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LAKEWOOD, Colo. – As part of the Department of the Interior’s commitment to responsible and balanced domestic energy development, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today announced the completion of the Dinosaur Trail and Shale Ridges and Canyons Master Leasing Plans (MLPs) in Northwest Colorado. The plans are in place to provide a management framework that balances the development of more than 3 million acres of federal mineral estate with protection for natural resources, cultural properties and special areas.

“These West Slope areas provide some of the nation’s best recreation and big game habitat, so we took a larger, landscape level look at development on these important public lands,” said BLM Colorado State Director Ruth Welch. “The Dinosaur Trail MLP will provide protection to the area around Dinosaur National Monument while still allowing for responsible energy development in the Piceance Basin. The Shale Ridges and Canyons MLP will help bring closure to conflicts surrounding energy development in the scenic landscapes north of Grand Junction.”

The MLPs were completed as part of the Grand Junction Resource Management Plan, and the White River Field Office Oil and Gas Amendment.

The BLM launched a series of MLPs in May 2010 as part of a sweeping oil and gas leasing reform. The plans establish a guiding framework for how future development will proceed when oil and gas and rights-of-way permit applications are received in a given planning area with important resource values. MLPs facilitate the responsible exploration and development of oil and gas resources while ensuring protection of an area’s resources and resource uses.

“It’s absolutely critical that we manage these public lands in a way that makes sense now and into the future,” Welch said. “These balanced plans provide opportunities for energy and mineral development, as well as protection for natural resources, Native American cultural sites and special areas. We can reduce conflicts between resource extraction and natural resource conservation to benefit both.”

The Dinosaur Trail MLP and White River Field Office Oil and Gas Amendment

The Dinosaur Trail MLP, a key part of the White River RMP Amendment, is a targeted planning effort to minimize resource conflicts and impacts to the Dinosaur National Monument, as well as other nearby resources from oil and gas development. The MLP provides important strategic direction for leasing and development on 357,800 acres of federal minerals in the northwest corner of the field office. The MLP includes specific stipulations to minimize visual and noise impacts to sensitive resources near Dinosaur National Monument. 

The Approved RMP Amendment addresses oil and gas development for the 1.7 million acres of leasable federal minerals managed by the White River Field Office, and guides oil and gas development in Colorado’s Piceance Basin for the next 20 years. The Amendment is not a complete RMP Revision and is specific to oil and gas development.. The amendment also ensures that more than 137,000 acres of land with wilderness characteristics will be protected, in addition to the 82,800 acres already designated as Wilderness Study Areas in the planning area.

The majority of minerals administered by the White River Field Office have already been leased for oil and gas development. The RMP Amendment offers an incentive-based approach for existing leases to minimize the amount of surface disturbance and disruption to wildlife.

In addition to the environmental measures, the BLM also looked at the economic impacts associated with the potential development of 15,040 oil and gas wells drilled on 1,100 well pads over the next 20 years. Development at that level would lead to a net increase of more than 5,340 jobs in northwestern Colorado.  The Record of Decision and Approved RMP Amendment can be found at: http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/wrfo.html.

The Shale Ridges and Canyons MLP and Grand Junction RMP Revision

The 700,900-acre Shale Ridges and Canyons MLP is designed to improve environmental protection of important natural resources while aiding in the orderly leasing and balanced energy development. The MLP includes measures to minimize impacts to wildlife and visual resources and to protect two Wilderness Study Areas and six Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.  Approximately 70 percent of the lands in the MLP area have already been leased.

The Grand Junction RMP provides a framework to guide management on more than one million surface acres and 1.2 million subsurface acres. The updated RMP includes managing five areas for specific recreational opportunities, including the Grand Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Special Recreation Management Area for cross-country riding and adventure. The Approved RMP also identifies travel management decisions for approximately 4,000 miles of routes. Approximately 2,576 miles of routes – 64 percent – will remain open to motorized travel. Nearly 80 percent of the public lands in the planning area will be accessible within one mile of a motorized route.

The BLM estimates that the Approved RMP for Grand Junction Field Office supports decisions that could create nearly 7,500 jobs by 2029 in livestock grazing, recreation and energy development. The Approved Grand Junction RMP and Record of Decision can be found at: http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/gjfo.html

While both the Grand Junction Approved Resource Management Plan and the Approved White River Field Office Oil and Gas Amendment contain protections for Greater Sage-Grouse habitat, the BLM will make a comprehensive set of final decisions on how to manage Greater Sage-Grouse habitat within the Northwest District through the Northwest Colorado Greater Sage-Grouse Plan Amendment, which is expected to be completed later this summer.