Tell the Bureau of Land Management to defer leases in the HD Mountains.
Wild, roadless areas in Southwest Colorado’s HD Mountains are being targeted by lease sales that are both unrealistic for the landscape and a threat to the wild, rugged nature of the HDs.
Background:
The BLM is offering over 126,000 acres of oil and gas leases on public lands in Colorado, including many leases in critical big game habitat on the Roan Plateau.
The sale also includes 2000 acres of oil and gas leases within San Juan National Forest, in the HD Mountains between Highway 160 and the Southern Ute border. We’re asking our members to comment on the BLM’s December lease sale and ask that they defer the SJNF leases.
The HD mountains are deceptively rugged and steep with loose shale soils. Natural landslides are visible on the landscape, and streams form steep gullies that flourish into riparian habitat. Much of the range has no roaded access, and nearly all the leases fall within the HD Mountains Colorado Roadless area. Many of the parcels are within migration corridors and winter range for our imperiled big game herds. Some of the leases, including the largest parcels at 1600 acres, are visible from Chimney Rock National Monument.
To manage these important and overlapping resources, minerals must be accessed horizontally from far away. But with these new leases deep within the HD mountains, surrounded by a patchwork of private, Tribal, and state lands, access is challenging and risky.
A recent assessment of the San Juan Basin found the Fruitland CBM accessed by these leases is “mostly depleted” and in “continuous decline.” The basin is filled with non-productive wells that need to be plugged and abandoned. Tell the BLM we should be cleaning up the existing mess, not selling new leases in the San Juan National Forest that will be a liability in the future.
What You Can Do
Tell BLM to DEFER the leases in the HD mountains!
Submit a public comment HERE using the talking points below. Try to hit the important points and make it personal!
THE TOP LINE ASK:
Urge the BLM to pull the HD Mountains from the December lease sale.
Additional Talking Points:
Why We Need Batteries & Why the Moratorium Is Harmful
- Rugged, unstable terrain. The area has loose shale soils, visible natural landslides, and steep stream gullies that feed important riparian habitat — not ideal ground for drilling infrastructure.
- Roadless and hard to access. Most of the range has no road access, and nearly all the parcels sit within the HD Mountains Colorado Roadless Area. Because minerals here have to be reached horizontally from a distance, and the leases are boxed in by a patchwork of private, Tribal, and state land, development would be technically difficult and risky.
- Critical wildlife habitat. Many parcels overlap migration corridors and winter range for already-stressed big game herds.
- Visible from Chimney Rock National Monument. Some of the largest parcels (1,600 acres) would be visible from this culturally significant site.
- The resource isn’t even worth it. A recent assessment found the Fruitland coalbed methane in this area is “mostly depleted” and in “continuous decline.” The San Juan Basin already has a backlog of non-productive wells that need to be plugged and abandoned.
Why Your Comment Matters
Public comment periods are a formal part of the BLM’s leasing process, and the agency is required to consider substantive comments before finalizing a sale. A strong volume of specific, informed comments can lead the BLM to defer or modify parcels — this has happened in past Colorado lease sales. Without public pushback, leases often go through as proposed. This is a narrow, time-bound window where community input can directly shape what happens to this landscape before leases are sold and companies gain drilling rights that can last for years.
Questions?
Please reach out to John at john@sanjuancitizens.org.
