Dear John,
While the nation reels from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration is trying to destroy our public lands.
The Bureau of Land Management plans to offer thousands of acres of prime wildlife habitat in Montana for oil and gas leasing. If these areas are leased for oil and gas development, it could destroy important habitat for threatened wildlife like elk, and mule deer.
We can’t let the Trump Administration get away with this. But we need your help to stop it.
Tell the Bureau of Land Management: Don’t exploit coronavirus to sell off our wild places to Big Oil!
The lands up for lease include thousands of acres near the Yellowstone River in Northeast Montana. Protecting these sensitive landscapes from oil and gas activity is essential to protecting Montana’s environment and wildlife.
What’s more, Big Oil and Gas projects will be devasting to the health of local communities. They could pollute the rivers and contribute to air pollution -- which the EPA recently found is linked to worse symptoms of COVID-19.
The Trump administration’s decision to go forward with this lease sale will cut the people most impacted out of the decision-making process. People who oppose the lease sale have no choice but to comment online -- but Montana ranks last in the nation when it comes to broadband internet access. And less than half of Indigenous people in Colorado have broadband access, meaning their voices are likely to be disproportionately silenced by the Trump administration’s process.
The Bureau of Land Management must delay the leasing process until everyone affected is able to weigh in.
Tell the BLM: Stop leasing public lands during the coronavirus pandemic!
The BLM’s proposed leases will pose a safety and health threat to the people who live on the surrounding land. They could damage some of the best remaining habitats for iconic wildlife species, like the majestic elk. We must protect these sensitive landscapes from oil and gas activity.
But instead, the BLM wants to put Big Oil and Gas profits over our wild places. This is despicable under normal circumstances. But it’s even worse when Americans are distracted by a global crisis.
The BLM has a duty to delay the leasing process in Montana until after the crisis is over. They owe it to our people, public lands and wildlife. But they won’t act unless they hear from you, John.
Send a message: Demand the BLM put people, wildlife and public lands ahead of Big Oil and Gas profits!
Standing with you,
Nicole Ghio,
Senior fossil fuels program manager,
Friends of the Earth
