Bureau of Land Management proposes new oil and gas leasing on Colorado’s iconic Roan Plateau

December 2026 lease sale proposes drilling in priority wildlife habitat and ecologically significant landscapes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 9, 2026

Contact: Richard Mylott, richard@wildernessworkshop.org

RIFLE, Colo. — A coalition of western conservation organizations strongly condemned the Trump administration’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for proposing new oil and gas leases on Colorado’s iconic Roan Plateau today. Wilderness Workshop, Conservation Colorado, and The Wilderness Society warned that moving forward with new fossil fuel development threatens one of Colorado’s most biologically rich landscapes and undermines decades of collaborative planning, legal agreements, and public processes.

The Roan Plateau, towering 3,000 feet above the Colorado River Valley just outside Rifle, is a vital haven for wildlife and home to some of the state’s most celebrated public lands. The region supports genetically pure populations of Colorado River cutthroat trout, is a crucial winter range for the state’s largest elk and mule deer herds, and hosts unique plants found nowhere else on earth. It is treasured by hunters and anglers for its exceptional backcountry recreation experiences.

“The BLM is in a mad rush to sacrifice western Colorado’s most cherished landscapes to the fossil fuel industry no matter the cost,” said Juli Slivka, Senior Policy and Program Director for Wilderness Workshop. “West Slope communities fought for more than a decade to secure protections for the Roan Plateau and its sensitive wildlife habitat and watersheds, and we remain invested in sound stewardship of these incredible public lands in our backyard. Wilderness Workshop has partnered with our local BLM land managers on habitat restoration projects in the same areas the Trump administration is now proposing to open for drilling.”

This latest BLM leasing proposal reopens years of intense conflict over the Roan Plateau, which had been put to rest. After all of the federal lands on the plateau were leased for drilling in 2008, a historic 2014 legal settlement canceled dozens of controversial leases on top of the plateau and put significant development conditions on neighboring lands to protect critical environmental values. In 2024, the remaining two leases on top of the plateau were relinquished by the leaseholders after no development occurred.

Despite the decades of legal battles and collaborative agreements, the BLM is now rushing head first into stirring up the controversy of the past by putting high-priority wildlife habitat, outstanding waters, and outdoor recreation opportunities in the crosshairs.

“BLM’s aggressive oil and gas leasing program doesn’t benefit Coloradans. It doesn’t benefit our climate, our wildlife, our recreation opportunities or the health of our communities,” said Brien Webster, Senior Public Lands Campaign Manager for Conservation Colorado. “The Trump administration is imposing a Washington D.C. driven agenda of energy-dominance that not only disregards the perspectives of Coloradans, it disregards all facets of common-sense.”

Drilling on the plateau risks irreversible damage to ecological and recreation resources:

● Pristine Watersheds: Runoff and industrial activity threaten waters that provide drinking water for communities and support aquatic life and native trout. The proposed lease parcels include Outstanding Waters designated by the State of Colorado for their high water quality and ecological and recreational significance.

● Crucial Wildlife Habitat: Heavy machinery disrupts migratory pathways for large elk and deer herds. The lease parcels are mapped as high-priority habitat by Colorado Parks and Wildlife for elk production.This landscape is critical to supporting what was once North America’s largest herd of migratory Mule Deer, a population that is now in steep decline due to habitat fragmentation elsewhere across their range. The Roan plays an equally important role for discrete populations of greater sage grouse and cutthroat trout.

● Recreation Experiences: Industrialization will harm well-established hunting, fishing, and backcountry recreation opportunities. A broad coalition of sporting organizations came together to protect the Roan from drilling when this conflict erupted previously.

“Communities across Colorado and the American West have worked tirelessly for decades to defend places like the Roan Plateau to protect wildlife habitat and our freedom to access these lands. Now we are witnessing a deliberate policy shift that would let oil and gas companies have unlimited reign over our public lands, regardless of the public’s voice,” said Jim Ramey, Colorado State Director for The Wilderness Society. “The Roan Plateau is a settled matter. Reopening it to drilling during an already unprecedented leasing frenzy risks destroying the Roan Plateau for generations to come.”

The BLM’s proposed December 2026 lease sale is the latest in an unprecedented surge in federal public land giveaways in Colorado following the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” in 2025. This includes BLM lease sales in March and June of 2026 that saw nearly 200,000 thousand acres offered across the West Slope—marking the highest volume of public lands leased to oil and gas corporations in years. Adding the environmentally sensitive Roan Plateau to this relentless leasing schedule places corporate profits above the health of wildlife, water, and local communities.

The proposed leases on the Roan Plateau are part of BLM’s 30-day public scoping period to receive public input on 114 oil and gas parcels totaling 126,744 acres slated for a December 2026 lease sale. The scoping period ends July 9, 2026.