Zinke suddenly pulls land in home state of Montana from oil, gas lease sale

The Bureau of Land Management on Monday abruptly removed about 17,300 acres of land in central Montana from an upcoming oil and natural gas lease auction, just a week before the scheduled sale. The Interior Department, which oversees one in every five acres of land in the United States, was set to auction off leases for 109 parcels stretching across the Big Sky State from the Canadian border to Wyoming. But Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who before joining the Trump administration represented Montana in Congress, decided to withdraw 26 parcels from consideration, along with portions of two others. A cadre of local and national environmental groups had filed formal protests against the sale, contending that drilling would adversely impact the Yellowstone River and other areas. Interior will proceed starting next Monday with the auction of the remaining 83 parcels, which encompass nearly 46,200 acres. Zinke initially tweeted his decision before issuing a more detailed statement that said further study was needed before part of the sale could take place. “Multiple use is about balance,” his statement noted. “I’ve always said there are places where it is appropriate to develop and where it’s not.” The withdrawal of Montana land from fossil-fuel development, even if just temporary, is the latest whipsaw in Interior’s oil and gas policy as officials push to auction off a slew of leases near protected areas in the West...more