Back in June, we asked you to submit preliminary scoping comments on a particularly ill-conceived oil and gas lease sale in Utah. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently announced that it’s barreling ahead with this sale and is now accepting comments on the draft proposal, which would auction off some of Utah’s wildest places for fossil fuel development, including parcels in the Dirty Devil and Hatch Point regions. All told, the BLM’s Fourth Quarter Lease Sale would offer 43 parcels spanning more than 74,000 acres of public land in Utah.

The BLM is accepting public comments through Monday, September 21. Please tell the agency to keep oil and gas development out of these scenic, wild landscapes.

The Dirty Devil parcels are in a wild and remote region west of the Horseshoe Canyon unit of Canyonlands National Park and immediately north of the Dirty Devil Wilderness Study Area.

The Hatch Point parcels are located near the mouth of Trough Springs Canyon, south of Moab, and encompass Hatch Canyon and Kane Springs Canyon. These canyons are designated critical habitat for the threatened Mexican Spotted Owl in addition to supporting a wide array of other wildlife. The Hatch Point area also provides expansive views of the nearby Bears Ears region.

In its haste to fall into line with Trump administration priorities, the BLM prepared a draft environmental analysis that falls short of what the law requires. For example, many of the parcels—including those near Bears Ears—are in designated critical habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl, a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). However, the agency failed to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about foreseeable impacts to the owl, as required by the ESA. Rather than consult now, the agency kicked the can down the road to the drilling stage when it claims that it may (but likely won’t) fulfill that requirement. This backwards approach is illegal and does nothing to ensure the owl is protected.

SUWA fully intends to hold the BLM accountable for its failure to follow the law. You can help by telling the agency to keep fossil fuel development out of Utah’s remarkable wild landscapes.