Dear Secretary Burgum and Director Pearce, 

I am writing to express my concerns with the proposed Oil and Gas Leasing rule revision and specifically with respect to cutting the public out of the decision-making process and reduced bonding requirements.

Stop the sell-out of our public lands to the oil and gas industry.

Public lands are America’s second-best idea after the Bill of Rights. The idea that the public can own shared lands that are open to all, and have a say in their future is unique and worth ensuring for future generations. Whether a farmer, rancher, hunter, angler, hike, camper, mountain biker, landowner, oil and gas company, split-estate landowner, or public lands “shareholder”, today, under the current rules everyone’s voice matters and has a meaningful opportunity to influence the decision-making process. The input of multiple stakeholders is critical to the stewardship of our public lands for present and future generations.

Instead, the proposed rule cuts the public out of the decision-making process. Today, when a lease is proposed, the public has 30-days to comment on the Scoping phase, 30-days to comment on the draft Environmental Assessment and 30 days to protest the lease sale decision.  The proposed rule eliminates public comment at the Scoping and Environmental Assessment phase, and reduces the protest period to 10 days. Under this proposed rule the only stakeholder with a voice is the oil and gas industry. Absent the public’s ability to weigh in on where leasing is inappropriate, we are bound to see development in ecologically sensitive areas, watersheds, critical wildlife habitat, multiple use conflict areas, next to communities and sources of drinking water, and in treasured outdoor recreation areas.

The current $150,000 per lease and $500,000 statewide bonding requirements are still deficient, but more fiscally responsible than the previous bonding levels were at $10,000 per lease, and $25,000 for a statewide bond. The proposed rule is going backwards and only ensures that the taxpayer will be stuck with the industry’s clean-up costs. In Western Colorado, according to the oil and gas industry, the average cost to plug a well and remediate and reclaim the location is estimated at $140,000. Reverting back to 1950s and 1960s bonding levels is fiscally irresponsible.  

Private property is a fundamental constitutional right. Across the West, permission is needed to hunt, fish, or cross private land - yet, the BLM is now proposing to leave landowners completely in the dark when oil and gas companies want to lease the minerals underlying their lands for drilling. Under this proposed rule, surface owners have no right to notice of a proposed lease that could result in drilling under their land, or worse occupying the surface to ensure extraction of leased minerals. Eliminating the notice to private surface landowners is a direct assault on the fundamental constitutional private property right.

The current rules provide the BLM with the tools to steer development away from sensitive and conflict areas through the leasing preference criteria. Over 70 percent of Coloradans want to see the environment, water, air, and wildlife protected.

Federal public lands are the life-blood of Western communities. Please abandon this rule revision and keep the current common-sense rules in place.

Signed,