/list\/721\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">World Heritage Site<\/a>\u00a0with more than 119 caves and 33,000 acres of desert wilderness, threatening air quality and the habitats of endangered birds.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_647285\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-647285\" src=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-54-771x514.jpg\" alt=\"Flare\" width=\"771\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-54-771x514.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-54-336x224.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-54-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-54-1170x780.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-54.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robin Zielinski \/ for the Center for Public Integrity<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A flare burns atop a drill pad on land near Carlsbad that Wayne Smith leased for ranching before his death in October. The development covered seven times more acreage than the Bureau of Land Management said would be used, Smith said in May.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>An industry group that calls its close relationship with regulators an appropriate effort to help the BLM work more effectively says accelerating permitting will bring much-needed jobs and money to the area. Federal and state officials tend to see it the same way. New Mexico is heavily dependent on oil and gas revenue, and the permitting process, some say, has been hijacked by anti-development interests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTexas was blessed, not just with a larger portion of the basin, but also with no federal lands,\u201d Ken McQueen, cabinet secretary of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department of New Mexico,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/naturalresources.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/6.6_mcqueen_testimony.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told<\/a>\u00a0members of Congress in June. \u201cIn Texas you can have a permit and a rig on location quicker than you can fill out the paperwork to drill a well on federal acreage in New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But people are using that land for other purposes, too. The Smiths, for instance, have ranched here for generations. They own property, but leasing public land is a key part of their cattle operation \u2014 true of many ranchers in the area. Before Wayne Smith died in October at age 47, he kept calling the BLM, asking for help \u2014 trying to make the system work.<\/p>\n<p>He wasn\u2019t getting anywhere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t stop anything that\u2019s happening now,\u201d he said about five months before his death from undetermined causes. \u00a0\u201cWe can only survive. And there\u2019s a point where survival is not there anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_647286\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-647286\" src=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-51-771x514.jpg\" alt=\"Public land\" width=\"771\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-51-771x514.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-51-336x224.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-51-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-51-1170x780.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-51.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robin Zielinski \/ for the Center for Public Integrity<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Public land near Carlsbad is cleared for oil and gas development. Wayne Smith, who leased it for ranching before his death in October, said he never received notification of the construction there.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>The once-in-a-generation opportunity<\/h3>\n<p>Downtown Carlsbad looks almost like a child\u2019s diorama. The sky is huge and bright blue, with clouds as fluffy as cotton balls, and the buildings \u2014 few more than three stories high \u2014 leave plenty of room to appreciate the natural backdrop. It\u2019s a small city in the Chihuahuan Desert, and it feels that way.<\/p>\n<p>But a messier reality keeps jutting in. The sign warning, \u201cUS 285 South Subject to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kob.com\/new-mexico-news\/nm-senate-house-approve-funding-to-stabilize-giant-sinkhole-in-waiting\/4785612\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sinkhole<\/a>\u00a01000 Feet Ahead,\u201d erected because a brine well for oil and gas operations created a cavern underground that could collapse. The flames of flares, orange against the night sky as they burn off excess gas, contributing to air pollution and climate change. The above-ground pipelines snaking along the reddish-brown soil.<\/p>\n<p>More is coming.<\/p>\n<p>Every 15 to 20 years, the BLM can reconsider how swaths of public land can be used \u2014 what parts should be protected and where various business activities should be allowed. The agency\u2019s Carlsbad field office is doing that now.<\/p>\n<p>Among the BLM\u2019s 33 field offices, it\u2019s already one of the five most active for federal onshore oil and gas permitting. More than half the available oil and gas minerals are already leased, according to an analysis by The Wilderness Society. Now it is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eplanning.blm.gov\/epl-front-office\/eplanning\/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=dispatchToPatternPage&amp;currentPageId=90928\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">proposing<\/a>\u00a0to open nearly 86,000 additional acres \u2014 about the size of the nearby Guadalupe Mountains National Park \u2014 to development, including oil and gas.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>As justification, the BLM cited a 2017\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/presidential-executive-order-promoting-agriculture-rural-prosperity-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">executive order<\/a>\u00a0from President Donald Trump to \u201cremove barriers to economic prosperity and quality of life in rural America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The BLM said it expects the plan would lead to about 15,600 jobs within 20 years. That\u2019s almost 2,500 more jobs than it thinks would be created under the current leasing scheme.