Bureau of Land Management

More than a third of Colorado is made up of public land and controlled by agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management. Decisions about how to use that land can be contentious, as conservationists and private industry vie for their preferred use on those millions of acres.

As temperatures rise and wildfires continue to burn across the West, many in Colorado are turning their attention to fire prevention. There's a woman who comes to the Roaring Fork Valley every year known as the "goat gypsy." Lani Malmberg and her herd of 1,200 Spanish cashmere goats help with fire mitigation, land restoration and weed control on private and public lands across all 13 Western states. 

Witches’ Pantry is a cave recently discovered in the boundaries of Rocky Mountain Resources’ proposed expansion of the Mid-Continent Quarry in Glenwood Springs. 

If the mining company’s proposal is approved, the cave and all the potential science within it could be destroyed, according to the cavers who discovered it.

In December, the Bureau of Land Management said it will not make a decision to approve Rocky Mountain Resources’ proposal for a hydrology study until early 2020. 

The mining company owns the Mid-Continent Quarry just north of Glenwood Springs and is looking to expand operations by 5,000%. For the Bureau of Land Management to approve that expansion, it must first conduct a hydrology study. 

The Bureau of Land Management’s acting director says past comments he’s made doubting the existence of climate change are irrelevant. 

Reporters grilled William Perry Pendley at the annual Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Fort Collins. When asked about comments he’s made calling human-caused climate change fictional, Pendley refused to elaborate on how he formed those opinions. He instead cited a directive from his boss, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, to look at climate impacts.

The Bureau of Land Management has been ordered to halt drilling and sales of new oil leases in the Colorado River Valley in order to consider the climate impacts of development on its lands. Carbondale-based Wilderness Workshop, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups had gone to court on this issue in 2017.

  Colorado’s representatives responded to news yesterday that the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management will move from Washington D.C. to the western United States. Grand Junction has been discussed as a potential site for the relocation.

The federal government has reached a settlement in an ongoing legal battle over drilling in the Thompson Divide area of the White River National Forest.

The nonprofit Colorado Wild and Public Lands is suing the federal government over a land exchange. It’s the latest step in years of debate over the Sutey property.

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to consider repealing an Obama-era regulation on methane emissions Wednesday. Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner is reportedly still undecided.

Last week, the Bureau of Land Management completed a long-debated land exchange with the billionaire Wexner family. The federal agency traded nearly 1,500 acres of land near the base of Mount Sopris for two properties totaling 670 acres of once-private land that is close to popular recreation areas in Carbondale. Elizabeth Stewart-Severy has been following the development and spoke with producer Christin Kay about the deal.

Last month, Congressional Republicans made initial moves to repeal a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rule aimed at reducing methane emissions from oil and gas development. This BLM regulation is modeled, in part, after a state law in Colorado. News director Carolyn Sackariason sat down with environment reporter Elizabeth Stewart-Severy to talk about how such a repeal would affect Coloradans.

The citizen group Colorado Wild and Public Lands has won a request to delay the closing of a controversial land exchange.

Public land near Carbondale will go into private holdings this week.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell joined Gov. John Hickenlooper at the state capitol Thursday to announce a decision that protects the Thompson Divide, but leaves other areas open to drilling.

Pitkin County commissioners approved spending an additional $85,000 on preservation efforts in Thompson Divide on Tuesday.

The Bureau of Land Management released environmental information this week about potential oil and gas development in northwest Colorado.

Representatives from the Western Energy Alliance, which represents over 300 oil and gas companies in the western United States, are praising election victories by Republican candidates Donald Trump and Scott Tipton. Environmental groups fear impacts from expanded development. Aspen Public Radio’s Elizabeth Stewart-Severy spoke with the Western Energy Alliance’s Kathleen Sgamma about potential effects of this election on the oil and gas industry.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will offer 31 oil and gas leases for sale this December, but these sales will happen online.

For years, the nonprofit, EcoFlight, has been flying politicians, journalists and concerned citizens over a pristine corridor outside of Carbondale that’s being eyed by oil and gas companies for drilling. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released a plan for the area that has both industry and environmental groups wanting more. Aspen Public Radio’s Elizabeth Stewart-Severy recently flew over the Thompson Divide and has this report.  

  Oil and gas companies are deciding how to respond to the BLM’s expected decision about leases on the Thompson Divide. The West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association is working with about eight companies directly affected by a pending BLM decision.

  The BLM is sorting through tens of thousands of comments on what to do about certain oil and gas leases. The 65 leases include 25 on the Thompson Divide.