The Trump administration’s “energy dominance” agenda has arrived in Utah as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) moves forward with two oil and gas proposals. The agency is accepting comments on both proposals through Monday, October 27—please take action at both links below!
First, the BLM is accepting scoping comments on its First Quarter 2026 oil and gas lease sale, which includes 59 parcels, spanning nearly 72,000 acres, in eastern Utah. The majority of parcels are in Utah’s wild Book Cliffs where development would threaten big game and black bear habitat, greater sage-grouse and wilderness-caliber lands. There are several other lease parcels in the scenic White River corridor—a remarkable stretch of river that is managed for the protection of its stunning visual and riparian values.
This proposal is the third this year BLM has targeted the Book Cliffs for leasing and development. In September, the agency auctioned off parcels adjacent to the White River, and it is in the process of finalizing a decision to sell dozens more parcels in this region at its upcoming Fourth Quarter 2025 sale.
Second, the BLM has prepared a draft environmental assessment to “re-examine” prior leasing decisions made from 2015-2019 for 195 leases, across nearly 240,000 acres of public lands throughout Utah. The vast majority of these leases have not been developed, in part thanks to successful lawsuits brought by SUWA and our partners. But the BLM is now poised to rubberstamp its prior leasing decisions and keep the leases—and threat of development—alive for years to come.
The leases are scattered throughout Utah but concentrated most heavily in the Book Cliffs. At risk are many wilderness-caliber areas (the White River, Bitter Creek, and Desolation Canyon, among others), important rivers and riparian areas (the Colorado, Green, and White Rivers), and wildlife habitat.
Please take action at both links above before Monday, Oct. 27! This is an opportunity to have your voice heard and call on the BLM to give these landscapes, wildlife, and other important resource values the respect they deserve. We can preserve them for our generation as well as for future generations to experience and enjoy.
