BLM proceeds with April 4 O&G lease auction
Includes 19,000+ acres near Horse & Beaver Creeks in the Wyoming Range
April 4, 2006
The Bureau of Land Management is proceeding with their April 4 Oil and Gas Lease Auction in Cheyenne.
The auction includes some 19,000+ acres of land on the Bridger-Teton National Forest in the northern Wyoming Range which has been protested by numerous environmental groups and area businesses stating that drilling on these areas would harm wildlife habitat and harm other recreational uses. Those protest appeals are still pending with the BLM.
Last week, Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal wrote a letter to US Forest Service Regional Forester, Jack Troyer, and Bob Bennette, Wyoming State Director of the BLM, asking that the April 4 auction be postponed until earlier protests were resolved.
In a response letter from Troyer to Freudenthal on Monday, Troyer said the Forest Service had reviewed the protests to the December sale before the lands were leased and determined that the leasing was appropriate.
"The Mining and Mineral Policy Act of 1970 and the Energy Security Act of 1980 direct us to move forward with leasing," Troyer wrote to Freudenthal. "Therefore, we have directed the BLM proceed with the sale as scheduled."
Related Links:
Wyoming Range parcels will remain in O&G sale (3/24/06, Pinedale Online)
New agreement stops leasing in FS Roadless Areas (3/23/06, Pinedale Online)
Wyoming Range Oil/Gas leases offered in BLM sale (3/23/06, Pinedale Online)
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