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In 2019, the Trump administration continued to relentlessly target America’s public lands for oil and gas drilling––offering more than 7 million acres of public lands for oil and gas leasing,
including within the world’s longest known mule deer migration corridor in Wyoming, in community drinking water protection zones, and on the doorstep of national parks and monuments in Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. The Trump administration has now offered more
than 24 million acres of public land for sale––an area larger than the State of Indiana. Just 37 percent of those acres offered in 2019 actually sold, due to the Trump administration’s blind desire to offer land, even when there is no or low drilling potential.
In Nevada alone, the Trump administration offered nearly 1 million acres of public land with no or low drilling potential for leasing. This irrational, fire-sale approach to leasing is also flooding the market with low-value, “non-competitive” leases––where,
for $1.50/acre and a small filing fee, nearly anyone can walk into a BLM office and walk out with a lease. In fact, in 2019, the administration made over 1.4 million acres of public land available for “non-competitive” leasing.
But, in spite of the Trump administration’s efforts to make drilling the dominant use of America’s public lands, westerners continue to support conservation by wide margins.
According to a
recent poll, nearly 60 percent of likely voters in five western states believe that protecting open spaces should be a priority over development. And, in 2019, westerners continued to advance conservation measures and oppose efforts to reduce key protections
for public lands, waters, and wildlife. Notably, in the government funding bill, Congress
prohibited the administration from leasing federal lands within ten miles of Chaco Canyon, pending the completion of a cultural resources investigation to be led by tribes. Additionally, local officials, sports/outdoor enthusiasts, and tribal leaders across
the West forced the administration to back-down on several particularly-egregious leasing proposals.
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Greater Sage-Grouse
On October 16th, a federal judge in Idaho issued an injunction against the Trump administration’s 2019 sage-grouse plans, which rolled back key habitat protections in order
to fast-track oil and gas leasing, and ordered BLM to restore and comply with the Obama administration's 2015 plans.
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Chaco Canyon
On October 30th, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would prevent oil and gas leasing on federal lands within 10 miles of Chaco Canyon. Temporary protections were
also included in the 2020 federal spending package, which prevents the government from using federal funds to accept a nomination for oil and gas leasing within 10 miles of the Canyon.
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Bill Introductions
In 2019, several oil and gas reform bills were introduced in the House, including: 1) Rep. Levin's comprehensive reform bill (H.R. 3225), 2) Rep. McAdams and Rep. Rooney’s fiscal
reform bill (H.R. 4363), 3) Rep. Lowenthal's oil and gas bonding bill (H.R. 4346), and 4) Rep. DeGette's methane waste prevention bill (H.R. 2711).
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Lease Deferrals
Over the course of the year, the administration was forced to defer leases on hundreds of thousands of acres of public land, including
within sage-grouse habitat across the West, sensitive lands around Chaco Cultural National Historical Park in New Mexico, Greater Little Mountain in Wyoming, and areas that supply Mesquite, Nevada with its sole source of drinking water.
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-
“Two years ago, President Trump signed his ‘Energy Dominance’ executive order to direct the Interior Department to hand Montana’s public lands over to the oil and gas industry. This policy is
paving the way for reckless, unnecessary drilling in some of our most prized wildlife habitats, putting profits above our lands, waters and wildlife.”
John Salazar, Small Business Owner/Hunter (Montana)
- “The problem is that energy dominance is not multiple use – and that’s the legal mandate under which our public lands are supposed to be
managed. And energy dominance, by definition, makes every other use, including hunting and fishing, a lesser priority.”
Joshua Coursey, President/CEO, Muley Fanatic Foundation (Wyoming)
- “The threats posed to our public lands from oil and gas development are only increasing, putting unique areas like the Greater Chaco Landscape
. . . at risk. This landscape . . . has largely escaped the intensive development that surrounds my ranch and that has transformed so much of northwestern New Mexico’s magnificent public lands into an industrial wasteland.”
Tweeti Blancett, Rancher (New Mexico)
- “Westerners cannot afford two more years of ‘energy dominance’ and the administration’s disregard for the mandate to manage for multiple
uses. Leaders in Washington must be held accountable to prevent further degradation of our public lands, waters and wildlife and to end the preferential treatment of oil and gas companies.”
Layne Rigney, CEO, Osprey Packs (Colorado)
- “Our protest [of the proposed lease sale] is simple: . . . If oil and gas exploration proceeds and there is any contamination of the water,
the almost 25,000 residents and the million plus annual visitors will be no more. They will leave and Mesquite will cease to exist, because of the lack of clean, safe drinking water.”
Mayor Allan Litman, City of Mesquite (Nevada)
- “[W]e are extremely concerned about actions taken by the Department of the Interior . . . to limit opportunities for the public to meaningfully
participate in oil and gas leasing and development decisions for public lands. Meanwhile, as public comment and environmental review has been curtailed or dismissed, DOI and the Bureau of Land Management pursued a reckless push for so-called ‘energy dominance’
that put over 18 million acres of public lands on the auction block for the oil and gas industry.”
Senators Cortez Masto, Bennet, Udall, Wyden, Harris, Tester, Merkley, Murray, and Rosen, along with five other members of the U.S. Senate
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––Make
18.8 million acres
of public lands
available for leasing
––Hold at least 29 oil and gas lease sales across the West
––Hold the first ever
lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
––Resume leasing on public lands in
California
––Release management plans for public lands in
CO, MT, NM, and WY, which will likely
open millions of acres to drilling,
while rolling back conservation protections
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