BLM: BLM Defers Parcels in Sage-Grouse Habitat from Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Nevada is holding a competitive oil and gas lease sale on Tuesday, March 13 at the BLM State Office in Reno at 1340 Financial Blvd. The sale room will open at 8 a.m. for registration and bidding numbers and the sale begins at 9 a.m.

To comply with the BLM’s Greater Sage-Grouse Interim Management Policies and Procedures, the BLM Nevada, working with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, is deferring 33 parcels that are within sage-grouse population management units that overlap priority habitat areas where there are active sage-grouse leks. The sale notice is amended to reduce the number of parcels offered from 75 to 42 and reduces the number of acres from 133,095 to 72,144 acres.  The parcels offered are located in the Elko and Ely Districts.

The sale notice, parcel list, associated stipulations, and amendment are available in the Information Access Center at the BLM Nevada State Office at 1340 Financial Blvd., and online at the BLM Nevada website at: www.blm.gov/nv.  The website also provides a Geographic Information System shapefile of the parcels.

Annual rental for an oil and gas lease is $1.50 per acre for the first five years, and $2 per acre for any subsequent year.  Additional environmental analysis would need to be conducted to receive an application for permit to drill.