Montana State Office
| Contacts: | Greg Albright 406-896-5260 | |||
| Mary Apple 406-896-5258 |
Oil and Gas Lease Sale Scheduled for December 9
A federal oil and gas lease sale will be held December 9 at the Bureau of Land Management’s Montana State Office in Billings.
Earlier this year, the BLM delayed lease sales while additional environmental studies were conducted. The BLM recently completed eight environmental assessments that review oil and gas leasing decisions for 57 suspended Montana leases as well as a number of parcels in Montana, North and South Dakota that were previously nominated for leasing.
The BLM plans to offer 223 parcels at the sale; of those, 120 are in Montana, 96 are in North Dakota and 7 are in South Dakota. The North Dakota offerings include 88 Forest Service parcels. The offered parcels are subject to a 30-day protest period that will end November 22.
The assessments, a list of parcels that will be offered for sale, the specific stipulations that will be attached to each individual lease upon issuance, and other leasing information are available on BLM’s Montana website at www.blm.gov/mt.
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.
Montana State Office 5001 Southgate Drive Billings, MT 59101