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Southwest Colorado Eyeing Gas Boom

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) - Federal officials are reviewing a land management plan that could spark a new gas boom in southwestern Colorado.

San Juan National Forest supervisor Mark Stiles says new technology could allow more than 1,700 wells to be drilled in a shale formation covering parts of Dolores, San Miguel, Montezuma and La Plata counties. That's about double what the federal government considered when it started.

According to the Durango Herald, federal agencies had to write an addition to a 2007 draft federal land management plan for the area that will be released this week and will be open for public comment.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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