In June of 2024, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to the Colorado River Valley and Grand Junction Resource Management Plans (RMPs). The SEIS revisits oil and gas management decisions for nearly 2 million acres of federal minerals in western Colorado, specifically analyzing the climate impacts of leasing and development on public lands due to lawsuits filed by WW and partners. The BLM issued a final decision supplementing the Colorado River Valley and Grand Junction RMPs in October. The decision closed hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands to new leasing that were left open in prior plans. The BLM also implemented more protection for some of the most sensitive areas, including a wilderness study area (WSA) and Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). However, the BLM failed to halt all future leasing in the area, as the climate crisis demands.

Background and Process

  • BLM finalized the Colorado River Valley and Grand Junction RMPs in 2015, after nearly decade-long planning processes. These plans dictate how nearly 2 million acres of public lands and minerals, largely within the Piceance Basin, will be managed for the next 20 years. In addition to the thousands of oil and gas wells that already exist in the area, BLM anticipated thousands of new wells would be drilled in coming years. The plans created a presumption that oil and gas can and should be the dominant use, even in places where other incompatible values exist and areas where BLM has concluded that oil and gas development is unlikely, and opened 80% of the planning area (1.5 million acres) to oil and gas leasing and development.
  • In 2016, Wilderness Workshop and conservation partners filed a lawsuit on the Colorado River Valley RMP challenging BLM’s failure to analyze the climate impacts of its decision, or to consider alternatives that would limit new oil and gas leasing in order to protect other public lands values such as wildlife habitat, recreation, and wilderness. In 2018, we prevailed in federal court and the agency was ordered to reconsider portions of the plan pertaining to oil and gas development and climate analysis.
  • In 2019, Wilderness Workshop and conservation partners filed a similar lawsuit on the Grand Junction RMP. BLM voluntarily remanded the oil and gas portions of that plan as well, as similar flaws plagued both RMPs.
  • As a result of these two lawsuits, BLM is now conducting an SEIS for both RMPs in order to more thoroughly analyze the climate impacts of new oil and gas development and to consider closing additional public lands to oil and gas leasing.

The SEIS is a public process conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which includes the following opportunities for public participation:

  • Scoping: The BLM provided a 30-day scoping period during which the public could submit comments identifying key issues for the agency to address in the SEIS process during the summer of 2022. WW engaged our membership and submitted formal comments at this stage.
  • Draft SEIS: The BLM released a Draft SEIS for public review and comment in the fall of 2024. It included the agency’s analysis of potential oil and gas impacts on resources such as wildlife, water and climate, and alternatives for opening and closing public lands to oil and gas leasing. During the 90-day public comment period, WW rallied our members, partner organizations, elected officials, business owners, and agricultural producers to come together and advocate for a unifying voice for western Colorado’s BLM lands – one that scales up conservation and scales down climate impacts.
  • Final SEIS: In June of 2024, the BLM-released a Final SEIS, which incorporates comments received on the Draft SEIS. This kicked off a formal protest period and a concurrent governor’s consistency review. The Final SEIS identified a proposed management plan that is a significant improvement to the original plan in terms of conservation, but still falls short of meaningful action on climate. WW filed objections to the proposed plan on climate grounds, but BLM was immovable.
  • Record of Decision (ROD): The BLM issued a final decision in October of 2024.

Why this BLM Decision Matters to Western Coloradans

The SEIS planning area, which spans the entire Grand Junction and Colorado River Valley field offices, includes 1.5 million acres of public land and 2 million acres of federal minerals in western Colorado. This region contains some of our state’s most important wildlife habitat, treasured recreation areas, wildlands that should be protected for future generations, critical water resources, famed Colorado scenery, and Indigenous cultural sites.

Beyond the on-the-ground values of these public lands, oil and gas development is a major driver of climate change that is already impacting our communities, agriculture, water, wildlife, and way of life. The SEIS is an opportunity for the BLM to take a hard look at the climate impacts of oil and gas drilling and make decisions to minimize and mitigate those impacts, including severe drought and massive wildfires, for the benefit of Colorado’s future.

In the end, the BLM’s decision closes hundreds of thousands of acres of public land to new leasing and adds protections for some of the area’s most sensitive wildlands. These are huge victories resulting from years of advocacy and litigation undertaken by WW and our partners. Unfortunately, the BLM did not go so far as to close all local public lands to future leasing and instead left some of the most prospective areas open to new leasing. The decision shows that we’ve made great progress, but the BLM still is not doing all that is necessary to respond to the climate crisis.