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 2019 Lease Sale (3/2019 exact date TBD)

Lease Sale Analysis Comment Period (posted 11/13/2018)

  • Comments are due by 4:00 pm Friday, December 14, 2018. Information on how to comment is available on the March 2019 Oil and Gas Lease Sale ePlanning website with additional information  on the BLM Colorado Oil and Gas Leasing webpage and in the Press Release.
  • According to the press release, CO BLM is proposing to offer 26 parcels, totaling 14,052 acres in Baca, Garfield, Mesa, Jackson, Moffat, Fremont and Rio Blanco counties.
  • The analysis of the parcels is presented as follows:
    • Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) document for 16 parcels in the White River (8,298.25 acres), Little Snake (2,554.85 acres), and Kremmling (866.710 acres) Field Offices. View the DNA document and submit comments on those parcels HERE.
    • Environmental Assessment (EA) document for the Grand Junction and Colorado River Valley Field Offices (5 parcels/1,316.75 acres). View the EA documents and submit comments on those parcels HERE.
    • Environmental Assessment (EA) document for the Royal Gorge Field Office (5 parcels( 1015.15 acres). View the EA documents and submit comments on those parcels HERE.
  • The proposed parcels include all 23 parcels included in the Scoping Notice plus 3 additional parcels in Baca county in far northeast Colorado deferred from the September 2018 sale. None of the parcels deferred from the December 2018 sale are included in these analyses (yet).
  • Significant conservation conflict overlaps for rare and sensitive species include:
    • Designated critical habitat for Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker fish and for Mexican spotted owl.
    • Important habitat for bald eagles, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, greater sage-grouse (including priority habitat), lesser prairie chicken, and white pelican birds and for river otters.
    • Near release sites for black-footed ferrets.
    • Recorded occurrences of several rare species and habitat type
    • Important winter habitat for bighorn sheep, elk, and mule deer and migration corridors for mule deer.
  • Significant conservation conflict overlaps for important natural places include:
    • Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC)
    • Lands identified by the BLM and by Conservation Organizations as having wilderness characteristics
    • Colorado State Wildlife Areas and wildlife management area
    • Areas identified by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program as Potential Conservation Areas
    • Parcels within the North Park and Shale Ridges and Canyons Master Leasing Plan (MPL) areas.
    • Parcels within 1/4 mile of the human-powered recreational footprint identified by Outdoor Alliance
  • Lease sale parcels DNA/EA Comment Period: Google Earth (kmz) | Zipped shapefile.
  • ABI Screen, a spreadsheet showing conflicts between the proposed parcels and important wildlife, wilderness and other resource values.

Lease Sale Scoping (posted 10/1/2018) parcels: Google Earth kmz | zipped shapefile; ABI Screen.

December 2018 Lease Sale (12/7/2018)

Sale Notice (posted 10/26/2018)

  • Protests must be received by 4:00 P.M. on Monday, November 5, 2018.
  • Important information about how to protest is in the Sale Notice. Additional information including links to the Environmental Assessments and Determination of NEPA Adequacy documents are available on the December 2018 Competitive Oil and Gas Lease e-planning website with additional information on the BLM Colorado Oil and Gas Lease Sale webpage and on the December 2018 Competitive Oil and Gas Lease e-planning website
  • Update November 2: BLM Colorado deferred 58 parcels including 74,516 acres from the Dec. 13 oil and gas lease sale. BLM Colorado is deferring parcels that contain big game habitat in cooperation with a request from the State of Colorado to delay leasing to allow consideration of further habitat protections. The State of Colorado had also requested leasing in the North Fork Valley be delayed until the Uncompahgre Resource Management Plan is completed. BLM Colorado is now considering offering 23 parcels on public lands managed by the BLM at the December 13, 2018 quarterly oil and gas sale. This consists of 3 parcels in the Colorado River Valley Field Office (Garfield and Mesa Counties), 2 in the Grand Junction Field Office (Mesa County), 4 in the Kremmling Field Office (Jackson County), 2 in the Little Snake Field Office (Routt County), 10 in the Royal Gorge Field Office (Weld County), and 2 in the White River Field Office (Rio Blanco County).
  • According to the information available (as of 10/26), BLM is proposing to offer 81 parcels/82,863.34 acres with 3 parcels/500.09 acres in the Colorado River Valley Field Office, 14 parcels/19,106.35 acres in the Grand Junction Field Office, 5 parcels/3788.34 acres in the Kremmling Field Office, 4 parcels/28,46.49 acres in the Little Snake Field Office, 12 parcels/5,217.41 acres in the Royal Gorge Field Office, 5 parcels/2830.55 acres in the Uncompahgre Field Office, 34 parcels/43,889.59 acres in the White River Field Office, and 4 parcels/4684.52 acres in both the Little Snake and White River Field Offices.
  • BLM Colorado is moving 142 parcels containing Greater Sage-Grouse habitat totaling approximately 141,478 acres from the December sale. It is expected that these parcels will be analyzed for inclusion in a future sale.
  • Conservation Conflicts Identified:
    • Critical habitat for Colorado pikeminnow
    • Critical habitat for DeBeque phacelia and Parachute beardtongue plants
    • Areas within 4 miles of greater sage-grouse lek sites and areas important for sage-grouse connectivity
    • Cutthroat trout habitat
    • BLM Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs)
    • Areas BLM identified as having Wilderness Characteristics
    • Important habitat for bald eagle, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, and plains sharp-tailed grouse
    • Overall range for Preble’s meadow jumping mouse
    • Likely areas for black-tailed prairie dog colonies
    • Recorded occurrences of rare plants including Colorado hookless cactus, DeBeque phacelia, Fremont’s beardtongue, juniper tumble mustard, Unita Basin gilia, Piceance bladderpod, and White River penstemon.
    • Recorded occurrences of the rare McCown’s longspur bird
    • Potential Conservation Areas (PCAs) important for biodiversity (Calamity Ridge, Cow Ridge, Purgatoire Canyon, and Rare Plants of the Wasatch)
    • Dinosaur Trail Master Leasing Plan (MLP) area
    • Shale Ridges and Canyons Master Leasing Plan (MLP) area
    • Parcels within 10 mile of Rocky Mountain National Park
    • Parcels within 10 mile of Dinosaur National Monument
    • Parcel adjacent to the Black Mountain Wilderness Study Area (WSA)
  • Sale Notice Parcels: Google Earth kmz | zipped shapefile
  • ABI Screen, a spreadsheet showing conflicts between the proposed parcels and important wildlife, wilderness and other resource values.

Environmental Assessment (posted 8/27/2018) Parcels: Google Earth kmz | zipped shapefile (yellow=sale and green=deleted/removed) and ABI Screen.

Lease Sale Scoping (posted 7/2/2018)  parcels: Google Earth kmz | zipped shapefile and ABI Screen, a spreadsheet showing conflicts between the proposed parcels and important wildlife, wilderness and other resource values.

Resources