May 23, 2026
Bureau of Land Management
BLM Utah Lease Sales
To whom it may concern:
The following signators, and noted related organizations, hereby submit this protest to the DOI-BLM-UT-0000-2026-0003-EA – BLM Utah 2026 Second Quarter Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale Environmental Assessment:
- John W. Hiscock
- Chandra Rosenthal, Rocky Mountain Regional Director, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
- Emily Thompson, Executive Director, Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks (CPANP)
- Erik Molvar, Executive Director, Western Watersheds Project
- Landon Newell, Staff Attorney, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
The purpose of this protest is not to preclude possible appropriate and authorized multiple use of public lands under the provisions of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) and the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA). It is to assure that collateral and precedential congressional mandates for the protection of National Trails System Act (NTSA) conservation lands, further detailed in public land agency policies, and proper environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of public land uses, are completely and accurately applied in actions such as the subject oil and gas lease sale, to assure the proper hierarchical management of said lands. This is why statutory, regulatory, and policy procedures exist.
Synopsis
A coalition of conservation and public lands advocates has filed a protest challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s Utah 2026 Second Quarter Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale Environmental Assessment. The protest focuses on proposed lease parcels in southeast Utah that are crossed by or located near the Northern and North Branch Routes of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail.
The protest argues that BLM failed to take the required “hard look” under NEPA and did not properly apply the National Trails System Act’s protections for national historic trails. It contends that BLM has not completed a legally required Comprehensive Management Plan for the trail, has not established or published a National Trail right-of-way, has not completed a comprehensive trail inventory, and has not created a Trail Management Corridor for the affected areas.
The filing also raises concern that BLM relied on uncertain or legally insufficient trail alignments rather than clearly using the congressionally designated routes, undermining both the agency’s impact analysis and the public’s ability to comment meaningfully. The protest asks BLM to address these legal and planning deficiencies before proceeding with leasing decisions that could affect the historic, scenic, cultural, and recreational values of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail.
Click here to read the full submission.