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A first-of-its-kind geospatial analysis reveals where and how often American public lands are being leased to oil and gas companies for $2 or less. The analysis and accompanying storymap are the work of the Center for Western Priorities and The Wilderness Society, which found that since 1987, 42 million acres of public land—60 percent of all acres leased—have been leased for $2 an acre or less.
“These maps show how the federal government's outdated oil and gas leasing process is allowing industry to lock up our lands across the West for just a couple dollars an acre,” Kim Stevens of The Wilderness Society told E&E News.
The analysis not only reveals the extent to which taxpayers are getting ripped off by oil and gas companies; it also shows public lands deeply out of balance. 90 percent of public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management are available for oil and gas leasing, while just 10 percent prioritize other uses like recreation, wildlife management, and conservation.
The storymap takes a closer look at several areas under pressure from rampant oil and gas leasing, including priority sage-grouse habitat, and national monuments:
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This administration can't be trusted to protect America's public lands, waters, and communities from the impact of oil and gas drilling. For decades, the oil and gas industry has taken advantage of an outdated system tilted in their favor and against taxpayers and other land uses.”
