AURORA, Colo. — Colorado’s oversight agency for oil and gas operations will decide this week whether to approve a sprawling fracking plan strongly opposed by community members.

Civitas, one of Colorado’s biggest oil and gas operators, hopes to drill more than 160 wells east of the Aurora Reservoir, neighborhoods and schools. The proposal is known as the Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan, named for the state-owned prairie lands where the operator wants to install its well pads.

The plan has sparked worries among many community members living nearby. To counter it, they created a group called Save the Aurora Reservoir (STAR) on Facebook. Almost 1,800 people have joined their group.

In a first for Colorado, the community group convinced the state’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) to hold local hearings for community members to share their concerns. The hearings began last week and will end this Wednesday.

In those hearings, the ECMC decided to recognize the community group STAR as an “affected” party, allowing them to testify despite the operator’s objections.

Hundreds of community members have attended the hearings, in person and online. Their testimony has included concerns about potential health risks and environmental harms if the drilling plans are approved.

Kevin Chan, who lives near the proposed wells and helped create STAR, said their top concerns are potential air pollution, water contamination and proximity to a superfund site.

“We are really just striving for one thing, and that is to keep our community safe,” Chan said. But the state’s process for reviewing the plan has been challenging for community members to understand and participate in, he said.

“What people don’t understand about these types of projects is that they’re very large, and if they come into your community,” Chan said, the operator has vast financial and legal resources to navigate the state’s requirements.

“We are the underdog in this fight,” he said. But “it’s better to try to do something than not do anything at all.”

He said it’s frightening to know a decision is looming.

“I would hope that [the state commissioners] see the flaws in the plans and they deny it as is,” he said.

Dozens of environmental groups in Colorado also oppose the proposal. They sent a letter to Governor Jared Polis urging him to encourage the state commissioners to reject it.

Civitas filed the Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan with the state two years ago. Since then, the operator has made changes requested by the ECMC and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which said it was concerned that fracking surrounding and underneath a nearby superfund site “could lead to a significant unintended release of hazardous substances.”

If the state commission approves the proposal, it would be the fourth comprehensive area plan approved in Colorado. The operator would still be required to file applications for each of its well sites. However, the state has approved all previous well-site applications by CAP recipients.

Civitas is proposing to drill the wells on the Lowry Ranch, owned by Colorado’s State Land Board, which leases its land and mineral rights to raise funds for public schools.

Civitas already operates on the Lowry Ranch. In 2020, It acquired an existing lease for several wells from the energy giant ConocoPhillips and included those operating wells in its proposal to drill more wells on the property.

Most of the funds raised by the State Land Board, about 80%, come from oil and gas production. Over the last 15 years, the State Land Board has collected $1.5 billion for public schools from oil and gas operations.

Civitas estimates its proposed fracking on the Lowry Ranch could generate about $640 million for public schools in the first 15 years of operations, including both royalties paid to the State Land Board and property tax revenues, according to a statement provided to Denver7.

Civitas also estimates the Lowry Ranch operations could help fund Arapahoe County more broadly with more than $400 million in public revenues.

The Washington tribes that agreed to provide wolves to Colorado’s reintroduction program have rescinded their offer, forcing state wildlife officials to seek a different source—a search that has proved difficult in the past.

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation said they would no longer provide the wolves after speaking with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, which has reservation land in Colorado. The Washington tribes—which had been expected to be a major source for the next round of the reintroduction effort—withdrew their agreement in a June 6 letter to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

“It has come to our attention that necessary and meaningful consultation was not completed with the potentially impacted tribes,” wrote Jarred-Michael Erickson, chairman of the Colville business council, in the letter. “Out of respect for the sovereignty, cultures and memberships of Indian Tribes in Colorado and neighboring states, who may be impacted by this project, the Colville Tribes cannot assist with this project at this time.”

Colorado voters in 2020 narrowly decided to reintroduce gray wolves and mandated that state wildlife officials do so by Dec. 31, 2023.

The plan detailing how CPW will execute the reintroduction effort states that the agency should release a total of 30 to 50 wolves within the next few years, a target it plans to reach by relocating 10 to 15 wolves every winter.

The controversial vote has caused deep frustration in Colorado’s ranching communities, where people say the wolves will negatively impact their businesses and ways of life. Support for the reintroduction primarily came from urban Front Range communities, while the rural areas where wolves would live opposed the measure.

Since the first December releases, wolves have killed or injured at least 14 cattle and nine sheep—including eight sheep killed or injured last weekend.

Documents from the Colville Tribes’ business council show that the council discussed the issue on June 6 after learning Colorado officials “failed to consult” with the Southern Ute Tribe about the wolves.

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe has concerns about the wolves’ potential impact on livestock, deer and elk herds and their use of the Brunot Area hunting rights reserved for tribal members, tribal leadership said Thursday in a statement.

Tribal leaders said they would continue to work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife “to establish a framework for working together that enables the state to implement its reintroduction program while simultaneously recognizing the sovereign authority of the Tribe on tribal lands and the interest shared by the Tribe and the State in the Brunot Area.”

So far, CPW’s monthly maps showing where the wolves have roamed have indicated activity in the central and northern mountains, far from the Southern Utes’ southwestern Colorado reservation. But plans call for the next round of releases to occur farther south.

Colorado wildlife officials struggled last year to find a state or tribe willing to provide wolves for reintroduction here. The three states identified as ideal for sourcing wolves—Idaho, Montana and Wyoming—all rejected Colorado’s request for wolves.

CPW spokesman Joey Livingston declined to discuss source negotiations and said the agency would issue a statement when it finds a source.

“We continue speaking with other potential sources of wolves,” he wrote in an email, “and will take great care in implementing the plan to create a self-sustaining wolf population while minimizing impacts on our landowners, rural communities, agricultural industries and partners.”

In October, Oregon agreed to provide up to 10 wolves over the coming winter. Ten wolves captured in Oregon were released in Colorado in December.

In January, CPW signed the agreement with the Colville Tribes for up to 15 wolves during the 2024–2025 winter.

Colorado wildlife officials have also talked with Washington state officials about potentially capturing wolves there. While Washington officials previously said they could not provide wolves for the first release, they indicated they were open to further conversations.

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