BLM Moves Forward With Proposed Oil and Gas Leasing on the Iconic Roan Plateau in Western Colorado

BLM Moves Forward With Proposed Oil and Gas Leasing on the Iconic Roan Plateau in Western Colorado

Release of Environmental Assessment begins 30-day public comment period

Contacts

Richard Mylott, Wilderness Workshop, [email protected]

Brien Webster, Conservation Colorado, [email protected]

Jim Ramey, The Wilderness Society, [email protected]

Perry Wheeler, Earthjustice, [email protected]

Today, the Bureau of Land Management released a draft Environmental Assessment and 30-day public comment period for a proposed December 2026 oil and gas lease sale that would degrade high-priority wildlife habitats and valued public lands across western Colorado, including ecologically valuable wildlands on the top of the Roan Plateau.

Drilling on the Roan Plateau risks irreversible damage to natural resources, including pristine watersheds that support aquatic life and native trout and provide drinking water for communities; thriving forest and plant communities; crucial wildlife habitat, including elk, deer, and greater sage-grouse; and well-established hunting, fishing, and backcountry recreation opportunities.

"By moving forward with these leases, the Trump Administration is showing blatant disregard for West Slope communities, businesses, hunters, anglers, and conservationists, who have urged the BLM to keep the Roan Plateau off the auction block and instead prioritize this truly unique Colorado landscape for wildlife habitat, pristine streams and backcountry recreation," said Juli Slivka, senior director of policy and programs with Wilderness Workshop. "With this comment opportunity, BLM has another chance to listen to the public and make a decision to defer these contentious leases and keep drill rigs out of the important habitats and watersheds on the public lands on top of the plateau."

"BLM is ignoring what Coloradans have been telling them for decades, don't drill the Roan Plateau," said Brien Webster, senior public lands campaign manager with Conservation Colorado. "Colorado has spent decades working to conserve this landscape, and this sale threatens to undermine those longstanding efforts. Moving forward with these leases directly threatens one of the region's most spectacular landscapes, including the recently designated Outstanding Waters on the Plateau. What's more, the parcels in question represent only 1% of all the leases nominated in 2026, while the industry already sits on approximately half a million acres of inactive leases across Colorado. Ultimately, the industry's interest in this land pales in comparison to the interests of local communities, sportsmen, and wildlife. The Roan Plateau's true value lies in its ability to enrich our region through conservation and recreation, far outweighing the need for unnecessary industrial development."

"This spring the Bureau of Land Management heard overwhelming opposition to their proposal to lease sensitive wildlife habitat and treasured recreation areas on the Roan Plateau for oil and methane gas drilling," said Jim Ramey, Colorado state director with The Wilderness Society. "Yet the agency is moving forward with a lease sale that ignores all of the public input provided. Now is the time for us to demand that the BLM listen to local communities and ensure the Roan Plateau is off-limits to development so current and future generations have the freedom to enjoy the recreation and solitude these lands provide."

"The top of the Roan is intact today-and provides key habitat for rare trout, big game and imperiled plants-because conservationists, energy companies, and the federal government have worked together on solutions that protect this iconic landscape," said Mike Freeman, senior attorney with Earthjustice. "BLM's proposed leasing would abandon years of cooperation and put the unique natural resources of the Roan in harm's way."

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