Some 40 Western environmental groups are asking the incoming Obama administration for a fundamental shift in the way the federal government manages energy production in Colorado and the West.

In a detailed, 17-page letter, the groups cite a litany of Bush administration actions they say have put energy development too far ahead of other land uses, including wilderness and wildlife protection. Much of the letter identifies locations at risk in Colorado.

"We urge the Obama administration to restore balance to the management of our public lands and resources and to ensure that oil and gas development does not compromise the West's water, air, wildlife and rural communities," the letter said.

The letter, written in December but released Monday, puts more pressure on the nominee for Interior secretary, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, who must juggle the demands of many environmental and conservation groups with the desire of an industrial coalition for continued access to federal lands.

An advocate for energy development said the letter and other recent documents from environmental activists show their real interest is in shutting down industry on public lands.

"They're truly feeling their oats after this election," said Greg Schnacke, of the Golden-based pro-drilling group Americans for American Energy. "They've got the wherewithal to dramatically curtail, if not shut down, huge tracts of land . . . that otherwise would be available to energy development."

Activists want changes in policies at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which, under President Bush, made numerous internal shifts designed to ease approval for oil and gas drilling and harder for land managers to consider other, competing factors when leasing land to energy companies. In Colorado, the groups seek:

* Suspension or cancellation of leases issued on 55,000 acres atop the Roan Plateau near Rifle, as well leases OK'd by the U.S. Forest Service to drill in the HD Mountains roadless area near Durango.

* Protection of sensitive lands in the Vermillion Basin in northwestern Colorado. The BLM is revising land management plans for the area, and activists want the agency to "work with local and national conservation groups to channel drilling away from citizen proposed wilderness areas."

* An executive order directing federal agencies to coordinate with the Western Governor's Association to make wildlife protection a bigger priority when considering oil and gas development. Big game herds are in decline, and several species, including the sage grouse, are close to becoming endangered, the letter said.

* A withdrawal of commercial oil shale leasing rules issued by the BLM last November and a review of its approach to oil shale. The federal government "has acknowledged that oil shale development will compromise a major source of water . . . destroy important wildlife habitat and contribute substantially to climate change," the letter says.

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048