The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) must complete a plan to conserve Gunnison sage-grouse before the agency is able to revise a plan to open new oil and gas leases across 2.2 million acres of southwestern Colorado.
A lawsuit brought on by conservation groups led to an agreement with the agency. Before BLM is able to revise its oil and gas leasing plan, the agency must analyze climate impacts and evaluate at least one alternative, in addition to creating a plan to conserve the sage grouse and big game corridors and habitat.
“For the sake of the Colorado River, the Gunnison sage-grouse and the North Fork Valley’s organic farms and communities, the Biden administration must end new leasing here, once and for all,” said Taylor McKinnon, senior public lands advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity.
