DURANGO | The Southern Ute tribe plans to lease 12,000 acres of mineral rights to a tribal-owned production company.
The development will likely mean more horizontal shale-oil drilling that has drawn packed crowds to La Plata County meetings and passionate debate about shale-oil exploration, hydraulic fracturing and the impact they could have on the county’s land, air, water and economy.
According to the Durango Herald (https://bit.ly/18Rdr8U , the drilling activities are outside La Plata county’s land-use jurisdiction. However, as part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ required environmental assessment of the lease, the county was informed and asked for comment about the proposed agreement last month.