Wyoming governor asks BLM for more time regarding lease sale protests

Changes to rules for protesting oil and natural gas lease sales on federal lands in Wyoming could inhibit the public’s chance to comment, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal said.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Wyoming office plans to reduce the time allowed for the public to review and possibly protest upcoming leases.

Currently, notice of proposed lease sales is made at least 45 days before the sale date, and protests can be filed up to 4 p.m. the day before a sale. Under the new plan, set to take effect in June, protests would have to be filed no later than 30 days after notice is made.

Freudenthal is asking that the 45-day window be maintained.

“It is appropriate to provide more time for the BLM to review protests, but it is not appropriate to take that time away from the public review period,” the governor wrote in a letter dated May 2 to Wyoming BLM State Office Director Bob Bennett.

“I fully understand the problems faced by the Wyoming BLM State Office in accepting lease protests the day before the lease sale and believe it is a wise decision to allow the BLM to fully analyze the protests before the sale,” Freudenthal wrote. “However, I am concerned that the time for the public to review documents and conduct research has been reduced to accommodate the BLM’s needs.”

In April three conservation groups asked the BLM for four months’ advance notice of oil and gas lease sales and notification of landowners who would be affected by proposed lease offerings.

Cindy Wertz, a spokeswoman for the BLM State Office in Cheyenne, declined comment May 3, saying the governor’s letter was still being reviewed.

—The Associated Press