In 2011, an oil company announced plans for a new well and pipeline at the base of Caliente Mountain, inside the boundary of the Carrizo Plain National Monument. The Bureau of Land Management eventually approved the well, and ForestWatch appealed the approval to the agency’s state director. After a long meeting in Sacramento, the state director upheld our appeal and overturned the approval of the oil well.
It’s not the first time that oil development threatened the sanctity of the National Monument. In 2006, an oil tycoon filed plans to explore for oil on 3,500 acres inside Carrizo Plain National Monument. After ForestWatch demanded a full environmental impact study, the oil company withdrew its plans and the oil leases expired. The area is now forever protected from future oil development.
And in 2008, another oil company filed plans to explore for oil along a five-mile stretch of the Carrizo Plain. The area is known for its stunning wildflower displays and endangered wildlife habitat, but the oil company planned to use dynamite and “thumper trucks” to send shockwaves through the fragile ecosystem in its quest for underground oil deposits. ForestWatch led a coalition of ten local and national conservation groups that collectively demanded a full environmental study. The oil company eventually withdrew its plans to explore for oil on the valley floor.
