BLM Utah to Offer 12,834 Acres at Oil and Gas Lease Sale
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On Feb. 17, 2015, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Utah will offer 17 parcels covering 12,834 acres in the Moab and Monticello Field Offices at its quarterly oil and gas lease sale. After thorough review and consideration, the BLM Utah decided to defer 42,263 acres from the sale to provide additional time to address concerns including cultural resources and to minimize encumbrances that could potentially affect Congressman Bishop's Public Lands Initiative. “We are committed to responsible development of energy resources on Utah's public lands," said BLM-Utah State Director Juan Palma. “We are deferring these particular lands from the upcoming sale to provide for additional review and consideration of the potential impacts leasing poses to natural and cultural resources." In Fiscal_Year (FY) 2014, the State of Utah received more than $170 million from royalties, rentals and bonus bid payments for federal minerals, including oil and gas. The BLM-Utah State Office currently administers approximately 3.8 million acres of public mineral estate that is leased for oil and gas development. To learn more about oil and gas leasing on federal lands, please visit: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/prog/energy/oil_and_gas/oil_and_gas_lease.html For further information on the deferral, please contact Justin Abernathy at (801)539-4067. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to leave a message or question for the above individual. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Replies are provided during normal business hours.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.