The Bureau of Land Management plans to sell oil and gas leases covering more than 4,000 acres in Montana and North Dakota in January.
The 20 parcels slated for leasing are in Montana’s Liberty and Richland counties and North Dakota’s Bottineau, Burke, Dunn and McKenzie counties.
The plan to offer public lands for lease comes as the Trump administration has sought to emphasize U.S. fossil fuels as a key part of its national and foreign policy agendas. A recent lease sale netted $38 million in Montana and North Dakota, while offerings in Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Utah brought in $22.8 million.
The administration also plans to lease areas within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska this winter. And the administration is preparing to allow leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, according to documents viewed by POLITICO.
