Coalition Comments on Draft EA and FONSI for 45,804 Acres in BLM’s Wyoming 2025 Oil and Gas Lease Sale

THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
COALITION TO PROTECT AMERICA’S NATIONAL PARKS *
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL *
ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILD *
WYOMING OUTDOOR COUNCIL

May 15, 2025

SUBMITTED VIA E-PLANNING

U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Wyoming State Office
5353 Yellowstone Road
Cheyenne, WY 82009

Project Contacts:

Re: Comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Bureau of Land Management Wyoming 2025 Third Quarter Competitive Oil & Gas Lease Sale (DOI-BLM-WY-0000-2025-0001-EA)

To Whom It May Concern:

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 38 parcels covering 45,804 acres under consideration for potential oil and gas exploration and development for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Wyoming 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, benefits the public and local communities, protects biodiversity, and mitigates the impacts of climate change.

As the BLM prepares for this lease sale and evaluates which parcels to offer for lease, the agency must continue to abide by its obligations under the law and existing policy, including the Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process Rule (Leasing Rule), which implements program reforms and provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. In carrying out this lease sale, the BLM must comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

We appreciate that the BLM is planning to move forward with Alternative 3 (Modified Proposed Action), which would defer or delete 14 parcels from the lease sale. Under this alternative, the BLM would offer 24 parcels containing 32,681.92 acres. Five parcels would be deferred based on greater sage-grouse prioritization because they are located within Priority Habitat Management Areas (PHMAs): WY-2025-09-2100, 2002, 7402, 7403, and 7404. One parcel would be deferred because of a valid existing coal lease: WY-2025-09-2066. One parcel would be deferred because it conflicts with an authorized uranium mine plan: WY-2025-08-7390. One parcel would be deleted because it is within the Upper Muddy Creek Watershed/Grizzly Wildlife Habitat Management Area and is unavailable to lease based on the Rawlins Resource Management Plan: WY-2025-09-2089. And six parcels would be deferred based on receiving a low preference for leasing under the preference criteria because of the impact to sage-grouse habitat: WY-2025-09-2093, 2094, 2095, 2096, 2098, and 2099.¹BLM, ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: DOI-BLM-WY-0000-2025-0001-EA 2025 THIRD QUARTER COMPETITIVE LEASE SALE at 15 (Apr. 2025) [hereinafter Draft EA].

We further urge the BLM to defer the remainder of the parcels due to the following conflicts (discussed below):

Click here to read the full letter.

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  BLM, ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: DOI-BLM-WY-0000-2025-0001-EA 2025 THIRD QUARTER COMPETITIVE LEASE SALE at 15 (Apr. 2025) [hereinafter Draft EA].