That call -- which reverses an Army Corps of Engineers decision -- will allow Conoco Phillips to develop an extension of its Alpine oil field on eastern edge of the reserve.
Conoco's request to bridge the river in order to produce more oil simply made sense. The oil company has agreed to mitigation projects to protect the river and also to allow other developers to use the bridge, thus preventing the need for more river crossings.
What Conoco is trying to do is produce more oil very near where it's producing oil now. This is a logical extension of Alpine that takes full advantage of facilities already in place and that promises to increase volume in the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, a goal that has bipartisan political support in Alaska.
The agreement should make good on the Obama administration's stated intentions to support more production from petroleum. The delay has riled critics of both the administration and the Corps of Engineers, but if delay gets us both an environmentally sounder project and more domestic oil production, then the delay was worth it.
From the beginning , this has been a project that could and should be done. May NPR-A produce a lot, and the Colville run clean.
BOTTOM LINE: OK for Colville River crossing makes sense.
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