Group appeals Forest Service oil and gas decision Western conservationists want the U.S. Forest Service to reconsider a decision they say opens up tens of thousands of acres to oil and gas development in a northern New Mexico forest. The Santa Fe National Forest amended its land and resource management plan in August to give forest officials more guidelines for dealing with oil and gas exploration and development on forest land that borders the San Juan Basin, one of the largest natural gas fields in the nation. Forest Supervisor Dan Jiron said his decision doesn't authorize any ground-disturbing oil and gas activities, but it spells out stipulations such as prohibiting surface disturbance on steep slopes and in roadless areas that must be followed if the Bureau of Land Management were to issue leases in the area. WildEarth Guardians claims the decision clears the way for the BLM to lease more than 113,000 additional acres of the forest and with any lease comes a right for an oil or gas company to develop that lease....