So, Is There Anywhere You Can’t Drill?
By Lily Auliff

In February, the National Park Service (NPS) issued a permit that allows oil and gas drilling along Padre Island National Seashore. A second permit to drill there is under consideration. The USDA Forest Service recently approved a permit for drilling 12 oil wells in Sam Houston National Forest, foregoing the public environmental assessment process required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for any proposed major action that could significantly affect the environment.

Although drilling on public lands is nothing new, Brandt Mannchen of the Houston chapter of the Sierra Club believes land rigs in public forests and parks will become more and more common in the coming years – unless we act now.

Needs Assessment
In Texas, less than 6 percent of land is owned by the federal and state governments, according to the General Land Office. Yet NPS, the Forest Service, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD), and the Texas Forest Service (TFS) all allow, if not encourage, drilling on their communal acres.

“Do we really need to drill on these tiny, little areas and disturb and damage them too?” Mannchen asks. “My feeling is that we could leave some of these small areas alone.”

Why Restrict Drilling?
The potential for drilling-induced environmental damage is vast, says Mannchen. Spills, explosions, fires, and blowouts are possible. Building well pads, pipelines, and access roads requires land clearing and habitat destruction. Placement of structures may alter hydrology, affecting groundwater, surface water, wetlands, and flooding patterns. Roads may fragment habitat and allow easy access to unwanted guests, such as poachers and off-road vehicles. Noise and aesthetics affect both wildlife and visitors to public lands.

Of course, responsible management can greatly reduce environmental impact, Mannchen explains. As well, a thorough analysis of the proposed project, such as the type outlined by NEPA that includes an environmental assessment and a public comment period, can help ensure resource protection.

Unprotected Lands
The Forest Service manages the national forests, such as Sam Houston National Forest. The agency manages its lands with a “multiple uses and benefits” strategy, and “for the sustained yield of renewable resources such as water, forage, wildlife, wood, and recreation,” reads their website. The Forest Service issues “special use” permits, which allow a variety of activities including drilling, mining, logging, and grazing, with restrictions.

National parks, such as Big Thicket National Preserve and Padre Island National Seashore, are managed by the National Park Service (NPS). In contrast to the Forest Service, NPS’ mission statement reads to “preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations,” Therefore, NPS should be less inclined to issue permits for projects that might do damage, argues Mannchen. However, this does not always hold true, as was recently seen with the controversial permit for drilling along Padre Island National Seashore.

Both the Forest Service and the NPS allow limited public input during the permitting process. Projects that have the potential to significantly impact the environment should also trigger the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which allows closer public scrutiny. However, the Forest Service recently approved a permit for 12 wells in Sam Houston National Forest without the NEPA environmental assessment process, stating the drilling was for privately owned mineral and that the agency had to allow access.

The System Real Estate Office at Texas A&M University is charged with managing mineral leases for state forests owned by the Texas Forest Service and other land in the university system. Although there is no formal public process involved, that office emphasizes that strict policies surround drilling procedures and the Board of Reagents may deny a lease for any reason.

Texas Parks and Wildlife offers mineral leases on state parkland, without any formal public input process.

Mineral Rights
Whether an agency issues a permit or how stringent their restrictions are on drilling operations depends somewhat on who owns the mineral rights in question. If an agency actually owns the mineral rights and leases them to a private company, the agency often feels it has more authority to designate where, when, and how drilling can take place. When a third party, such as a drilling company, owns the mineral rights on a piece of public land, state and federal offices sometimes feel their hands are tied, explains Mannchen.

However, Mannchen says the agencies have more power than they claim. “They have the right to turn most of this stuff down if they so desire,” he says. “I think part of it is where the agency first came from and what their mindset is.”

Mannchen holds up Big Thicket National Preserve as an example to follow. Although many of the mineral rights in the preserve are owned by third parties, NPS thoroughly regulates all activities there. “They do a pretty darn good job of trying to ensure the drilling doesn’t occur on the preserve. If they can, they try to get them to slant drill off the preserve,” he explains. “If they have to drill inside, then they try to put them in the area that is going to be least damaging, and put a bunch of stipulations on them.”

Simple Solutions
Even if we all agree that stopping drilling on public lands is the right thing to do, how could we get there?

First and foremost, Mannchen would like to see federal and state agencies use their power to say no. “Sometimes we might even need to say, ‘You’re going to do so much damage that we’d just as soon buy your mineral rights from you,’ even if it is going to cost us millions of dollars,” he professes. In order to make this happen, agencies may need to reassess their definition of “public interest.”

Mannchen also advocates an aggressive federal program to purchase non-federal mineral rights on public lands. “As long as those mineral rights are outstanding to another party, the agencies feel, whether rightly or wrongly, that they’re very constrained in what they can prevent from happening,” he explains. “It’s just as important to buy the mineral rights as it is to buy the property.”

Mannchen also suggests that U.S. legislators reconsider allowances that were made years ago. For example, the bill that established Big Thicket National Preserve 28 years ago includes a clause that permits oil and gas drilling.

Without some sort of policy changes, Mannchen believes drilling on public lands will become even more ubiquitous. In the past five years, he has seen proposals for seismic survey projects on almost all public lands in the region cross his desk. And that can only mean one thing – the oil and gas companies are preparing to drill.