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is in the hottest oil and gas area of the country,\u201d said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, a trade group. \u201cIt\u2019s going to garner a lot of interest from industry \u2026 and environmental groups, many of which want to shut down oil and gas development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration\u2019s changes reflect a broader trend to undo Obama-era environmental protections for public lands, including a rule that aimed to reduce greenhouse gases and toxic air pollution from industry flaring. More than half the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpo.gov\/fdsys\/pkg\/FR-2018-09-28\/pdf\/2018-20689.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">flaring<\/a>\u00a0of gas on federal and Indian land occurs in New Mexico and North Dakota, according to the BLM.<\/p>\n<p>Agency officials in both Washington and New Mexico declined to answer specific questions for this article, instead releasing a short statement saying they are \u201ccommitted to sustainably developing our Nation\u2019s energy and natural resources.\u201d Activities on federal land in New Mexico supported more than 78,000 jobs and generated $14.9 billion in the 2017 fiscal year, the BLM\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5029286-BLM-Public-Lands-Statement.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote<\/a>, without explaining how it calculated the numbers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough balanced management, the BLM develops resources while maintaining healthy ecosystems, ensuring access for recreational opportunities, and preserving cultural resources and iconic landscapes,\u201d the agency wrote in its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5029286-BLM-Public-Lands-Statement.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">statement<\/a>\u00a0to the Center for Public Integrity.<\/p>\n<p>The BLM\u2019s plan to expand drilling areas could have long-lasting effects. Some are global \u2014 increasing planet-warming greenhouse gases worsens drought and other natural disasters \u2014 but other consequences are strictly local.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the area regulated by the field office rests upon a porous limestone known as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ntc.blm.gov\/krc\/uploads\/294\/CaveKarst-%20OilGas-Intro-%20051508.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">karst<\/a>. Instead of being encased in layers of sand or soil that act as natural filters, water in karst aquifers flows through caves and cave-like passageways, allowing pollutants to move farther and faster. The field office has known for years, thanks to an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026616-Oil-Well-Dye-Tracing-2009.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">internal study<\/a>, that drilling in these areas could lead to contamination of water supplies. But Jim Goodbar, the BLM employee who conducted that study before retiring at the end of 2017, said it left unanswered key questions about which areas are most at risk. He told the Center for Public Integrity the agency never approved his requests to fund additional studies.<\/p>\n<p>The BLM does have some regulatory protections for karst areas. But it\u2019s allowing more drilling in this sensitive landscape without understanding how impacts could vary by location. Experts say this puts the area\u2019s already scarce water supply at risk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou screw up and it could have really serious \u2014 life-threatening, potentially \u2014 repercussions,\u201d said George Veni, executive director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_647287\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-647287\" src=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-20-771x514.jpg\" alt=\"George Veni\" width=\"771\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-20-771x514.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-20-336x224.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-20-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-20-1170x780.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-20.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robin Zielinski \/ for the Center for Public Integrity<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">George Veni, executive director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, stands above a stream that flows out of Parks Ranch Cave near Carlsbad. The cave is an example of karst, a porous limestone.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Carlsbad field office received nearly 100 more applications to drill during the first 10 months of the 2018 fiscal year than in all of fiscal 2017,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5030478-Carlsbad-APDs-Received-Since-Jan-2008-7-30-18.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">records<\/a>\u00a0released under a Freedom of Information Act request show \u2014885 applications\u00a0total. And while there is a backlog in the field office\u2019s queue, in part due to computer software problems, permitting is speeding up.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the BLM is hard-pressed to keep up with an oil boom that\u2019s one of the biggest the area has ever witnessed. Stovall, the district manager overseeing Carlsbad and another field office, acknowledged at a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026620-Carlsbad-Roundtable-Invite.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">meeting<\/a>\u00a0hosted by a think tank and a conservation group in May that the Carlsbad office doesn\u2019t have enough money or staff to enforce all the regulations for activity occurring on the land it manages, according to five people in attendance.<\/p>\n<p>BLM officials are so overwhelmed that they have given out conflicting numbers on their permitting activities. For example, the BLM provided the Center for Public Integrity\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5030242-FOIA-APD-Approved.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">data<\/a>\u00a0through a public-records request showing that in fiscal year 2016 its Carlsbad field office approved fewer than 400 applications for drilling. Nedd, with the BLM, said at the Carlsbad summit last year that the field office had approved\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/239114959\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">910<\/a>\u00a0in the same period, while another BLM official a few months before said the office\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5030226-BLM-State-Director-Amy-Leuders.