BLM seeks oil and big game balance for Colorado public lands

By Scott Streater | 07/18/2024 01:32 PM EDT

The land use proposal has won the support of both industry and wildlife advocates.

A drilling rig with mountains and blue sky in the background.

A drilling rig in Colorado. Joshua Hicks/U.S. Geological Survey

The Bureau of Land Management announced Thursday it has finalized a proposal that would revamp land use plans covering millions of acres in Colorado to place new restrictions that balance oil and gas development with protecting key habitat corridors for big game species.

The approach BLM announced in a multivolume final environmental impact statement would amend 13 resource management plans across the state, adding new restrictions on oil and gas leasing across much of the 8.3 million acres of BLM surface lands and 4.7 million acres of subsurface federal mineral split estate.

The goal of the proposal, which is related to a 2022 legal settlement between the bureau and the state of Colorado, is to better balance energy development with protection of important migration corridors and habitat for elk, mule deer, pronghorn and bighorn sheep.

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BLM has said it wants to complete a record of decision approving the plan and RMP amendments by November.

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