Colorado Upcoming Oil and Gas Lease Sales

The Oil & Gas Lease Sales map below shows parcels proposed to be offered for lease by the Bureau of Land Management. This interactive map shows current and upcoming lease sales and their conflicts with wildlife and natural areas. More information on upcoming leases is shown below the map.

Advice on how to use the map: Zoom in to see conservation conflicts. Click on parcels or conservation conflict areas for more information. Scroll through pop-ups for multiple overlapping areas by clicking on the right triangle/arrow.

March 26, 2020 Lease Sale

Scoping Comment Period (posted 10/1/2019)

  • Comments on the parcels proposed for the March 26, 2020 oil and gas lease sale need to be received by Tuesday, October 15, 2019. Comments must be submitted online through the March 2020 Lease Sale ePlanning website. There is more information about the sale and how to comment in the Press Release and on the BLM Colorado Oil and Gas Lease Sales website.
  • According to the press release and documents, BLM is proposing to offer 39 parcels / 39,256 acres in Jackson, Las Animas, Mesa, Moffat and Rio Blanco counties. BLM is proposing to offer 12 parcels / 16,763.31 acres in the Royal Gorge Field Office, 3 parcels / 1,882.29 acres in the Grand Junction Field Office, 1 parcel / 156.67 acres in the Little Snake Field Office, 22 parcels / 19,455.98 acres in the Kremmling Field Office, and 1 parcel / 998.2 acres in the White River Field Office.
  • Additional parcels that have already been analyzed may be added to the sale in the future.
  • Significant conservation conflict overlaps for rare and sensitive species include:
    • Greater sage-grouse including Priority Habitat Management Areas and areas within 0.6 miles of lek (breeding) sites. Biologically significant units of greater sage-grouse (North Park Colorado, Northwest Colorado, and Parachute/Piceance/Roan Colorado)
    • Other birds: american white pelican, bald eagle and willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
    • White-tailed prairie dog
    • Occurrences of the North Park phacelia (Phacelia formosula) plan that is listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
    • Other rare plants: bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva), North Park phacelia (Phacelia formosula), Rocky Mountain Thistle (Cirsium perplexans)
    • Important winter range and production (breeding) areas for bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, and pronghorn. Migration corridors for elk and pronghorn. A priority region for big game corridors identified by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
  • Significant conservation conflict overlaps for important natural places include:
  • Lease sale parcels scoping Comment Period: Google Earth (kmz) | Zipped shapefile.
  • Lease sale scoping comment period ABI Screen, a spreadsheet showing conflicts between the proposed parcels and important wildlife, wilderness and other resource values.

December 19, 2019 Lease Sale

Environmental Assessment Comment Period (posted 8/13/2019)

  • Comments on the Environmental Assessment for the December 19, 2019 lease sale need to be submitted by Thursday, September 12, 2019. Information about the proposed parcels and comment period is available in the Press Release. Comments must be submitted to the December 2019 Lease Sale Environmental Assessment website. More information is available on the December 2019 Lease Sale ePlanning website. More information about leasing is on the BLM Colorado Oil and Gas Lease Sales website.
  • According to the press release and documents, BLM Colorado is proposing to offer 6 parcels, containing 4,258.59 acres. There are three parcels in Kremmling Field Office in Jackson County (240.00 acres), one parcel in in White River Field office in Rio Blanco County (320.00 acres) and two parcels in Little Snake Field Office in Moffat County (3698.59 acres).
  • Additional parcels that have already been analyzed may be added to the sale in the future.
  • Significant conservation conflict overlaps include:
    • Greater sage-grouse (including priority habitat)
    • White-tailed prairie dog
    • Ferruginous hawk active nest sites
    • Important winter areas for elk, mule deer, and pronghorn
    • Colorado state wildlife areas
    • Parcels adjacent to the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge
    • Parcels in the North Park Master Leasing Plan area
  • Lease sale parcels EA Comment Period: Google Earth (kmz) | Zipped shapefile.
  • Lease sale EA comment period ABI Screen, a spreadsheet showing conflicts between the proposed parcels and important wildlife, wilderness and other resource values.

Scoping Comment Period (posted 7/1/2019): Google Earth (kmz) | Zipped shapefile | ABI Screen

September 26, 2019 Lease Sale

Sale Notice (posted 7/26/2019)

  • Protests must be received by Monday, August 26, 2019. The Sale Notice (pdf document) has important information about how to protest starting on page 9. More information about the sale is in the Press Release and on the September 2019 Lease Sale ePlanning website.
  • According to the Press Release and Sale Notice, BLM Colorado is planning to offer 83 parcels / 78,691 acres. Most of the parcels are in north central and northwest Colorado in Jackson, Routt, Moffat, Rio Blanco, and Garfield Counties in the Kremmling, Little Snake, and White River field offices. A few parcels are in Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Weld Counties in the Royal Gorge Field Office.
  • According to the press release ” This lease sale includes 75 parcels totaling approximately 69,058 acres of previously deferred Greater Sage-Grouse habitat. Parcels located within Greater-Sage Grouse habitat will comply with the March 2019 Greater-Sage Grouse Resource Management Plan Amendment. .”
  • Significant conservation conflict overlaps for rare and sensitive species include:
    • Bald Eagle
    • Black-tailed and white-tailed prairie dog
    • Black-footed ferret
    • Cutthroat trout
    • Greater sage-grouse (including priority habitat)
    • Lesser prairie chicken
    • Preble’s meadow jumping mouse (outside critical habitat)
    • Migration corridors, winter concentration areas, and severe winter range for elk, mule deer, and pronghorn.
    • Plant listed as Endangered: North Park phacelia
    • Other rare plants: matroot penstemon, pale blue-eyed grass, Rocky Mountain bluebells
    • Other rare birds: Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, lesser prairie chicken, long-billed curlew, white pelican, willet
  • Significant conservation conflict overlaps for important natural places include:
  • Lease sale parcels sale notice: Google Earth (kmz) | Zipped shapefile.
  • Lease sale sale notice ABI Screen, a spreadsheet showing conflicts between the proposed parcels and important wildlife, wilderness and other resource values.

Environmental Assessment Comment Period (posted 5/14/2019): Lease sale parcels EA Comment Period: Google Earth (kmz) | Zipped shapefile. Lease sale EA comment period ABI Screen.

Scoping Comment Period (posted 4/2/2019): Lease sale parcels Scoping Comment Period: Google Earth (kmz) | Zipped shapefile.
Lease sale Scoping Comment period ABI Screen. Habitat impacts of the proposed parcels, a spreadsheet showing total acres for selected conflicts.

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