First they came for the mule deer. Then they came for the black-footed ferrets. Now the Bureau of Land Management is coming for the fun-loving residents of Craig, Colorado.

In recent months, the BLM has come under criticism for spending more time handing out oil- and natural gas-drilling leases than monitoring the damage that drilling causes to wildlife and land.

Next month, the Bureau plans to auction off oil and gas development leases on 196,000 acres of Colorado land. Forty of those acres sit on the eastern shore of the Elkhead Reservoir in Craig (near Steamboat Springs) where locals and visitors waterski, fish, windsurf - and where the city happens to be building a new recreation area. If the lease goes through, sitting amid the planned boat ramps and picnic tables could be an oil rig or two. "We don't want a gas well drilled in the middle of our park," Craig City Manager Jim Ferree told the Grand Junction Sentinel.

The ferrets feel your pain, Jim.

Photo credit: Basspro.com