How Colorado Cowboys and Conservationists Joined Forces to Stop Drilling

The drilling leases in a pristine corner of Colorado seemed like a done deal. But then an unlikely alliance of cowboys and environmentalists emerged. And things changed.

The members of the group — a self-described ragtag organization that included ranchers, cyclists and snowmobilers — had little in common aside from a desire to protect the expanse, almost a quarter-million acres of public land known as the Thompson Divide. But they ultimately developed a novel legal strategy that helped win a 20-year pause on new oil and gas development across the area.

That strategy could serve as a model for future conservation efforts.

“It’s an incredible story of how it all came together,” said Zane Kessler, the founding executive director of the group, the Thompson Divide Coalition.

The area, in west-central Colorado, overlaps with part of the White River National Forest, one of the most visited national forests in the United States. The Thompson Divide is also home to endangered lynxes and to one of the expansive organisms in the world: the state’s largest Aspen stand, a colony of trees connected by a lateral root system.

The Bush administration started issuing oil and gas leases in the area in the early 2000s in an effort to expand production on public lands. Roughly 80 leases were issued on the Thompson Divide, with dozens more in adjacent parcels of land.

“It happened incredibly quickly,” said Peter Hart, who led the coalition’s legal team. “And it happened at a time when it was the beginning of people developing skills and knowledge to engage in these processes and actually push back.”