34 groups call on BLM to delay oil and gas sales

BLM continues to serve oil and gas agenda while shutting out the public, says TWS

Thirty four public interest organizations including The Wilderness Society wrote to acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt today to urge that BLM postpone lease sales of public lands scheduled to start as soon as March. The request comes as news reports confirm that BLM has called back employees to continue to serve oil and gas stakeholders in processing permit applications and related activity.  

While oil and gas interests enjoy favored status, stakeholders and affected communities as well as the general public are receiving no information on upcoming leasing. To date, neither Interior nor the BLM have provided any information regarding the status of upcoming lease sales and associated comment and protest periods. Scoping periods for at least two lease sales were scheduled to commence on December 31 and January 7 for Colorado and New Mexico respectively, but no notices were posted. Additional protest periods are slated to begin in the coming days and weeks, including January 18 in New Mexico, January 24 in Utah, and February 9 in Montana. 

“The shutdown may have deprived the BLM of staff but it does not relieve the agency of its obligation to protect air, water, wildlife and wilderness when conducting oil and gas lease sales on public lands. Of equal concern, the BLM is effectively open only to the oil and gas industry right now,” said Nada Culver, senior counsel at The Wilderness Society. “These lands belong to everyone, and impacted communities and citizens deserve a chance to voice their concerns. The agency should postpone further lease sales until the government reopens to everyone.” 

Last night, US News and World Report reported “the Bureau of Land Management is confirming that employees across the country have been ordered back to work to resume green-lighting fossil fuel development on federal lands.”  

US News quotes one frustrated employee speaking off the record, "When you start picking who you're going to start putting in front of the line, and it's going to start being the millionaires and the oil and gas people, then I'm upset." 

In addition to proceeding with some permitting, as was reported in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the BLM is also issuing leases on tracts that were already sold, which may be inconsistent with the agency’s contingency plan or legal authority. 

The signers of today’s letter note Interior will be in violation of statues requiring meaningful public notice and comment, as well as a September court decision, which confirmed that public involvement requirements of FLPMA and NEPA cannot be set aside in the name of expediting oil and gas lease sales. 

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