A plan backed by Gov. Bill Ritter and aimed at preventing drilling on western Colorado national forests will allow 97 leases to be developed, an environmental group said.

The plan drawn up by a task force dealing with drilling on roadless areas in national forests backfired, according to the Pew Environmental Trust. A loophole allows the possibility of drilling most of those leases on the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests, according to the group.

The so-called loophole, however, isn’t a surprise, said a member of the task force, state Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, who said the agreement was backed by environmental groups, “and they’ve been trying to sabotage it ever since.”

The Pew Environmental Group today was to release “Leasing Colorado’s Legacy: New Roadless Plan Opens Backcountry to Drilling.”

Recoverable oil and gas from the leases are small, Penry and the report said.

“There just isn’t a lot (of gas) in play” on the affected lands, Penry said.

Colorado’s national forest lands, however, “could end up as the country’s least protected national forests and become a target for drilling and other development” said Jane Danowitz, public-lands program director for the Pew group.

One area of western Colorado stands out in particular, said Mark Schofield, director of organizing for the Western Colorado Congress. Clear Fork Divide on the Gunnison National Forest contains wildlife corridors and black-bear habitat that needs to be protected, Schofield said.

The report apparently failed to take into account requirements by the roadless task force that there be no surface occupancy on the areas, Penry said. No-surface-occupancy provisions require techniques that allow drilling companies to reach gas reserves by directional, not vertical, drilling.

Ritter deserves credit for sticking with the agreement, Penry said.

Ritter will continue working with the federal government, Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said.

“Our entire approach to land management is one of balance,” Dreyer said.

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E-mail Gary Harmon at Gary.Harmon@gjsentinel.com.