Oil and gas companies continue to lease public lands in Nevada even when the land is unlikely to produce oil.
Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** What is happening with oil and gas leasing on Nevada's public lands?
------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Oil rig in the Railroad Valley, Nevada. Don Barrett ([link removed])
Oil and gas companies continue to lease public lands in Nevada even when the land is unlikely to produce oil. Between 2010-2019, Nevada accounted for ([link removed]) less than 1 percent of the total oil produced on U.S. federal lands.
“Listening to some, you may think that oil or natural gas is under every piece of public land and is just waiting to be drilled,” said Russell Kuhlman, Executive Director of the Nevada Wildlife Federation, in a Reno Gazette Journal op-ed ([link removed]) . In reality, most land in Nevada is categorized by geologists as having low or no potential for producing oil and gas. Yet companies continue to hold leases on low-potential lands “in order to pad their own portfolios and appease shareholders,” writes Kuhlman. These idle leases interfere with more beneficial land uses, such as conservation, recreation, and renewable energy development.
In recent years, the Bureau of Land Management deferred lease sales for parcels with low or no potential. In 2023, an auction of over 4,000 acres of moderate- to high-potential land received zero bids ([link removed]) from the oil and gas industry. This proves that Nevada is not an oil and gas state and could focus on other industries, including renewable energy.
According to the 2024 Conservation in the West Poll ([link removed]) , 75 percent of Nevada voters think more emphasis should be placed on conserving wildlife migration routes than on oil and gas production in those areas. Additionally, 63 percent believe oil and gas companies should only be allowed to drill in areas with a high likelihood of producing oil and gas.
** Quick hits
------------------------------------------------------------
Energy Department conditionally approves $2.26 billion loan for Thacker Pass lithium mine
Associated Press ([link removed])
Rock climbers, feds tangle over wilderness rules
E&E News ([link removed])
Opinion: Funding cuts are pushing our national parks to the breaking point
The Hill ([link removed])
Wyoming governor vetoes legislature’s $75M land-use legal fund
WyoFile ([link removed])
Proposed tower in Bears Ears would eclipse Utah’s tallest building
Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
Utah oil-train backers look to U.S. Supreme Court to restore approval
Colorado Newsline ([link removed])
Opinion: Latino voices are non-negotiable in the fight for environmental preservation
Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
Great Sand Dunes National Park officials search for solutions to parking problems, visitation spike
Denver Post ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
------------------------------------------------------------
” I cannot understand why Congress refuses to invest more in our national parks when they are so important to local economies and the American people.”
—Phil Francis, chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, The Hill ([link removed])
** Picture This
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
@zionnps ([link removed])
ALL GLORY TO THE NIGHT TOAD!
Gaze upon this glorious green amphibian. This medium-sized plump nocturnal toad can be seen hopping around moving water and has been found in Coal Pits Wash, Pine Creek, Oak Creek, and other side canyons up to 6000 feet in elevation. Strutting around in their olive to brown to pink skin with dark spot sometimes, and usually a light stripe or patch on its head and back.
Like most toads, the glorious Arizona Toad relies on parotoid glands and warts that secrete a poison to deter some predators away.
In Arizona, it is found that they breed between February and April, independent of rainfall. However, here in southwestern Utah, breeding peaks in June and at higher elevations, breeding can extend into July and August.
Although they are not endangered, they're population is decreasing. This is happening in part due to primarily habitat loss and water withdrawal, or the loss of water from their habitats.
============================================================
** Website ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Medium ([link removed])
Copyright © 2024 Center for Western Priorities, All rights reserved.
You've signed up to receive Look West updates.
Center for Western Priorities
1999 Broadway
Suite 520
Denver, CO 80202
USA
** View this on the web ([link removed])
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
