CRAIG, CO – The Bureau of Land Management’s Little Snake Field Office announced today that it will be closing Vermillion Basin to future oil and gas leasing. The decision comes as part of the ongoing revision of the BLM’s Resource Management Plan for the Little Snake Resource Area in Northwest Colorado.

WASHINGTON – More than 150,000 people have asked the federal government to halt plans currently in process to open 73.4 million acres of the Arctic Ocean to oil and gas leasing – the largest block of Arctic Ocean waters yet to be offered to the oil and gas industry.

WASHINGTON – In a move that could save 100,000 acres of pristine Utah wilderness from destruction, an agreement between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and a coalition of environmental and preservation groups was filed in court late last night. The deal will temporarily prevent BLM from issuing leases on 80 contested parcels of Utah wilderness, including land adjacent to national parks, for thirty days (until January 19). Although BLM will go forward with today’s auction, the agency has agreed not to issue the contested leases.

UTAH — Background: On Election Day, the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Utah office announced that its December 19 lease sale would include oil and gas leases near Arches and Canyonlands, along with eastern Utah's Dinosaur National Monument. Two weeks ago, the National Park Service said it had improperly been left out of the loop and urged the BLM to remove from the sale list more than 90 lease parcels (covering about 130,000 acres) that were close to the parks.