San Miguel County is updating their Natural Resource Land Use Code
Use your voice to support strong code updates for Forestry Practices, Oil and Gas Operations, and Deep Geothermal land use across San Miguel County.
Over the past year, San Miguel County has been going through the process of updating their Natural Resource Land Use Code section. Local land use codes play an important role in ensuring strong environmental protections across our region. In the face of potential rollbacks to federal rules, shifting regional land management plans, and diminishing funding for natural resources management, local codes play a pivotal role in ensuring local environmental regulations are durable and resilient in the face of these ongoing changes.
Right now, there are three Land Use Code updates that YOU can comment on! On September 10, the San Miguel County Planning Commission will consider the draft Land Use Code updates for Forestry Practices, Oil and Gas, and Deep Geothermal. On October 21, these code updates will go before the County Commissioners. We applaud San Miguel County for creating draft versions of these codes that include many strong environmental provisions. And we encourage you to use your voice to touch on a couple of valuable ways in which these codes could be improved! Below, please find our comment guide for submitting a comment to San Miguel County on their Natural Resource Land Use Code updates.
Comment Template:
Dear San Miguel County [Planning Commission: Sept. 9] or [San Miguel County Commissioners: Oct. 21]
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Natural Resource Land Use Code updates. As a community member in San Miguel County, I strongly value the preservation of our natural environment and responsible industrial uses across the County. I appreciate the strong environmental provisions that are present in the Land Use Codes.
In the face of changes at the federal level, including the potential rollback of the BLM’s 2024 Oil and Gas Rule, diminishing funding for the Forest Service, and sidelining of renewable energy in favor of oil and gas development, I urge you to include a couple of key updates that would bolster San Miguel County’s Land Use Code against potential federal changes and rollbacks:
Forestry Practices:
Per Section 6-401 I: I support the implementation of a General Permit to ensure that wildfire mitigation work can go on smoothly and efficiently across the County. I also support stringent permit requirements as well as the careful consideration of Major and Minor Forestry Projects that are not intended for wildfire mitigation.
In section 6-405 H, I support requiring plans to protect rare plant species, including buffers of 100 feet around all rare plant populations.
Deep Geothermal:
I strongly support geothermal exploration in San Miguel County. The proposed draft of the LUC utilizes the same permitting process as Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission, which sets stringent and thoughtful guidelines for geothermal energy across the state. I am in support of the current draft of the LUC udpate.
Oil and Gas Operations:
In the face of possible changes to federal regulations and rulemaking around oil and gas leasing including the potential rollback of the 2024 BLM Oil and Gas Rule, San Miguel County has a unique and important opportunity to codify strong environmental protections, bonding requirements, and public commenting opportunities in the updated Oil and Gas Operations Land Use Code.
On July 22, 2026, San Miguel County Commissioners signed onto an elected officials letter from the Western Leaders Network opposing the BLM Oil & Gas Rule rollback, citing issues including limiting public engagement, shifting cleanup costs to taxpayers, eliminating preference criteria, reducing the lease application fee, eliminating surface owner notification requirements, and more. It is imperative that the County’s updated Oil and Gas Land Use Code include additional protections for our environment and communities should the rollback of this essential federal rule occur. Given the County’s jurisdiction over surface impacts and public comment opportunities, I am in support of the following modifications to the LUC draft:
In section 6-501 E: I support adding a provision that the general public, surface landowners, should receive 30 days of public notice before a scheduled public hearing date for new oil and gas projects.
In section 6-506 A: I support requiring all applicants to file a guarantee of financial security in a form and amount acceptable to the County prior to any site disturbance associated with an Oil and Gas Operation or a Seismic Testing Operation. Doing so would insulate these operations from changing federal policy.
In section 6-506 B: I strongly support additional bond requirements. In the case that the estimated financial assurance required by the ECMC or federal agencies is not adequate, additional requirements will protect the County by ensuring that, in the face of federal policy change, bond requirements will be sufficient to protect against the impacts of oil and gas operations in the County.
Thank you again for the opportunity to comment on San Miguel County’s Land Use Code updates.
Sincerely,
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