BLM Montana-Dakotas Oil and Gas Lease Sale Scheduled for December 9, 2010
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A federal oil and gas lease sale will be held December 9 at the Bureau of Land Management's Montana State Office in Billings.Earlier this year, the BLM delayed lease sales while additional environmental studies were conducted. The BLM recently completed eight environmental assessments that review oil and gas leasing decisions for 57 suspended Montana leases as well as a number of parcels in Montana, North and South Dakota that were previously nominated for leasing.The BLM plans to offer 223 parcels at the sale; of those, 120 are in Montana, 96 are in North Dakota and 7 are in South Dakota. The North Dakota offerings include 88 Forest Service parcels. The offered parcels are subject to a 30-day protest period that will end November 22.The assessments, a list of parcels that will be offered for sale, the specific stipulations that will be attached to each individual lease upon issuance, and other leasing information are available on BLM's Montana-Dakotas website at www.blm.gov/mt.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.