(Washington, DC-April 12, 2024) – The U.S. Bureau of Land Administration (BLM) in the present day introduced a rule updating the price of doing enterprise on public lands and serving to to steadiness the extraction of pure sources with the conservation of wildlife habitat and the preservation of landscapes sacred to Indigenous peoples.
Along with siting oil and gasoline growth away from wildlife habitat and cultural sources, the brand new laws enhance charges – together with royalty and rental charges, and minimal bids related to oil and gasoline growth – bringing them according to what many states require; and scale back so-called “speculative leasing”, the place firms maintain leases on land with little potential for growth.
The BLM manages 245 million acres, practically 40 p.c of U.S. public lands. The company is charged with balancing the safety of America’s pure legacy with managing the 30 p.c of the nation’s mineral wealth that lies beneath the floor. However over the previous 50 years, the company has primarily targeted on extractive makes use of (coal, and oil and gasoline), making use of guidelines governing that extraction which have been unchanged for many years. An estimated 300 chook species spend a minimum of a part of their lives there, together with Burrowing Owls and the Larger Sage-Grouse, which is already underneath stress throughout a lot of its vary.
“When BLM oil and gasoline leasing coverage was final up to date, Gerald Ford was within the White Home, the Bee Gees had been on the radio and a gallon of gasoline value a median of 59 cents,” mentioned Christopher Simmons, senior supervisor of public lands coverage for the Nationwide Audubon Society. “The BLM’s strategy to grease and gasoline leasing has been the equal of a polyester leisure go well with – painfully outdated. It is a huge step ahead in direction of the BLM fulfilling its mission, delivering common sense insurance policies that steadiness accountable growth with land and wildlife conservation.”
For many years, oil and gasoline insurance policies prioritized growth on public lands over actions like looking, fishing, birding, climbing, grazing and restoration. When oil and gasoline firms left behind a multitude on public lands, American taxpayers had been beforehand compelled to foot the invoice. Earlier than in the present day’s replace, taxpayers might have been liable for as much as $15 billion in clean-up prices.
CONTACT:
Jason Howe, jason.howe@audubon.org; 415-595-9245
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About Audubon
The Nationwide Audubon Society protects birds and the locations they want, in the present day and tomorrow. Audubon works all through the Americas utilizing science, advocacy, schooling, and on-the-ground conservation. State packages, nature facilities, chapters, and companions give Audubon an unparalleled wingspan that reaches hundreds of thousands of individuals every year to tell, encourage, and unite numerous communities in conservation motion. A nonprofit conservation group since 1905, Audubon believes in a world by which individuals and wildlife thrive. Study extra at www.audubon.org and on Fb, Twitter and Instagram @audubonsociety.