[Coalition_for_valle_vidal] Please Thank Udall and Wilson

[Jim O'Donnell]

> Valle Vidal Supporters,

As most of you know, last Thursday (September 15th) Rep. Tom Udall  
introduced a bill into the House of Representatives that will give  
permanent protection to the Valle Vidal.  You can read the text of the  
bill here:

VALLE VIDAL PROTECTION ACT
http://www.tomudall.house.gov/pdf/ACF6C0F.pdf

If you haven't already, please send a big THANK YOU to Rep. Udall for  
his work on our behalf.  You can email him here:

http://www.tomudall.house.gov/feedback.cfm? 
campaign=Udall&type=Helping%20You%20

or call him at: 202-225-6190

While you're at it also thank Rep. Heather Wilson (see article below)   
and re-itterate that drilling is incompatible with the vision for the  
VV, and that she should support Udall's legislation.  Email Wilson at:

  http://wilson.house.gov/Contact.asp

or call her at: 202-225-6316

Please everybody, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.  Continue to demand our  
elected officials protect the Valle Vidal!!  DONT LET UP!



> Heather Wilson opposes drilling in Valle Vidal
> print | email this story
>  
>  By ASSOCIATED PRESS
> September 12, 2005
> ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - Rep. Heather Wilson has become the first Republican  
> congressional delegate from New Mexico to openly oppose drilling in  
> the Valle Vidal.
>  "There are some places that because of their outstanding  
> recreational, science and wildlife attributes, exploration should not  
> occur," she wrote in comments to the U.S. Forest Service. "The Valle  
> Vidal is one of those places."
>  Wilson serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
>  In early August, she toured the Valle Vidal and the eastern 40,000  
> acres under consideration for coal-bed methane drilling, first by  
> airplane, then by foot.
>  New Mexico Oil and Gas Association president Bob Gallagher said he is  
> disappointed with the timing of Wilson's comments.
>  Forest officials are taking comments on how the land should be  
> managed. A final decision won't be made until the fall of 2008.
>  "I think we ought to wait until those detailed scientific studies are  
> completed until we come to a conclusion," Gallagher said.
>  Wilson seems to keep open the possibility for future drilling with  
> less invasive techniques, though.
>  "Coal-bed methane development using current exploration techniques is  
> incompatible with this use," she wrote.
>  Today's drilling technologies are "still too invasive to be  
> compatible with other uses of the land," she wrote.
>  Gallagher said Wilson has always been supportive of the oil and gas  
> industry.
>  He sided with her in saying that maybe the drilling techniques  
> haven't been developed.
>  The 100,000-acre land hosts the state's largest elk herd and is a key  
> watershed for the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the state fish.
>  Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said he has prepared draft legislation that  
> would permanently block energy development on the Valle Vidal. He said  
> he also is seeking bipartisan support to introduce it to the House.
>