The public comment period for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Colorado March (Q1) 2026 Oil and Gas Lease Sale is now open. This proposed lease sale includes 103 parcels in Colorado, covering 72,848 acres. This sale is one of the first sales mandated by the administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) which is putting thousands of acres across the U.S. at risk. This lease sale includes parcels in the BLM Colorado River Valley, Grand Junction, Kremmling, Little Snake, Royal Gorge, Uncompahgre, and White River Field Offices and parcels in the USDA Forest Service Pawnee National Grassland. These parcels are located throughout the state of Colorado in Arapahoe, Baca, Delta, Garfield, Gunnison, Jackson, Las Animas, Mesa, Rio Blanco, Routt, and Weld Counties. Two parcels are in the North Fork Valley watershed (northeastern Delta and northwestern Gunnison Counties) and total 1,624 acres. See the preliminary Environmental Assessment (EA).
The public comment period is now open through Friday, December 12 at 4PM MST.
The two proposed parcels in the sensitive North Fork Valley are numbered 6157 and 6169. Both parcels are on split estate surrounded by a mix of Federal and non-Federal surface and mineral estate. The northern parcel, 6157, is 300 acres and is located on private surface surrounded by National Forest System lands of the Gunnison National Forest near Patterson Place and drains to East Muddy Creek. The southern parcel, 6169, is 1324 acres and is on private surface primarily surrounded by private surface and partially by National Forest System lands of the Gunnison National Forest near Iron Point and drains to tributaries of Hubbard Creek. Both parcels ultimately drain to the North Fork of the Gunnison River.
OIL & GAS DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTH FORK WITH THE PASSING OF THE OBBBA
Oil and gas drilling in the North Fork Valley dates back to the early 1900s. Most of the development has, or is, occurring on private, split-estate and U.S. Forest Service land. Some may recall, as a result of WSCC’s settlement agreement reached with the BLM in 2022, there is currently a moratorium on the leasing of all federal minerals in the Uncompahgre Field Office (UFO) planning area until the Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment is complete. There are, however, two exceptions to this moratorium – one for addressing drainage, the subsurface migration of oil and gas towards a wellbore driven by pressure differentials, and the other for coal mine methane. In other words, the BLM will not issue new oil and gas leases in the specified decision area unless there are “documented instances of drainage of federal minerals by operations on adjacent leases” or “to recover coal mine methane from existing or abandoned coal mines.” It is believed, from conversations with the BLM, that the proposed March 2026 lease sale parcels in the upper North Fork Valley fall under the drainage exception.
Although these parcels are located on private land, the BLM manages all onshore leasing for the federal government, including leasing federal minerals under National Forest land. (The current regulations require BLM to obtain consent from the Forest Service before leasing National Forest land.) In Colorado the BLM manages 8.3 million acres of national public lands and an additional 27 million acres of subsurface minerals. Closer to home, the BLM’s UFO manages approximately 680,000 surface acres and an additional 900,000+ acres of subsurface federal mineral rights, including the lands and subsurface minerals in the North Fork Valley. This will be the first proposed oil and gas lease sale in the North Fork Valley since December of 2018 (and those parcels up for lease were deferred), but leasing regulations and requirements have changed considerably since the passing of the OBBBA becoming friendlier to the oil and gas industry.
In July of 2025, the OBBBA or H.R.1 was signed into law. As required by the OBBBA, competitive oil and gas lease sales are now mandated on a quarterly basis in Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Nevada and Alaska. Under the bill, the BLM must make available for lease any ‘eligible’ parcel of public land nominated by industry, including lands that have conflicts with other public lands resources, such as wildlife habitat and recreation areas, within 18 months of being nominated (if they are open to leasing in the current land use management plan). This change is critical and gives the oil and gas industry unprecedented control of national public lands in Colorado and also means they can buy leases on 5.2 million acres of private land where the federal government owns the underlying mineral resources. This expedited lease process also means that there is potentially less time for environmental review as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and related laws.
Other than reduced leasing discretion and fast-tracked environmental reviews, additional detrimental provisions under the OBBBA include:
- Royalty rates: The royalty rate for new federal onshore production is slashed to 12.5%, reversing the 16.67% rate established in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The 12.5% rate is what the rate was in 1920 and is far below the rate for drilling on Colorado state lands (which the state uses to fund schools and other community services). The IRA’s mandate to charge royalties on oil and gas consumed or lost through venting, flaring, or negligent release was also reversed.
