TWS et al. Scoping Comments
THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
COALITION TO PROTECT AMERICA’S NATIONAL PARKS * COLORADO
WILDLANDS PROJECT * COLORADO WILDLIFE FEDERATION *
CONSERVATION COLORADO * NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION
ASSOCIATION * ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILD * WILDERNESS WORKSHOP
December 13, 2024
SUBMITTED VIA E-PLANNING
Doug Vilsack
State Director
Colorado Bureau of Land Management
Denver Federal Center, Building 1A
Lakewood, CO 80215
Project Contact:
Kristin Elowe
ke****@bl*.gov
Re: Scoping Comments on Parcels for the Colorado Bureau of Land Management 2025 Third Quarter Competitive Oil & Gas Lease Sale (DOI-BLM-CO-0000-2025-0001-EA).
Dear State Director Vilsack:
Thank you for the opportunity to submit these scoping comments on parcels under
consideration for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Colorado 2025 Third Quarter Oil and Gas Lease Sale. 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 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. §§ 50262–50263 (2022). We appreciate the BLM’s attention to properly applying the Leasing Rule’s provisions and the IMs for this lease sale.
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