A new analysis by the Center for Western Priorities finds that in 2023, oil and gas companies didn’t bother to bid on nearly half of the acres of
Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Oil and gas companies aren't interested in leasing Wyoming public land
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Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Pronghorn on a Wyoming oil field. Tara Boucher/BLM Wyoming ([link removed])
Despite claims from Wyoming politicians ([link removed]) that the Biden administration is “at war with American energy,” a new analysis by the Center for Western Priorities ([link removed]) finds that in 2023, oil and gas companies didn’t bother to bid on nearly half of the acres of public land the Biden administration offered for drilling in Wyoming.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the Interior Department has now held three oil and gas lease sales in Wyoming. The auctions offered up nearly 230,000 acres of national public land and brought in more than $30 million in revenue. Yet the analysis ([link removed]) [link removed] ([link removed]) that oil and gas companies had tepid interest in almost all of the land the industry itself nominated for leasing and that nearly all of the revenue from the auctions came from a miniscule portion of the acres offered. The 2023 lease sales suggest
([link removed]) that the oil industry has already leased the vast majority of public land in Wyoming that is ever likely to produce oil, and very little unleased land in the state is of serious interest to oil and gas companies.
With nearly eight million acres already under lease, oil and gas companies nominated less than 140,000 new acres ([link removed]) for leasing this year. And as the auction results show, only a tiny sliver of that is land that’s valuable enough for drillers to spend real money to lease.
Interior Department announces new actions for nature-based solutions
The Department of the Interior announced new steps to use nature-based solutions ([link removed]) in its efforts to tackle the climate crisis, including the launch of a new tool ([link removed]) to make these strategies more accessible to the public. Nature-based solutions use or mimic natural features or processes to tackle both social and environmental challenges. These solutions can include green infrastructure, natural infrastructure, and natural climate solutions.
** Quick hits
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Formerly private trail to peak of one of Colorado's most-climbed 14ers is now public land
Denver Gazette ([link removed]) | Fort Collins Coloradoan ([link removed]) | Denver7 ([link removed]) | CBS Colorado ([link removed])
Salton Sea restoration projects get $72 million boost from feds
Desert Sun ([link removed])
Does voluntary conservation work?
High Country News ([link removed])
Navajo Nation groups oppose hydropower projects
The Guardian ([link removed])
Invest in nature? Might be possible with ‘natural asset companies.’
E&E News ([link removed])
Report: The oil and gas industry is behind offshore wind misinformation
Center for American Progress ([link removed])
National Park Service teaming up with Tribes to tell 'more complete story' of U.S. history
HuffPost ([link removed])
Nobody in Arizona seems to know what's happening with Biden's Climate Corps
Arizona Republic ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” I feel like the parks are part of America’s consciousness. They don’t try to lead you to a conclusion. They try to get you to understand that time period. It should impact you so you carry those stories with you when you leave the park.”
—Charles Sams, National Park Service Director, HuffPost ([link removed])
** Picture This
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[link removed]
@organpipenps ([link removed])
Beak of the Week has returned!
Is this little Western Screech Owl winking, or perhaps it's giving a stink- eye after being awakened from its daytime slumber? These owls have a distinctive square-ish head and prominent ear tufts. A small nocturnal hunter that works from dawn till dusk, it finds a perch where it can wait for prey to happen by – small mammals, worms, snails, etc., and it can also snatch insects in flight. Western Screech Owls do not build a nest, preferring to find a tree cavity already excavated by a helpful woodpecker; here in the Sonoran Desert, that can often mean a hole in a Saguaro. If you're lucky, you may hear its series of hoots or even see a small face peering from you from a Saguaro cavity!
What kinds of owls have you seen?
To learn more about birds at Organ Pipe Cactus, visit [link removed]
NPS Photo.
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