It’s not often that you get a bird’s eye view of the world’s tallest mesa, but earlier this month, many were able to do so thanks to Aspen-based EcoFlight and Citizens for a Healthy Community in Paonia, Colorado.
This year, EcoFlight offered ten flights over the North Fork Valley and Grand Mesa to view areas with low to high potential for future oil and gas production. The route over Grand Mesa, which rises to an elevation of over 10,000 feet, showcased its 500 square miles of majestic scenery and over 300 lakes.
“It’s a completely different experience to see the areas that serve as our watershed and recreational area in the region and enjoy all the benefits that the Grand Mesa provides us,” said Dea Jacobson, a longtime Cedaredge resident who took the early morning flight and provided some insight into the mesa from a local perspective.
“The Grand Mesa is in and of itself, geologically and historically, an unstable land mass because it’s covered by lakes and beneath those lakes are aquifers and forests. It’s just a big sponge that supplies water to the north end of the valley, from the North Fork up to Grand Junction and then Cedaredge with the drainages that come off the mesa and irrigate the farms and the springs that serve both irrigation and domestic water,” Jacobson said.
The Grand Mesa’s vital waters feed the Colorado River, provide biodiversity, and provide outdoor recreation. The mesa is currently located in an area with high development potential for oil and gas and is at risk of re-leasing by the Bureau of Land Management.
Jacobson hopes that the BLM will conduct a geological study of the mesa before approving any development: “The decisions that need to be made before any type of drilling on the mesa will be based on a more comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the geological formations on the mesa and their impacts on the water.”
Natasha Leger, executive director of Citizens for a Healthy Community, and Bruce Gordon, pilot for EcoFlight, provided commentary on the 45-minute flight, which departed from the North Fork Valley Airport outside Paonia. Thanks to a donation from the West Elk Community Fund, the two nonprofits were able to organize this year’s educational flight for community members, including water managers, new and old residents, hikers, media, farmers and elected officials.
“The purpose of EcoFlight this year was specifically to raise awareness of the areas surrounding the North Fork Valley in Grand Mesa, which the Bureau of Land Management has identified as having high development potential for oil and gas production,” said Leger, executive director of Citizens for a Healthy Community.
The flight also included an aerial survey of parts of Gunnison County, where about 100,000 acres are currently leased. Flight participants also toured the low- and medium-potential areas of the North Fork valley floor. With increasing global warming, especially in Delta County, the flights are taking on new importance, according to Leger.
“The impact of climate change and the impact it has on our water resources, that unites us all as a community. And that’s why we need to take action that is conscious and recognizes that we are at zero point of climate change.”
Leger says it’s also important for residents to know that the BLM recently adopted new rules for leasing oil and gas properties that favor areas like the Upper North Fork Valley and Grand Mesa.
“We are committed to ensuring that the BLM blocks all of these minerals from oil and gas leasing to protect the watersheds and landscapes of the North Fork Valley and Grand Mesa,” Leger said.
If the area covered by EcoFlight were fully developed, the Bureau of Land Management estimates there would be 958 wells drilled in the region’s watersheds and mountainous areas. Leger said two years ago, the International Energy Agency said the United States currently has enough oil and gas leases to meet future demand without additional leases.
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