Colorado groups launch billboard campaign targeting oil, gas industry

GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado — Conservation groups are raising questions about Colorado's oil and gas industry by putting up billboards linking drilling with harmful effects on wildlife, air quality and land.

The statewide campaign by Colorado Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance and other groups also includes newspaper ads.

One billboard along Interstate 70 in western Colorado shows a deer silhouetted against a backdrop of rigs and wells with the caption: "Where the deer and the antelope played."

The groups are urging the Legislature to pass new oil and gas regulations.

Kathy Hall of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, a trade group, says drilling and environmental concerns aren't mutually exclusive.