Good news: the Trump administration has deferred another planned sale of public lands for oil and gas drilling! The 18,000 acres of public lands in question are located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colorado, less than a mile from Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.
The Bureau of Land Management postponed the sale in order to “complete Tribal consultation with the Navajo Nation.” The Navajo Nation owns ancestral land just north of the proposed leases, and regards adjacent mountains as sacred land and traditional cultural property.
While the deferral is welcome news, it still ignores the environmental impacts that would result from the sale—including harms to Colorado’s clean air, water, night skies, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities. And more than 8,000 acres in Colorado remain up for sale to the oil and gas industry in early September. Clearly, we still have our work cut out for us in fighting these oil and gas giveaways.
Read the press release.