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">approved<\/a>\u00a0just over 800. The agency didn\u2019t respond to questions about these and other discrepancies.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5030479-CFO-Enforcement-4-4-2013-to-4-4-2018.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Documents<\/a>\u00a0the BLM provided to the Center through a public-records request show no penalties levied for nearly 95 percent of oil and gas violations identified by the Carlsbad office over a five-year period ending in April. This assumes the agency is accurately recording its enforcement activities. It wouldn\u2019t clarify.<\/p>\n<p>The Carlsbad field office has signaled its priorities through staffing: As of April 2017, only 15 of 98 people in the office were assessing proposed oil and gas projects\u2019 impacts on wildlife, range land and other natural resources, a requirement under the National Environmental Policy Act. By this year, the office had grown to 106, but the number of resources staff appeared to be about the same, lists provided to the Center through a public-records request show.<\/p>\n<p>The office needs that information \u201cto inform the decisions that are being made,\u201d said Nada Culver, senior counsel and director of The Wilderness Society\u2019s BLM Action Center. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to believe that can happen if there\u2019s that much of an imbalance in the staffing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fears about inadequate reviews are well founded, recent history suggests. In late 2016, the Carlsbad field office approved a major project allowing Chevron to drill more than 400 wells on nearly 9,000 acres of federal land. The office,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026589-NPS-November-2016-Hayhurst.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">disregarding<\/a>\u00a0National Park Service concerns about the nearby Carlsbad Caverns, said the project wouldn\u2019t have a significant effect on the environment. According to conservation groups\u2019\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026667-Hayhurst-MDP-SDR-12-22-16-Final.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">appeal documents<\/a>, the BLM also kept the process secret; only because of an anonymous tip did the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, The Wilderness Society and other groups find out about the plan. Chevron declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>In a 2017\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026664-Hayhurst-BLM-Clarification-Letter-02-06-2017.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter<\/a>\u00a0to those conservation groups, the field office reiterated its commitment to public input in its decision-making.<\/p>\n<p>But in January the Trump administration sent a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.blm.gov\/policy\/im-2018-034\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">memo<\/a>\u00a0to BLM field offices, eliminating a required 30-day public comment period before land is leased. And in June, the BLM issued a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.blm.gov\/policy\/ib-2018-061\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bulletin<\/a>\u00a0directing field offices to skip in-depth environmental assessments for oil and gas projects whenever possible \u2014 something the industry asked for.<\/p>\n<p>This \u201ccalls into question the adequacy of the process and how much they are putting a thumb on the scale in terms of energy dominance,\u201d said Brent Keith, senior policy advisor for The Nature Conservancy.<\/p>\n<p>The industry disagrees. The administration is simply directing the BLM to follow the law and bypass duplicative reviews, oil and gas groups said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a prudent step that would allow BLM to be more effective and timely in processing applications and permits,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5029360-NMOGA-Statement-Public-Lands.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote<\/a>\u00a0Robert McEntyre, a spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, which has more than 1,000 members.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_647288\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-647288\" src=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-38-771x514.jpg\" alt=\"Pump jack\" width=\"771\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-38-771x514.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-38-336x224.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-38-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-38-1170x780.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-38.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robin Zielinski \/ for the Center for Public Integrity<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pump jack operates in Carlsbad.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>A helping hand<\/h3>\n<p>As it struggles to keep up with demands here, the BLM has sought assistance from an outside source that\u2019s been happy to oblige: the oil and gas industry. Deep ties between the two predate the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p>During the last boom in 2014, the N.M. Oil and Gas Association\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026593-MOA-NMOGA.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">donated<\/a>\u00a0$800,000 to the BLM\u2019s state office in Santa Fe to help plug holes created by Washington budget cuts. The BLM used the money to hire more employees in the state, then reported to the trade group how many of these \u201cNMOGA\u201d positions and certain other agency jobs in New Mexico were filled, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026594-NMOGA-Status.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documents<\/a>\u00a0the Center obtained through public-records requests.<\/p>\n<p>The agreement was for only one year. But the trade group\u2019s disproportionate access to the bureau continues to this day. The oil and gas association has created \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5028205-Email-Thread-011-Message-1-Attachment-001.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">working groups<\/a>\u201d for its members to discuss bureau policy, like the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026614-NMOGA-SENMPLC.