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Mitigating development impacts: "Individual well plugging at the time of economic depletion should be encouraged, with site and access road reclamation to follow shortly thereafter. Companies should be encouraged to remove all structures from the site. If power poles are owned by a third party, industry should work with the owner to have them removed in a timely manner. Reclamation of production sites may involve caliche removal, disking and fertilization, and reclaiming with native species. The Working Group recommends that current BLM and New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (NMOCD) protocols and seed mixes for site reclamation should be evaluated and adjusted to better provide for the needs of the LPC. Reclamation should be carried out to establish an appropriate mixture of native grasses, forbs and shrubs, with a long-term goal of meeting
vegetative standards. The following section, Conservation Strategy 2.3, also deals with reclamation and restoration, focusing on previously developed areas now out of production." |
