The Bureau of Land Management keeps federal lands open for energy production for too long and doesn’t do enough to ensure conservation, according to an environmental group’s report released Tuesday.
The Wilderness Society released “No Exit: Fixing the BLM’s Indiscriminate Energy Leasing” Tuesday and accused the federal agency of not abiding by the multiple use mandate, which requires that different lands should be managed for different uses.
Instead, energy production takes precedence over many other uses of federal lands, such as recreation and conservation, the report states. About 90 percent of federal public lands are open to energy leasing even though not all of those lands have the same energy potential, according to the report.
“Common sense would dictate that the BLM close areas with other important values than oil and gas potential, particularly areas unlikely to be developed,” the report stated. “But the BLM’s internal guidance, and the way that the agency interprets that guidance, has made it extremely difficult to actually close lands to leasing. Instead, the BLM continues to create opportunities for energy speculation at a high cost to recreation, wilderness and wildlife.”
According to the report, the BLM ignores its own handbook by prioritizing energy production over other uses. The handbook instructs the bureau to allow field offices to determine what lands represent the best areas for oil and gas leasing, grazing and recreation, among other uses.
“The agency does not close areas with no or low development potential to leasing, regardless of the potential for resource conflict,” the report states. The Wilderness Society recommended closing more lands to oil and gas leases if the possibility of energy production is low and keeping leases available in areas where it’s more likely to be successful.
