Bureau of Land Management

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.

The Bureau of Land Management is deciding what to do with dozens of oil and gas leases, including some on the Thompson Divide. The agency finished a series of public meetings this week to find out what residents want.

The Bureau of Land Management is open to canceling more than half of the undeveloped oil and gas leases in the Thompson Divide. The leases in question are for Forest Service land but the BLM manages the mineral rights underneath. The BLM is reviewing the environmental impacts of what can be done with those leases, and has released the list of management options.

The Forest Service was met by protesters Tuesday (9/2/15) in a remote area in the Thompson Divide, southwest of Carbondale. The agency is starting a review of a proposal to drill an exploratory well. But, the group gathered doesn’t want any natural gas drilling. They say the area’s natural environment is too valuable. Aspen Public Radio’s Marci Krivonen reports.

It’s tough to imagine coming up here for anything other than peaceful moments in the great outdoors. But about 40 people Tuesday maneuvered mud-caked roads to protest drilling. Some even slept over.

The Pitkin County Commissioners are unhappy with what they’ve seen so far in a BLM plan for existing oil and gas leases on the Thompson Divide. They’re crafting a letter to the agency. Aspen Public Radio’s Marci Krivonen reports.

Pitkin County gets an early look at the BLM’s preliminary draft Environmental Impact Statement because it’s a cooperating agency. A public version will be released in November. It’ll decide what to do with more than two dozen undeveloped oil and gas leases in the Thompson Divide, southwest of Carbondale. Pitkin County wants the leases canceled.

In June the Pitkin County Commissioners sent a resolution to Colorado’s congressional delegation, decrying a national effort to transfer federal lands to state ownership. Advocates say it would improve access, environmental health and productivity on land managed by the Forest Service and BLM. Commissioner Rachel Richards told Marci Krivonen the effort would spell trouble for Pitkin County.

Rachel Richards is a Pitkin County Commissioner. She spoke with Aspen Public Radio’s Marci Krivonen. In future weeks, we’ll air the other side of the argument.