For Immediate Release:
Contact: Steven Hall  970.244.3052
               Vaughn Whatley  303.239.3766

Delta County Oil and Gas Lease Sale Upheld by the BLM

DENVER--The May 9, 2002 decision to issue seven oil and gas leases in Delta County has been upheld, following a decision by the Colorado State Office of the Bureau of Land Management to deny a protest filed by the Western Slope Environmental Resource Council (WESERC).

The BLM determined that the leases comply with the area’s 1989 Resource Management Plan, which authorizes oil and gas leasing. In the last two and one-half years, 80,000 acres of oil and gas leases located on U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management lands have been issued in the area.

Before exploration or development of the leases could proceed, site-specific environmental assessments and analyses would be conducted, with opportunities for public involvement.

-BLM-