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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Eastern States Office administered more than 3,500 Federal onshore mineral leases in FY 2010. Those leases covered approximately 2.25 million acres in 16 of the 31 states east of and bordering the Mississippi River. The BLM Eastern States raises Federal revenue from leasing mineral rights for development of oil and natural gas to private industries.Steven Wells, Deputy State Director, Natural Resources, said, “The energy and mineral resources program is one of the BLM-Eastern States' largest programs. We manage approximately 40 million acres of mineral estate, including substantial leasing for oil and gas. Overall, $101 million was contributed to the Federal Treasury in Fiscal_Year 2010, with $29 million of those funds distributed to State Governments.The state of Louisiana, due to the mature development of oil and gas in the state, including shale natural gas, ranked first on a list of 16 states for generated revenues from Federal onshore minerals in the East in FY 2010. Missouri ranked second, usurping Arkansas, which held that distinction in previous years. The Lead Belt in southeastern Missouri in the Mississippi Valley contains the highest concentration of lead metal on the planet. The Doe Run Mine in Missouri is known to have the purest lead quality in the world, and has seen strong commodity prices for metals. Arkansas ranked third for generated revenues in FY 2010, and has seen strong shale natural gas development.Portions of the revenues generated through the BLM Eastern States Oil and Gas Leasing Program are distributed back to the originating state. As a result, jobs and revenues are created at local community levels. Coal, oil and natural gas will supply a large part of the nation's energy needs and jobs, will into the future.For further information about the Federal Leasing Program and a schedule of oil and gas leasing sales, please visit: http://www.blm.gov/es/st/en/prog/minerals.html.