NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL & MCINNIS SUPPORT ALLARD’S EFFORTS TO PROTECT FUNDING FOR COLORADO RURAL COMMUNITIES AND STUDENTS

December 20th, 2007 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Colorado Congressional Delegation’s senior member, U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), received a letter today from former Colorado U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell and former Colorado Congressman Scott McInnis regarding the Naval Oil Shale Reserve lands on the Western Slope.

“We are concerned that recent comments from other members of the Colorado delegation who were not serving in Congress at the time that the legislation passed have misinterpreted the 1997 Transfer Act, which conveyed the Naval Oil Shale Reserve lands from the Department of Energy (DOE) to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM),” wrote Nighthorse Campbell and McInnis. “As the authors of this legislation, we feel we are in the best position to make clear our intent in that legislation.”

“We were further dismayed to hear that some Members of our delegation are opposing your attempts to ensure that Colorado sees the State’s fair share of mineral development royalties that are currently flowing into a special fund in the Treasury set up by the same legislation,” continued the former lawmakers. “This transfer was necessitated by the recognition of the fact that the BLM was in a better position to manage the land and had far more experience in administering mineral leasing than did the Department of Energy. We never intended to place the vast federal resources that underlie these lands off-limits to production.”

Allard has voiced his frustration that members of the Colorado Congressional delegation have seemingly used this important legislation as a bargaining chip in disagreements regarding the development of regulations for future energy development on the Western Slope.

“It’s time to put Colorado first and stop playing political games,” said Allard. “Closing down or delaying responsible energy development only exacerbates our energy shortfalls. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake for our local communities and we must not allow partisan differences in Congress to endanger the funding accumulating in the U.S. Treasury account from oil and gas leases we’ve already issued on the Western Slope.”

“In my entire Senate career, I have never witnessed opposition by members of the Colorado delegation to legislation that so obviously helps our state,” continued Allard. “It’s a shame that these funds are not already protected for rural communities on the Western Slope. Coloradans should be able to expect their representatives in Congress to support local schools and communities instead of using these funds as a political bargaining chip. I ask my colleagues to put good policy over politics.”

Nighthorse Campbell and McInnis’ letter is attached.

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