Montana 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 for more detail. Select the layer list icon in the upper left, expand and turn on conservation_conflicts and other layers and sublayers. 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.

July 2024 Lease Sale

Draft Environmental Assessment (Posted 2/26/2024)

  • The comment period on the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) runs through Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Information on how to comment, additional documents, and a link to an electronic comment form are available on the Montana/Dakotas July 2024 Oil and Gas Lease Sale ePlanning website (click on Home on the left panel for instructions and click on Documents or Participate Now for the comment link). Additional information is available in the Press Release and general information is available on the Montana-Dakotas BLM Oil and Gas Leasing website.
  • BLM is proposing to offer 27 parcels/5,574 acres in Montana and North Dakota:
    • Βureau of Land Management Surface: five (5) parcels on BLM surface in Richland and Roosevelt counties in Montana (887.34)
    • Fee (Private) surface otherwise known as split-estate: eleven (11) parcels on Fee surface in Big Horn, Blaine, Liberty, Richland, Rosebud and Roosevelt counties in Montana (3,155.33 acres). Two (2) parcels are on Fee surface in McKenzie and Mountrail counties in North Dakota (308.91 acres).
    • Dakota Prairie-Grasslands Administrative Boundary: five (5) parcels on USFS surface in Slope County, North Dakota (935.38 acres).
    • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Garrison Dam/Lake Sakakawea Project Administrative Boundary: five (4) parcels on USACE surface in Mountrail and Dunn Counties, North Dakota (287.5 acres).
  • Conservation conflicts identified include:
    • Greater sage-grouse habitat (6 parcels/1,134 acres in Priority Habitat – all 5 parcels in North Dakota that are in Greater Sage-Grouse habitat are in priority habitat)
    • Inventoried Roadless Areas (all in ND)
    • Mule deer, pronghorn and whitetail deer winter distribution areas identified in Montana
    • Fawning and feeding habitat for mule deer identified in North Dakota
    • Piping plover critical habitat
    • Land within 10 miles of the Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
    • Inventoried Roadless Areas (all in North Dakota)
  • Summary information about conflicts including conflicts in North Dakota can be found in the Upcoming Lease Sale Tracker Google sheet.
  • Lease Sale Parcels Draft EA (Montana and North Dakota): Google Earth kmz | Zipped shapefile
  • Lease Sale Draft EA ABI Screen (Montana only), a spreadsheet showing conflicts between the proposed parcels and important wildlife, wilderness and other resource values.

Scoping (Posted 12/28/2023)

April 16, 2024 Lease Sale

Sale Notice (Posted 2/13/2024)

  • Protests are due no later than 4:00 pm Mountain Standard Time Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Important information on how to protest is available in the Sale Notice (pdf document) with additional information and a link to file a protest on the Montana/Dakotas April 2024 Oil and Gas Lease Sale ePlanning website (click on Home on the left panel for instructions and click on Documents or Participate Now for the protest link). General information is available on the Montana-Dakotas BLM Oil and Gas Leasing website.
  • Note that while the ePlanning website shows a protest period running through March 14, the deadline above is listed in the Sale Notice.
  • According to the website, documents and GIS data, BLM is proposing to offer 30 parcels/5987.02 acres in Montana and North Dakota.
    • In Montana, 18 parcels/4,146.47 acres iare in Blaine, Liberty, Toole and Hill Counties in the Havre Field Office.
    • In North Dakota 12 parcels/2,339.76 acres are on the Dakota Prairie-Grasslands (USFS) in McKenzie County, North Dakota and 1 parcel/23.45 acres on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Garrison Dam/Lake Sakakawea Project (USACE) lands in Mountrail County.
  • The Montana parcels were previously nominated and deferred from the September 2023 Lease Sale.
  • Conservation conflicts identified in Montana include parcels in a greater sage-grouse general habitat management area; land within 10 miles of the Nez Perce National Historical Park; a big game (multi-species) corridor priority region; and mule deer and pronghorn winter distribution areas.
  • Summary information about conflicts including conflicts in North Dakota can be found in the Upcoming Lease Sale Tracker Google sheet.
  • Lease Sale Parcels Sale Notice (Montana and North Dakota): Google Earth kmz | Zipped shapefile
  • Lease Sale Notice ABI Screen (Montana only), a spreadsheet showing conflicts between the proposed parcels and important wildlife, wilderness and other resource values.

Draft Environmental Assessment (Posted 11/16/2024)

Resources