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">land use planning process<\/a>\u00a0the Carlsbad field office is working on now. BLM officials regularly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026689-NMOGA-Meeting-Write-Up.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">attend<\/a>\u00a0the meetings, according to current and former employees and documents\u00a0obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n<p>The BLM would not comment on the matter or say whether these meetings are open to the public. McEntyre, with the oil and gas association, said most of the meetings the trade group holds are open only to its members. In some cases, he said, parts of these events are open to non-members.<\/p>\n<p>A sportsman\u2019s group representative who got wind of the meetings asked BLM district manager Stovall last December if he could attend one that was scheduled for January, according to emails\u00a0released through public-records requests to the environmental group WildEarth Guardians and shared with the Center. Stovall, who said in internal emails to BLM staffers that he planned to go,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026670-NMOGA-Attendance.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">never responded<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Some companies, including\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026720-Quarterly-Mtg-Devon.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devon Energy<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026729-Oxy-Quarterly-Meeting.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Occidental,<\/a>\u00a0have separate, quarterly meetings with staff in Stovall\u2019s district \u2014 to discuss development plans or offer help to the agency. Emails show Stovall has gone to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026732-Oxy-Quarterly-Meeting-Dinner.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dinner<\/a>\u00a0with company officials the night before some of those meetings. The BLM declined to make Stovall available for an interview.<\/p>\n<p>The industry has also recruited from the BLM for its own leadership \u2014 prompting an internal\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.doioig.gov\/sites\/doioig.gov\/files\/OICO110027I.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">investigation<\/a>\u00a0in one case. A 2013 review by the U.S. Department of the Interior\u2019s Office of Inspector General, after former BLM official Steve Henke was hired to lead the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, found that Henke might have violated federal law and agency policies by failing \u201cto act impartially in performance of his official duties\u201d and inappropriately accepting gifts and meals from outside sources. Henke, who couldn\u2019t be reached for comment, told\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eenews.net\/stories\/1060042442\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">E&amp;E News<\/a>\u00a0in 2016 that the inspector general\u2019s report was \u201cpolitical\u201d and denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>In managing lands, the BLM must sort through conflicting ideas about what, exactly, is in the public interest. Giving one industry lopsided access can lead to decisions that are, or seem to be, skewed, legal experts said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_647289\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-647289\" src=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-13-771x514.jpg\" alt=\"Truck\" width=\"771\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-13-771x514.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-13-336x224.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-13-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-13-1170x780.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Carlsbad-13.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robin Zielinski \/ for the Center for Public Integrity<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A truck stops at a site with four wells in Hobbs.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIf it appears they\u2019re not acting impartially, then it undermines public confidence in the process,\u201d said Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel at the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog group based in D.C.<\/p>\n<p>The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and some current and former BLM officials say there\u2019s nothing nefarious about their interactions. Field office staff need to meet frequently with oil and gas companies because they have a significant impact on the land, an office employee told the Center on condition of anonymity because of a ban on speaking to the national media. Companies also have the expertise to advise the BLM how to address problems, current and former officials said.<\/p>\n<p>The BLM\u2019s work is \u201cintegral\u201d to oil and gas production in the state because much of it occurs on federal land, wrote McEntyre, the spokesman for the oil and gas association.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNMOGA and our members have a vested interest in how BLM performs its work, and it only makes sense that producers, as their largest customers, would work collaboratively to safely produce energy in New Mexico,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Jesse Juen, who signed the $800,000 donation agreement with industry when he was the BLM New Mexico state office director, said the agency needed the money to beef up enforcement and compliance. The arrangement was carefully vetted, said Juen, now a board member of the Public Lands Foundation, a nonprofit whose members are largely current and former BLM employees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never viewed the effort as catering to industry, but looked at it as an opportunity to help better manage the public lands on all fronts,\u201d Juen wrote in an email to the Center.<\/p>\n<p>But Mark Squillace, a professor at the University of Colorado Law School, found the document memorializing the donation problematic. He pointed to a box the New Mexico oil and gas group checked on the donation form, stating it didn\u2019t have business in front of the BLM, including permits or leases. If some of its members did, the group did not note it. If members did have business with the agency at the time, this form would be \u201cat best, misleading, and at worst, fraudulent,\u201d according to Squillace, who served as a special assistant with the Interior Department\u2019s solicitor\u2019s office during the Clinton administration.