Comments closed October 5
Stop oil and gas drilling beneath Ouray National Wildlife Refuge
Bureau of Land Management · Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, UT
- What
- BLM wants to open federal minerals under a national wildlife refuge to oil and gas leasing.
- Where
- Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, UT
- How much
- less than 5,200 acres federal mineral acres proposed for oil and gas leasing; 30 days length of public scoping and comment period
- Decided
- Comments closed October 5, 2026. No decision document is on file yet.Date from Federal Register ↗, read September 5, 2026.
Where these four lines come from
- WhatOur plain-English read of the Federal Register 2026-18054 ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words under Case.
- WhereThe places and states the notice names, as PLAN read them.
- less than 5,200 acres“encompasses less than 5,200 acres of federal minerals managed by the BLM” SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Open the document ↗
- 30 days“please ensure your comments are received prior to the close of the 30-day scoping period” DATES Open the document ↗
- DecidedOctober 5, 2026, from Federal Register, the document’s comment close date (federalregister.gov) ↗. Read September 5, 2026. The decision document is the one on file in PLAN’s record.
- Read from PLAN’s record November 10, 2026.
What the proposal said, and what the decision did
No figure from the proposal has been checked against the decision on this fight yet. What the record does hold is the issues ledger below.
No decision document is on PLAN’s record for this fight yet. When the agency’s decision lands, what it answered goes here.
PLAN's read: high threat
BLM wants to open federal minerals under a national wildlife refuge to oil and gas leasing.
What’s at risk
If this goes through
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
By the numbers, from the agency’s own document
- Federal mineral acres proposed for oil and gas leasing
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Open the document ↗“encompasses less than 5,200 acres of federal minerals managed by the BLM”
- Length of public scoping and comment period
DATES
Open the document ↗“please ensure your comments are received prior to the close of the 30-day scoping period”
Source: the agency’s document ↗
The agency’s own analysis
What the notice says, and what it leaves out
The window has closed; the record of what was missing stays.
The agency says
“an associated Environmental Assessment (EA) to consider opening the federal minerals beneath the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing”
The agency has chosen to prepare an Environmental Assessment rather than a full Environmental Impact Statement for a proposal to open a National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing.
The agency says
“in response to external interest in leasing federal oil and gas minerals beneath the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge”
The Purpose and Need section defines the agency's need for action as satisfying external commercial interest and carrying out direction from two executive orders.
The agency says
“The BLM is considering two preliminary alternatives in the RMPA--a No Action Alternative and the Proposed Action.”
The Preliminary Alternatives section lists only two options: No Action and a single Proposed Action.
The agency says
“The BLM has identified seven preliminary issues for this planning effort's analysis.”
The Planning Criteria section states that seven preliminary issues have been identified for analysis but does not name a single one.
The agency says
“The scope of this land use planning process does not include addressing the evaluation or designation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC)”
The SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section explicitly excludes ACEC evaluation from the planning process without providing any explanation or legal basis for doing so.
The agency says
“to help support compliance with applicable procedural requirements under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536) and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act”
The Additional Information section commits to compliance with the Endangered Species Act and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act but makes no reference to any USFWS authorization or approval process that applies to the proposed action.
The agency says
“The specific date, time, and location of the public meeting will be announced at least 15 days in advance through the project website”
The DATES section sets the comment deadline as October 5, 2026, while stating the public meeting will be announced only at least 15 days in advance.
The agency says
“lease development would have to be accomplished through directional or horizontal drilling from well pads outside the Refuge boundary”
The Preliminary Alternatives section presents the no surface occupancy restriction as the primary protection for the Refuge and states that drilling must originate from outside the Refuge boundary, but the notice contains no indication that subsurface impacts of drilling beneath the Refuge will be analyzed.
The agency says
“Specialists with expertise in the following disciplines will be involved in this planning effort: air quality, water quality, minerals and geology, wildlife and fisheries, and economics.”
The Interdisciplinary Team section lists specialists in only five disciplines: air quality, water quality, minerals and geology, wildlife and fisheries, and economics.
The agency says
“The BLM will consult with Indian Tribal Nations on a government-to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175”
The Additional Information section states the BLM will consult with Indian Tribal Nations but provides no information about which Tribes have been or will be consulted, what consultation has already occurred, or how Tribal input was considered when the seven preliminary issues were identified before scoping began.
In the agency’s own words
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Utah State Director intends to prepare a Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) with an associated Environmental Assessment (EA) to consider opening the federal minerals beneath the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing, subject to a no surface occupancy stipulation, and by this notice is announcing the beginning of the scoping period to solicit public comments and identify issues and is providing the…
The groups on this fight
4 groups predicted likely to care in Utah
Predicted likely to care is a guess from the group's sourced work in Utah, with no link to this decision. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Bears Ears National Monument, Utah: The five-Tribe coalition that petitioned for the monument and shared in managing it until the July 2026 proclamation disbanded the Bears Ears Commission.
- Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah: The monument’s friends group: Science, stewardship, and the legal fight over its boundaries.
- Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Green River (Flaming Gorge to Colorado), Utah: Sued BLM in August 2024 to void 51 reaffirmed oil and gas leases in the San Rafael Desert, including one in the heart of the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness carved by the Green River.
- Utah Diné Bikéyah
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Bears Ears National Monument, Utah: The Native-led nonprofit whose cultural mapping work built the original monument proposal.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
Who signs it
The notice names no signer PLAN could read. PLAN names a decision-maker only when the document names one.
The ground
The window has closed, so there’s no watch to set on it here.
The photograph on this page: Greater sage-grouse displaying on a lek in sagebrush country. It’s the country this decision sits in, not the site itself. More Than Just Parks.
In court on this ground
No court case we track is over Ouray National Wildlife Refuge.
Who holds the vote
PLAN’s record doesn’t tie a member of Congress to this fight yet. The scorecard grades the votes and bills that decide public lands; nothing joins a vote or a bill to this decision, so there’s no member to name here without guessing.
See how your members vote ↗On the record for this fight
2 people told us they filed on this fight through PLAN; we haven’t found any of their letters on the agency’s record yet.
- Karen W.54 seals
- and 1 more steward
Ranked on letters found on the agency’s record, then letters filed. Readers appear as first name and last initial, or as a steward in their state; switch yours off in your record. All boards
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