BLM oil and gas lease sales continue to insult Colorado’s communities and the highest value of our public lands

Cut-rate lease sales disregard higher uses sustaining wildlife, recreation, and local economies

FOR RELEASE: January, 8, 2026

Contact: Richard Mylott, Wilderness Workshop Communications Manager, 970.581.8244 | richard@wildernessworkshop.org

DENVER – A series of recent BLM oil and gas lease sales across Colorado, and a rushed “replacement sale” of the same parcels, continue to demonstrate the fiscal and social irresponsibility of the Trump Administration’s effort to cheapen and giveaway public lands to the fossil fuel industry.

On December 9, 2025, BLM Colorado held an oil and gas lease sale in which industry chose to pass on 40% of the acreage offered for lease. Less than one week later, BLM Colorado released a new sale notice announcing that a “replacement sale” would be held on January 8, 2026. In the replacement sale held today, BLM re-offered all of the parcels that did not sell in the competitive auction held less than a month ago. Unsurprisingly, not a single re-offered parcel received a bid from the oil and gas industry – a clear example of how wasteful and inefficient this process is.

This replacement sale, mandated by Congress under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA)” represents a ridiculous waste of public agency time and resources, considering that industry has already made it clear that the lands to be re-offered for lease have no value for oil and gas. The OBBBA requires the BLM to hold a replacement sale if more than 25% of the offered acreage goes unsold in the original sale, which is the case with the December 2025 sale. Holding this replacement sale less than a month after the original sale is desperate and absurd as it does nothing to increase oil and gas production and demands more rounds of empty paperwork from the BLM. Egregiously, the BLM noticed and held the replacement sale without any opportunity for public comment or protest.

Colorado’s residents, visitors, and economies rely on these public lands for much higher values and uses, including priority habitat for sage-grouse, severe winter range for big game, high-priority aquatic habitat and fisheries, as well as lands with wilderness characteristics and state wildlife areas. Their health and integrity are the basis for the state’s $60 billion+ recreation economy and a critical foundation supporting employment, retail and service businesses, and revenue in communities.

“This replacement sale offers even more hard economic evidence exposing the false premise of an energy ‘emergency’ and an insulting disregard for the highest uses and values that Colorado’s public lands provide,” said Peter Hart, Legal Director at Wilderness Workshop. “Families and businesses across our communities want these lands to remain as unspoiled assets that support recreation, hunting and fishing, and clean air and water. Wilderness Workshop is working to ensure these places are not sacrificed at fire sale, so they can continue to deliver unparalleled recreation and wilderness qualities that sustain people, plants, and wildlife.”

“This Administration’s treatment of our public lands represents fiscal and social malpractice,” said Brien Webster, Public Lands Campaign Manager at Conservation Colorado. “It is time this administration stops treating Colorado’s public lands like a discount bin for industry and starts recognizing their greater value to our communities, economy, and wildlife.”

“Today’s so-called ‘replacement sale’ is a completely unnecessary burden on the short-staffed agency and makes it easier for oil companies to hoard our public lands for dirt cheap prices,” said Jim Ramey, Colorado State Director at The Wilderness Society. “Coloradans love the freedom our public lands provide and overwhelmingly want them protected for future generations – not opened up for more drilling.”

“The recent BLM oil and gas lease sales across Colorado have shown a clear disregard for the health, happiness, and dignity of the people of our state,” said Peter LeVon on behalf of Western Colorado Alliance. “The fact that many of the leases did not sell last quarter means that the industry isn’t interested under the current market conditions and for the foreseeable future. Additionally, the push for unnecessary replacement sales without opportunity for public comment further removes the public’s right to engage in public land decision-making. The people of Colorado deserve access to public lands that are managed to protect our lives and economy, not the selfish interests of the oil and gas industry.”