Conservationists are fighting the drilling war on two fronts: The AuSable's Mason Tract and the Pigeon River Country. An exploratory gas well is proposed on Huron National Forest land just east of the Chapel, in the state-owned Mason Tract along the South Branch of the AuSable. In the Pigeon, Shell Oil Co. plans to sell its holdings, abandoning its court-stipulated 1980 commitment to eliminate all sign of its drilling andproduction before leaving the forest.
Some of Michigan's major conservation players have stepped up to block bothactions. Though alerted to the developments, Gov. Granholm has been silent. In an unusual, perhaps precedent setting, development, it looks like the Sierra Club will team up with a couple of hook-and-bullet giants---Anglers of the Au Sable and Trout Unlimited-- on the Mason Tract threat. The Dept. of Natural Resources leased the mineral rights to Savoy Energy, of Traverse City. The DNR retained the mineral rights in a land exchange with the national forest to consolidate state ownership in the Mason Tract. DNR officials now say the lease was a mistake. The gas well would be on federal land, just outside the Mason Tract and within hearing distance of the South Branch. The state Dept. of Environmental Quality can reject issuing a drilling permit. Anglers of the AuSable president Rusty Gates says Granholm should, and can, intervene. She, he explains, has direct control over the DEQ. "It will do what she says. So this is her call." Gates reports his members are "flooding" DEQ director Steve Chester with emails. The address is chesters@michigan.gov. The phone number is 517-373-7917. Huron National Forest Mio district ranger Mike Weber has also asked for comments. He can reject the well. The email address is mjweber@fs.fed.us. The phone number is 989-826-3252.
If the well is allowed, Gates points out it will result in around-the-clock clamor from pumps, new roads, heavy truck traffic and potential brine and other toxic spills. More scary, he says, is the likelihood it will open the door to dozens of additional wells. "The peace and solitude we treasure will be lost," Gates says. "The silence of a quiet night will be shattered by the sounds of diesel engines. It will carry miles up and down stream. One will be hard-pressed to hear the sounds of a whippoorwill at dusk. "The historical significance of the Mason Tract to thousands of users from around the world should be weighed against the value of an insignificant amount of gas. If rilling is allowed, the damage will be forever, opening the area to plunder, as has happened everywhere gas fields have been developed." Even if the exploratory well hould be dry, Gates points out the roads and scars will remain, attracting motorized mayhem. In the Pigeon, the Michigan Resource Stewards have stepped into the forefront of the fray, with a resolution demanding that the state require full implementation with the 1980 court order allowing limited oil and gas development by Shell.
Retired state environmental enforcement director conservation officer Capt. Bill Murphy, president of the retirees group, says they have identified the Pigeon as today's number one conservation issue." The Stewards' Pigeon River resolution, adopted at its June 11 meeting and drafted by former Pigeon River Country State Forest upervisor Ned Caveney, notes that the 1980 court order mandates Shell to extract oil and gas as rapidly and safely as possible "to achieve an early as feasible end to production and final restoration of sites." It calls on Shell "to complete all plans, fulfill all agreements and keep all promises prior to selling their Michigan interests." Gaylord conservationist Dave Smethurst, a leader in negotiating the 1980 court-ordered accord and a member of the Pigeon River Country Advisory Council since it was formed, contends the PRC lands "should be exempted from Shell's proposed sale of its Michigan assets and all production equipment should be removed and the sites estored." Gov. Granholm, Smethurst adds, "must play a role in continuing the vision of Gov. Milliken in protecting the Pigeon River Country." Under the court order, the Natural Resources Commission can reject a Shell bid to transfer its PRC interests to another operator and hold it in compliance with the 1980 stipulation.
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