<\/p>\n<p>The irony, Squillace said, is that the government can recover permit-processing costs, including for environmental assessments, through fees from applicants. A donation shouldn\u2019t be necessary, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe way this plays out is that these organizations are in the position of appearing to do a favor for the government,\u201d Squillace said. \u201cBut it\u2019s hard to avoid the conclusion that it\u2019s being done in a way that pushes the BLM to support the [oil and gas industry\u2019s] agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association said it gave the money because the Obama administration \u201cfailed to support local BLM offices.\u201d The donation followed applicable guidelines and was intended to be used for staff and technology at the Carlsbad field office to help meet required processing deadlines and improve agency performance, McEntyre wrote in the association\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis should serve as a model,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The Center identified at least two\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026592-MOA-ND.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">other oil and gas associations<\/a>\u00a0that have made similar donations to the BLM. One, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026591-MOA-OKOGA.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association<\/a>, said in a written statement that the average permit processing time in the Oklahoma field office has dropped significantly since the donation was made, without preferential treatment for members of the trade group or \u201cimproper influence on regulators.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Struggling to adjust<\/h3>\n<p>Carlsbad is best known for its namesake caverns, part of a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/cave\/learn\/nature\/geologicformations.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fossil reef<\/a>\u00a0that 265 million years ago formed the coastline of an inland sea. Inside the park\u2019s Big Room, among the largest cave chambers in North America, backlit rocks jut out from above and below, eerie and otherworldly. Aboveground, the views are similarly spectacular, a desert wilderness of weathered rocks covered in yellow grass, dotted with flowering cacti.<\/p>\n<p>But development isn\u2019t far off. Flares on the side of the road are less than 10 miles away.<\/p>\n<p>The National Park Service said \u201cexcellent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/cave\/learn\/nature\/airquality.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">air quality<\/a>\u00a0is critical\u201d for the area around the caverns, and it\u2019s begun using a portable monitor to detect ozone \u2014 a type of air pollution that\u2019s bad for sensitive plants and people\u2019s lungs \u2014 as oil and gas activities increase. In 2016, the agency warned in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/5026588-NPS-August-2016-Hayhurst-Comments.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter<\/a>\u00a0to the BLM that the park was at a tipping point; as drilling moved closer, staffers worried about nitrogen emissions that would harm native plants and wildlife. The agency also expressed concerns that light pollution from these operations puts at risk the park\u2019s population of bats.<\/p>\n<p>Drilling will hurt the local economy in the long term because it will dissuade tourists from coming, said Ernie Atencio, the New Mexico senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. Carlsbad is the gateway community for both the caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Park, which together had some 745,000 visitors in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s plenty of support for drilling here. But, Atencio said, \u201csomeday we will run out of oil. Do we really want to ruin all of these other resources and special places that have taken millions of years to develop for the short-term benefit of oil and gas?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hunters report seeing less game on public lands than they used to, and the acreage on which they can hunt has shrunk, said John Cornell, the New Mexico field representative for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. The National Park Service and conservation groups worry that vulnerable species, like the Mexican spotted owl, could see their habitats destroyed. And ranchers, even those who have benefited financially from oil and gas operations on their land, say they are getting overrun in the fossil-fuel rush. Smith started a business to help his fellow ranchers deal with problems, such as companies cutting fences, causing cattle to scatter.<\/p>\n<p>Smith\u2019s business partner, J.W. Todd, supports drilling. He likes the idea of \u201cenergy freedom\u201d the Trump administration is pitching \u2014 but not how it\u2019s playing out.<\/p>\n<p>He wants to own a ranch. After years of traveling for work, he\u2019s getting closer to that goal and now leases one near Carlsbad. Most evenings he sits with his wife and son in their yard and watches the sun set. It\u2019s his idea of paradise: \u201cI always envisioned myself being a cowboy out in the West, where you can ride for days and just see grass and countryside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Todd knows oil and gas production is only expected to grow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the magnitude is what they say it will be,\u201d he said, \u201cwe won\u2019t be able to adjust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>Photojournalist Robin Zielinski contributed to this article.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Bureau of Land Management is making it easier to produce oil and gas on federal acreage. In southeastern New Mexico, it can&#8217;t even keep up with what&#8217;s already happening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":647283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[119,116],"class_list":["post-647272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-energy-policy","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647272"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":647293,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647272\/revisions\/647293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}