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| OIL DRILLING PLANS FOR LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST? AN URGENT ALERT MARCH 19, 2002 |
| The Los Padres National Forest, which includes much of the coastal mountain land in Southern and Central California, has been studied to see about increasing oil and natural gas drilling. This study appears to have begun back in 1995, and the release date for the letter announcing the public input segment has a December 14, 2001 date on it. But the fact of the matter is that the story broke in the media barely one month before the April 19, 2002 closing date for public commentary. It seems to be another Forest Service power play. Yeah, yeah, we could spend all our time trying to catch the weasels, but screw that. The news media relays estimates that if private oil drilling companies sucked every last drop out of the public land, for their own personal profit, it might be enough to supply the nation for "7 to 10 days". At the expense of the public land. The classic statements coming along with this news pointed out that California has had recent energy problems, and that "California needs to start carrying its share of the weight." This is a stupid statement just on the face of it (anybody who can verify who exactly said it - please let vagabondsurf.com know), irrelevent, and lame. How would letting private oil and natural gas companies drill and dry out national goverment (public) lands enable California to "start carrying its share of the weight?" SO WHAT CAN YOU DO? First, go to the Los Padres National Forest Home Page, and do one of two things: download the Adobe document for comments and send it in ASAP, or review the study in detail and then send the comment form in. It's a lengthy government study so it will take time. Depending on where you live you might start by looking at one of the 5 sectional maps and see what they propose. Map 4 covers the Rincon area north; 5 has Ventura County, etc. Time really is important. If you don't think so, then why did the whole study and comment period come up and almost pass with so little fanfare? Public meetings were held in places like Frazier Park, Bakersfield, Oakview, and Goleta. While it is true Goleta is a coastal community with Forest Service offices, Santa Barbara County is notorious for clannish thinking when it comes to the outside world. Get it moving and make your feelings known. vagabondsurf.com will try to keep more information coming. One public figure who seems to be a spearhead in the resistance is Congresswoman Lois Capps. Her district was recently gerrymandered, so at this point I don't know who is in her district, but this is a national as well as regional issue, and she could use all the support and feedback she can get. Nels Norene vagabondsurf.com |
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