montanafreepress.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n<\/p>\r\nThe breathtaking view from the rim above Unaweep Canyon is what Erik Molvar remembers best from his trip last spring to western Colorado. Surrounded by the heady perfume of pinon and juniper, he saw red-rock cliffs rising from the green valley and heard the gentle music of dusk settling on the wild landscape of the Uncompahgre Plateau. Then a jarring thought spoiled his reverie.\r\n
<\/p>\r\nOil and gas rigs could fill this scene by the next time he returned.\r\n
<\/p>\r\nThe day before, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had finalized a long-term management plan for the area that reflected the Trump administration\u2019s \u201cenergy dominance\u201d priority, not the wild landscapes overwhelmingly favored by the more than 2,500 Coloradans who\u2019d sent comments to BLM. \r\n
<\/p>\r\nThe Uncompahgre plan, which applies to 676,000 terrestrial acres and nearly 1 million acres of subsurface mineral rights, is just one of dozens of decisions made under the oversight of the agency\u2019s de facto director, William Perry Pendley<\/a>.\r\n<\/p>\r\nMolvar, who leads the conservation group Western Watersheds Project, said public lands like Unaweep Canyon should remain undeveloped to help people understand how healthy ecosystems look and to address climate change. Otherwise, he said, \u201cwe\u2019re going to have a planet that is a dystopian nightmare to live in, and we\u2019re not going to be able to fix the damage that we\u2019ve done.\u201d\r\n
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