craigdailypress.com

Craig — U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard is scheduled to be in Craig on Aug. 17 for a 7:30 a.m. Town Hall meeting to speak with residents at the Moffat County Board of County Commissioners at Craig City Council Chambers.

One main topic of discussion will be the Vermillion Basin, Allard said in a conference call Wednesday afternoon.

"This is going to be a routine town meeting," he said. "I suspect that the county commissioners will share with me their concerns on Vermillion Basin. They have had a lot of local planning on Vermillion Basin, and they're not very happy right now. ... The locals feel like they're being undermined.

"The reason for having this gathering : is to hear from the local county commissioners, as well as residents in the area to hear what they have to say."

Allard said topics could range beyond Vermillion Basin, based on what the community brings to the meeting.

The Vermillion Basin debate has been an issue since the Bureau of Land Management began looking at its proposed Resource Management Plan, part of which includes the role of potential oil and gas development in the area.

Vermillion Basin became more of an issue after Colorado Department of Natural Resources Director Harris Sherman recently wrote a letter to the BLM, stating the Vermillion Basin be kept off limits to oil and gas for the lifetime of the next RMP, which could last 15 to 20 years.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter was reported to have taken a flight to the Vermillion Basin. This upset the county commissioners, as Ritter did not contact any local elected representatives about this flight or to seek information about the Vermillion Basin. In response, the commissioners wrote a letter to Ritter, to which Ritter has responded (see Dan Olsen's Page 1 article).

Steve Wymer, a spokesman for Allard, said the senator's trip is in part due to the governor's stance.

"The issue is more about the governor's opposition," he said. "The senator is just going there to be there in any way he can, and (the trip is) not so much about an agenda. The point is to hear from them."

Jerry Raehal can be reached at 824-7031, ext. 204, or jraehal@craigdailypress.com