NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL * COALITION TO PROTECT AMERICA’S NATIONAL PARKS * ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILD * NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION
July 8, 2025
SUBMITTED VIA E-PLANNING
Attention: Christina Price
Utah State Office
Bureau of Land Management
440 West 200 South, Suite 500
Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1345
Project Contacts:
|
Nathan Packer |
Melinda Moffitt |
Tylia Varilek |
Re: Comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Bureau of Land Management Utah 2025 Fourth Quarter Competitive Oil & Gas Lease Sale (DOI-BLM-UT-0000-2025-0003-EA)
Thank you for the opportunity to submit these comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) analyzing the 46 parcels covering 68,263.38 acres under consideration for potential oil and gas exploration and development for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Utah 2025 Fourth Quarter Oil and Gas Lease Sale.1See Bureau of Land Mgmt., BLM Utah 2025 Fourth Quarter Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale Environmnetal Assessment: DOI-BLM-UT-0000-2025-00003-EA (July 2025) [hereinafter Draft EA], https://eplanning.blm.gov/public_projects/2037591/200648264/20138025/251038005/2025%20Quarter%204%20Le ase%20Sale%20DOI-BLM-UT-0000-2025-00003-EA.pdf 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 has evaluated an alternative for this lease sale, Alternative B – Greater Sage- Grouse Alternative, which would defer 39 parcels from this lease sale. Under this alternative, the BLM would offer 7 parcels containing 11,103 acres. 39 parcels would be deferred based on greater sage-grouse prioritization because they are located within General Habitat Management Areas (GHMAs): UT-2025-12-1602, -1603, -1617, -1618, -1620, -1622, -1625, -1626, -1627, -1634, -1640, -1641, -1643, -1644, -1645, -1650, -1655, -1657, -1658, -1660, -7723, -7727, -7728, -7733, -7731, -7734, -7735, -7738, -7739, -7740, -7746, -7753, -7758, -7759, -7760, -7762, -7763, -7764, and -7771. We agree with these parcel deferrals.
We further urge the BLM to defer the following parcels due to the conflicts discussed in depth below:
● UT-2025-12-1630 (overlap with mule deer crucial winter habitat)
● UT-2025-12-1636 (overlap with mule deer crucial winter habitat, lands with wilderness characteristics)
● UT-2025-12-1638 (overlap with mule deer crucial winter habitat, elk crucial winter habitat)
● UT-2025-12-1656 (overlap with mule deer crucial winter habitat, elk crucial winter habitat)
● UT-2025-12-7765 (overlap with mule deer crucial winter habitat, elk crucial winter habitat)
● UT-2025-12-7768 (overlap with mule deer crucial winter habitat, elk crucial winter habitat)
You can click here to read the complete submission.