LOS  PADRES  FORESTWATCH

PROTECTING OUR PUBLIC LANDSALONG CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL COAST

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AGENCY APPROVES PLAN TO EXPAND OIL DRILLING IN LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST

Forest Service Opens Up 52,075 Acres to New Drilling


Decision Threatens Wildlife, Clean Water,
Wilderness, and Forest Recreation

 

ForestWatch Files an Appeal to Halt the Decision;

Attorney General Also Appeals to Protect the Forest

 

Agency Rejects Appeals; Groups File Formal Notice of Intent to Sue if Agency Doesn't Improve Protections for Wildlife

 

Groups File Lawsuit in April 2007, Temporarily Halting
the Oil Drilling Expansion Plan

On July 28, 2005, the U.S. Forest Service approved a plan that will allow oil drilling to expand into some of the most pristine areas of the Los Padres National Forest. The decision - nearly a decade in the making - could cause widespread impacts to the forest's clean water supplies, recreation, wilderness, and wildlife.

The oil drilling plan allows:

  • 52,075 acres of new oil drilling areas in Santa Barbara and Ventura Co

  • 4,277 acres of surface drilling

  • 12,179 more pounds per day of air pollutants

  • loss of up to 3,532 acres of suitable habitat for threatened & endangered species

  • the killing of up to "a few" California condors

  • 17 million barrels of oil likely to be recovered, less than a day's supply

  • surface drilling right up to the boundary of three Wilderness Areas, plus the Sespe Condor Sanctuary and the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge

  • slant drilling up to the boundary of the Sespe Wild & Scenic River

Sources: USFS FEIS, 2005
USFWS Biological Opinion, 2005

The agency's plan allows drilling to expand across three areas of the national forest covering 52,075 acres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. According to the agency, this new drilling will cause up to 4,277 acres of surface disturbance, including oil derricks and a network of roads, pipelines, transmission wires, and other infrastructure.



The Upper Ojai Valley, one of three areas
targeted for new oil drilling.

One of the new drilling areas is in the Upper Ojai Valley, beginning in Horn Canyon three miles from the Ojai city limits and extending eastward towards the communities of Santa Paula and Fillmore.

The second new drilling area surrounds the upper half of Lake Piru in eastern Ventura County. The third - and largest - drilling area is located along the Sierra Madre Ridge in the Cuyama Valley, in northeastern Santa Barbara County.


A proposed drilling area in Quatal Canyon in the Upper Cuyama Valley.
The plan allows both surface and slant drilling in this area.  Photo © LPFW, Inc.

 

The plan places at risk some of the forest's most popular recreation areas. Surface drilling is allowed right up to the boundaries of three Congressionally-designated wilderness areas, including the Sespe, the Chumash, and the Dick Smith wilderness. The plan also allows surface drilling within a few hundred feet of the San Rafael Wilderness Area.

The plan also allows drilling to occur next to some of the forest's most sensitive habitat areas. New oil drilling could expand up to the boundaries of the Sespe Condor Sanctuary and the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, areas that provide critical habitat for the endangered California condor. There are currently only 56 condors in the Los Padres National Forest.

Water and air quality are also threatened by the agency's new drilling scheme. The plan allows slant drilling beneath a stretch of Sespe Creek that is eligible for Wild & Scenic River designation and is considered an "Area of High Ecological Significance" by the agency. The plan also allows surface drilling around the upper half of Lake Piru, a lake that is already listed as "impaired" by the EPA. Expanded oil drilling will emit 12,179 more pounds of air pollutants per day, according to the agency.

In response to substantial opposition from the public and State of California, the Forest Service's final decision will not allow surface drilling in roadless areas.  While the Forest Service's final decision is considered to be a victory for roadless area protection, the plan still allows surface drilling to occur right up to the boundary of these pristine lands.

Communities surrounding the forest have overwhelmingly demanded that no new oil drilling be allowed on our national forest. The agency received 7,830 comments from the public. A vast majority of these letters - over 99% - opposed any new oil drilling in the national forest.

UPDATE: ForestWatch filed an appeal of this decision on September 15, 2005. Two other national groups - Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity - have joined in the appeal, and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a separate appeal.

In April 2006, the Forest Service denied all of the appeals. ForestWatch recently sent a letter to various federal agencies notifying them of our intent to file a lawsuit. Unless the agencies make improvements to the plan this summer, we will have little choice but to file a lawsuit to protect the forest.

In April 2007, on the heels of one of the worst oil spills in the Los Padres in decades, a coalition of conservation organizations led by ForestWatch filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court.  The lawsuit alleges that the plan violates several of our nation's longstanding environmental protection laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Air Act.  This lawsuit is currently pending and has temporarily halted any oil drilling expansion. We will continue to update this site as the lawsuit proceeds.

 

 

READ OUR APPEAL

Click here to read more about the appeal we filed to protect our national forest from more oil drilling.

READ OUR NOTICE

The agency recently rejected our appeal. Click here to read our notice of intent to file a lawsuit.

READ OUR LAWSUIT

On the heels of a disastrous oil spill in the forest in 2007, we filed a lawsuit in federal court to protect the forest from further drilling expansion.

 

VIEW  DOCUMENTS

Click the button to view the agency's decision document and environmental impact statement.

View Documents
 

 

 

PUBLIC
Opposition

99% of the 7,830 comments submitted by the public opposed any new oil drilling in our national forest.

READ MORE

Here's a partial list of legislators, groups,  and newspapers opposed to the plan:

Congresswoman
Lois Capps

Congressman
Sam Farr

Senator
Barbara Boxer

Senator
Dianne Feinstein

Assemblymember Pedro Nava

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer

Ventura Co Supervisor Steve Bennett

Ventura Co Supervisor
Kathy Long, Chair

Ventura Co Supervisor
Linda Parks

Ventura Co Supervisor
John Flynn

SB County Supervisor Salud Carbajal

SB County Supervisor Susan Rose



Los Padres ForestWatch

Defenders of Wildlife

Center for
Biological Diversity

Environmental Defense Center

Sierra Club

Community Environmental Council

 

SB News-Press

Ventura County Star

Santa Maria Times

READ MORE
 

 

Existing Oil Drilling

A recent computer-aided analysis shows that the Los Padres has the highest level of oil drilling in California, and one of the highest levels in the West.

READ THE REPORT

The Los Padres is already providing its fair share of oil drilling and doesn't need to suffer from even more impacts.
 

 


All material copyright © 2004-2009 Los Padres ForestWatch, Inc.