In 2010, the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed final Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Little Snake Field Office in northwestern Colorado included protection for the 77,000-acre Vermillion Basin–one of the last remaining big areas of undeveloped habitat in a region rich with fossil fuels. This was a substantial change from the 2007 draft RMP, which proposed oil and gas leasing in the Vermillion. What was responsible for the decision? The Packard Foundation asked Mitch Tobin of California Environmental Associates to consider the question, resulting in a report: “Protecting a Western Icon: The Bureau of Land Management’s Vermillion Basin Decision.” As Mitch is a journalist, this document is more like an in-depth news story than a traditional report, and it contributes to our collective thinking about Western conservation.
