THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
COALITION TO PROTECT AMERICA’S NATIONAL PARKS
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILD
November 27, 2024
SUBMITTED VIA E-PLANNING
Jon Raby
State Director
Bureau of Land Management, Nevada
Project Contact:
Melissa Jennings
mj*******@bl*.gov
(775) 482-7840
Re: Comments on the Nevada Bureau of Land Management 2025 First Quarter Competitive Oil & Gas Lease Sale Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact (DOI-BLM-NV-B000-2024-0003-EA)
Dear State Director Raby:
Thank you for the opportunity to submit these comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact (Draft FONSI) analyzing the 12 nominated lease parcels involving 23,442.36 acres under consideration for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Nevada 2025 First Quarter Oil and Gas Lease Sale. We recommend deferring at least 11 of these parcels that the BLM itself has determined contain low development potential and are not near existing development:
| • NV-2025-03-1994 • NV-2025-03-2095 • NV-2025-03-2097 • NV-2025-03-2100 |
• NV-2025-03-2102 • NV-2025-03-2104 • NV-2025-03-2106 • NV-2025-03-2107 |
• NV-2025-03-2112 • NV-2025-03-7030 • NV-2025-03-7031 |
Our organizations and members are deeply invested in sound stewardship of public lands and committed to ensuring that public land management prioritizes the health and resilience of ecosystems, equitably benefits the public, addresses environmental justice, protects biodiversity, and mitigates the impacts of climate change.
We are grateful for both the recently released final Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process Rule (Leasing Rule) and the earlier release of several Instruction Memoranda (IMs) implementing program reforms and provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).1See Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, H.R. 5376, 117th Cong. §§ 50262–63 (2022).
Click here to read the full submission.