DENVER - The first part of Gov. Bill Ritter's plan to reform oil and gas drilling in the state got final approval Monday after a minor skirmish that set the stage for the major battle to come.

Senators approved six people that Ritter appointed last summer to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission as he changed the oversight panel from one dominated by industry insiders to one whose membership includes environmental, wildlife and community activists.

Three of the nominees, who have been serving on the commission since July, were contested and two were confirmed without winning a vote from any of the 15 Republicans in the Senate.

The makeup of the commission, whose nine members also include two of the Democratic governor's Cabinet members and one holdover appointed by former Republican Gov. Bill Owens, was a main issue of two bills passed last year. The laws also require the commission to minimize adverse impacts of drilling on wildlife.

But the biggest changes are coming March 31, when the new commission is expected to release proposed regulations to update the 30-year-old state rules that govern oil and gas drilling.

Though some rules will deal with new technology that allows for drilling with less environmental impact, Republicans have heard the new rules could go as far as outlawing drilling during mating seasons for animals like prairie dogs and prairie chickens.

Oil and gas exploration is a quickly growing $23 billion industry in Colorado, employing 70,000 workers who make an average of $60,000 a year. The Department of Natural Resources, which approved 2,245 permits for drilling in 2003, OK'd 6,368 last year and is expected to allow more than 7,000 this year.

Ritter stoked fear in a number of industry leaders when he said in a Colorado Public Radio interview just before his 2007 inauguration that he was not comfortable with the annual growth in permits. His emphasis on renewable energy sources as part of his "New Energy Economy" and his nomination to the commission of two people who have made statements against the oil and gas industry exacerbated the rising tension.

If the commission intends to try to halt the surge of drilling permits, that could cripple one of Colorado's top industries just as the state, like the rest of the nation, slips into a recession, said Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray. Resource exploration companies that have invested heavily in Colorado already are beginning to put more money into Nebraska and Kansas because they feel the regulations there will be less cumbersome, he said.

Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, said, however, that Ritter was responding to a call from state residents demanding more environmental accountability from the industry. And Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, brushed aside the warnings that the commission would drive industry out of the state, betting his paycheck Monday that there will continue to be a rise in drilling permits next year.

Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said that the inclusion on the commission of people such as soil conservationist Richard Alward and Garfield County Commissioner Tresi Houpt - the two nominees who got only Democratic support - will add balance to the industry's oversight board. This broadening of viewpoints will allow for greater environmental stewardship without hurting the state's economy, he said.

"What the governor wants is for the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to take into account impacts to wildlife habitat, to public health, to our air quality and water quality, and that's what the commission and the rules call for," Dreyer said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: (303) 837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com