- Other Fees: The $5 per acre processing fee that was established with IRA is eliminated. This means that companies can nominate all the lands they want with no cost.
- Permitting Terms: Upon approval, an Application for Permit to Drill (APD) is extended from three to four years.
- Noncompetitive lease sale: Parcels not sold in the initial competitive lease sale will now be available for noncompetitive sale for two years. Noncompetitive oil and gas leasing is a process where public lands are leased without competitive bidding, typically because they failed to receive a bid at a competitive auction. This method is often used for “wildcat” lands with little to no proven potential for oil and gas development and is commonly exploited by speculators for profit, as leases can be sold for low prices ($1.50 per acre) and are rarely developed.
Oil and gas extraction requires wells and well pads, gas lines, roads, hydraulic fracturing, and other infrastructure that destroy habitat for wildlife, pollute air and water, degrade recreation experiences, impact the health and quality of life for nearby communities, and damage other ecological resources. It is imperative that we now take action and make our voices heard.
ACT NOW & MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD.
Submit your public comment opposing the North Fork Valley oil and gas lease sale.
- Comments are being accepted through Friday, December 12th at 4PM MST. When possible, it is always best to submit original comments, rather than a form letter, as form letters and petitions count only as one comment. Comments are NOT accepted via email, but can be submitted through the link above. Below are some comment writing tips:
- Be respectful, direct, and concise.
- Oppose leasing these parcels and demand the deferment or withdrawal of parcels 6157 and 6169 from the proposed March 2026 Oil and Gas Lease Sale.
- Argue that there is no need for more leases. Already there are nearly 70,000 acres of existing leases in the upper North Fork Valley, and only about 30% are producing.
- Ground your comments in Western Colorado realities: clean water access, wild open spaces, recreation, organic agriculture, economic drivers such as agritourism, etc.
- Provide 1-2 key points about why this matters to you, and try to keep it fact based. Examples include: oil and gas development infrastructure creates increased traffic and obstruction/degradation of wildlife habitat; a healthy and resilient watershed acts to safeguard clean water and promote economic drivers (organic farming, regenerative grazing, agritourism, recreation)
Attend the upcoming North Fork Valley Oil & Gas Community Meeting.
- Western Slope Community Center, along with Citizens for a Healthy Community, are hosting an Oil & Gas Community Meeting on Tuesday, December 9th from 5-6PM at the Paonia Library located at 80 Samuel Wade Road. We’ll review the history of oil and gas lease sales in the North Fork Valley, the current proposed lease sale, and letter/comment writing tips and instruction.
Attend a Comment Writing Workshop in Grand Junction.
- Hosted by Conservation Colorado and Western Colorado Alliance, this workshop will be held on Thursday, December 4 at 5:30PM at Copeka Coffee located at 1012 N. 5th Street in Grand Junction. This free offering will cover the proposed areas for oil and gas development on the Western Slope, the threats to public comment periods, and how to be effective at pushing back on continuous federal attacks on our public lands.
Support the Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection (GORP) Act.
- One of the key provisions and benefits of the GORP Act for Delta County is the North Fork Valley Watershed Withdrawal. This withdrawal would remove over 74,000 acres of surface-managed BLM lands from future oil and gas development including Jumbo Mountain and the Town of Paonia’s source water area. Also included would be a No Surface Occupancy oil and gas development restriction on over 49,000 acres in Grand Mesa Uncompahgre Gunnison National Forest Roadless Areas. The passage of the GORP Act in Congress would ensure these permanent protections.
Stay Engaged with the UFO RMP Amendment Process.
- In 2020, the BLM’s UFO Approved RMP was released, and it opened up 95% of the North Fork Valley Watershed to oil and gas development. In response, WSCC filed its first ever lawsuit resulting in a settlement with the BLM. Under that agreement, the BLM will amend the UFO RMP to reconsider decisions related to oil and gas leasing. Currently, we are waiting for the RMP Amendment to be completed, and, once this happens, the BLM will provide additional opportunities for public participation consistent with the NEPA and land use planning processes.
Additional Resources:
BLM Press Release of March (Q1) 2026 Oil and Gas Lease Sale
Rocky Mountain Wild Interactive Map Link
BLM Colorado Oil & Gas Lease Sales Website