BLM Reverses Course on Massive Lease Sale Near Moab, Utah

Outside Moab on the ancestral land of the Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute). Photo credit: Jake Nackos.

In case you missed it, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently deferred 85,000 acres of recreation-rich land around Moab, Utah that they planned to auction for oil and gas leasing.

Outdoor Alliance and the wider outdoor community were key players in advocating to protect this land, along with Access Fund and Public Land Solutions. Thousands of outdoor enthusiasts and climbers wrote comments to the BLM in advance of the lease sale, and Outdoor Alliance shared its concerns about the sale directly with the BLM. You can click here to read our comment letter to the agency and view our maps.

While this lease cancelation is a considerable success for the outdoor community, there is more to do. The mineral leasing system on America’s public lands is antiquated and badly in need of reform. Mining, oil and gas extraction, and other natural resource development has been getting a pass to the front of the line for years, over interests like recreation, wildlife, conservation, and cultural resources. The current administration’s “energy dominance” agenda has bypassed environmental reviews, cut out the public process, and prioritized development over all other values on public lands.

Congress needs to reform our antiquated oil and gas leasing system, and there are a few good ideas that need your support right now. A few bills offer important fixes for this broken oil and gas leasing process including limiting speculative oil and gas leasing on public lands, reforming the practice of locking up land with low potential for development, extending public comment periods, and reinstating master leasing plans. You can read our full letter to Congress on the bill here. You can make a difference by asking your members of Congress to support these efforts, and we’ve made it easy with the tool below: