RSSBLM defers North Fork Valley oil, gas lease sale
The Bureau of Land Management has agreed to requests to put off offering 30,000 acres in the North Fork Valley for oil and gas leasing.
The agency had been scheduled to offer the acreage in its August Colorado lease sale but said in a short news release today that it was deferring that action.
“BLM has opted to conduct additional analysis of the proposed lease parcels based on public input,” the news release said.
Conservationists, members of the area’s agricultural and tourism industries and area governments had raised concerns about the proposed leasing and called for more study of it by the BLM.
“We’re pretty excited about the temporary win for the North Fork. BLM made
the right decision in deferring leasing decisions until more info is collected, and we’re cautiously optimistic about that forthcoming research,” said Frank Smith, director of organizing for the Western Colorado Congress citizens group.
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