{"id":555,"date":"2026-06-15T10:34:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T10:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=555"},"modified":"2026-06-15T10:34:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T10:34:03","slug":"roan-plateau-parcels-proposed-for-oil-and-gas-lease-sales-undoing-protections-for-iconic-western-colorado-mesa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=555","title":{"rendered":"Roan Plateau parcels proposed for oil and gas lease sales, undoing protections for iconic western Colorado mesa"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

After nine years of protests and lawsuits, an agreement preserving the Roan Plateau in western Colorado from oil and gas development was reached in 2016. Now the Trump administration is poised to overturn that accord and open the plateau to drilling.<\/p>\n

Read more Colorado lawmakers look to limit PERA bonuses following Sun investigation<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management proposed 114 parcels covering 126,744 acres on the Western Slope for drilling, including six parcels covering 5,000 acres on the plateau.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The agency opened a 30-day period to gather public input on the sale planned for December.<\/p>\n

BLM first proposed issuing oil and gas leases atop the iconic plateau, which rises more than 3,000 feet above the Western Slope\u2019s Colorado River Valley, in 2007, sparking protests by community and environmental groups and a lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, in August 2008 the BLM went ahead with the auction leasing 55,186 acres atop and alongside the Garfield County mesa raising $114 million, which the bureau said was at the time the most revenue raised in a sale in the lower 48 states.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the auction, then-Gov. Bill Ritter said it was \u201ca sad day\u201d for Colorado.<\/p>\n

The plateau is a patchwork of mountain meadows, juniper woodlands, aspen stands, gable oak and Douglas fir. It is a key habitat for some of the country\u2019s largest mule deer, elk and bear populations, with mule deer and elk migrating to the top during the summer.<\/p>\n

The streams lacing the Roan have been designated Outstanding Waters by the state and are home to a genetically pure population of Colorado River cutthroat trout.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cCommunities across Colorado and the American West have worked tirelessly for decades to defend places like the Roan Plateau to protect wildlife habitat and our freedom to access these lands,\u201d Jim Ramey, Colorado state director for The Wilderness Society, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Read more What the heck is happening in downtown Denver?<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2012, a Denver District Court judge ruled that BLM had not followed its protocol in issuing the leasing plan and ordered the agency to develop a new plan.<\/p>\n

Two years later, the environmental plaintiffs and the bureau reached a settlement under which all but two of the leases atop the plateau were canceled and Denver-based Bill Barrett Corp. was reimbursed $47.6 million.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration in 2016 issued a more protective plan for federal lands on the Western Slope including the Roan Plateau.<\/p>\n

Now, the BLM is proposing to potentially return oil and gas drilling to the 73,600-acre plateau.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe BLM is in a mad rush to sacrifice western Colorado\u2019s most cherished landscapes to the fossil fuel industry no matter the cost,\u201d Juli Slivka, senior policy and program director for Wilderness Workshop, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The BLM held Colorado oil and gas lease sales in March and June offering 200,000 acres across the Western Slope.<\/p>\n

The accelerated pace of sales is the result of changes made under H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in July. The act mandates quarterly lease sales in nine Western states, including Colorado.<\/p>\n

Read more Michael Bennet, Phil Weiser clash over ambition and housing in last major debate before Democratic governor\u2019s primary<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal legislation requires quarterly lease sales in nine Western states. This time, the sale includes 5,000 acres on top of the plateau.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy"],"yoast_head":"\nRoan Plateau parcels proposed for oil and gas lease sales, undoing protections for iconic western Colorado mesa - Colorado Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=555\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Roan Plateau parcels proposed for oil and gas lease sales, undoing protections for iconic western Colorado mesa - Colorado Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Federal legislation requires quarterly lease sales in nine Western states. 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