National Parks Conservation Association and Sierra Club Optimistic that Park Service Will End 30 years of Unrestricted Oil and Gas Development in Our National Parks
|
PRESS RELEASE
|
|
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | |
| Date: | January 26, 2010 |
| Contact: | Bryan Faehner, National Parks Conservation Association, 202.419.3700 Craig Segall, Sierra Club, 202. 548.4597 |
Statement from Bryan Faehner, National Parks Conservation Association Associate Director for Park Use on regulations governing oil and gas development in our national parks: The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) and the Sierra Club applaud the National Park Service for announcing plans to end unregulated oil and gas development within the National Park System. For decades, loopholes in drilling rules have allowed more than half of the nearly 700 established wells within the system to operate without oversight by the Park Service. Currently, oil and gas drilling directly impacts 13 national park sites. The Park Service has also identified 35 additional parks that could be impacted by drilling operations in the near future, including Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Appalachian Trail. Nearly 1500 members and supporters of the Sierra Club and NPCA also registered comments in favor of updating these regulations to ensure they preserve our national park heritage and consider the inherent value of resources above the ground as well as beneath it. # # #
In formal comments filed on Monday, January 25, 2009, on the proposal, both the Sierra Club and NPCA strongly urge the Park Service to set the gold standard for regulations governing oil and gas development in our national parks.
These efforts are key to ensuring that our national parks remain a lasting legacy for our children and grandchildren well into their second century and beyond. To view NPCA's comments as submitted, click here.
