| Contacts: | Vanessa Delgado, Public Affairs Specialist | |||
| 303-239-3681, vdelgado@blm.gov |
BLM Colorado Unveils New Website to Track and Encourage Public Participation in Quarterly Oil and Natural Gas Lease Sales
DENVER – The Bureau of Land Management Colorado State Office is unveiling a new website to highlight its quarterly oil and natural gas lease sales and create an easy, transparent process to engage the public in light of oil and gas leasing reform.
The new pages will emphasize opportunities for the public to learn about upcoming oil and gas lease sales and outline a clear process for how to provide comments on those sales. The BLM has always posted this information online; however, the new website provides a centralized location that is easier to navigate.
“The BLM’s goal is to engage the public in the oil and natural gas leasing process, and to make the public’s participation as simple and easy as possible,” said Lonnie Bagley, BLM Colorado Deputy State Director for Energy, Lands and Minerals. “The new website provides all the information required as part of oil and natural gas leasing reform in one place that is easy for the public to find.”
To view the website as well as information on upcoming oil and gas lease sales, visit http://on.doi.gov/zIDfY8. Or, visit the public involvement calendar at http://on.doi.gov/xvaYGM.
In fiscal year 2010, extraction of energy and mineral resources from public lands yielded $40 billion worth of resources, with an economic impact of $103 billion nationally. Traditional energy development is important in Colorado and accounted for 22,912 jobs along the Western Slope in FY 2010. The State of Colorado received more than $156.8 million in FY 2011 from royalties, rentals and bonus bid payments for all federal minerals, including oil, gas and coal.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
2850 Youngfield St. Lakewood CO 80215