< All Press Releases

The BLM Colorado State Office today announced that it is deferring a 799-acre parcel of subsurface geothermal lands near Buena Vista and Mt. Princeton Hot Springs from a scheduled BLM lease sale on Feb. 11, 2010."The parcel will undergo further environmental review and analysis," said Greg Shoop, BLM Front Range District Manager. "We received several substantive comments in writing after our Jan. 14 public information meeting in Buena Vista that caused us to decide to further review the current stipulations on the parcel."This was the third time the parcel had been listed for possible sale at a BLM auction. It was deferred from the Sept. 2009 sale to allow adequate time for Tribal consultations. The parcel was deferred from the Nov. 2009 at the request of the Director of the Colorado Division of Natural Resources, so the BLM and the Colorado Division of Natural Resources (DNR) could review their respective regulatory requirements to develop the parcel. This is the first Federal geothermal parcel that was offered for sale in Colorado.We want to assure the public that the environmental analysis process was thoroughly followed before the parcel is offered for sale,"Shoop said. No date has been set for offering the geothermal parcel at a future auction.The offering of 11 oil and gas parcels encompassing 3,511 acres in the same Feb. 11 lease sale will continue as planned. All of the parcels listed are overseen by the BLM's Royal Gorge Field Office in Canon City. All of BLM Colorado's lease sales are held at the Bureau's State Office in Lakewood.