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Environment | Vast swath of Colorado public lands would be…
Monday, June 22nd 2026

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Vast swath of Colorado public lands would be off limits to oil and gas leasing under federal plan

BLM acreage available for leasing in a western section of state would drop from 85% to 20%

In this March 29, 2013 file photo, a worker helps monitor water-pumping pressure and temperature, at an oil and natural gas extraction site, outside Rifle, on the Western Slope of Colorado.
In this March 29, 2013, file photo, a worker helps monitor water pumping pressure and temperature at an oil and natural gas extraction site near Rifle on Colorado’s Western Slope. Federal geologists have said western Colorado has significantly more natural gas than previously thought, but the Bureau of Land Management is considering a proposal to restrict where extraction can occur. (Photo by Brennan Linsley/Associated Press)
DENVER, CO - NOVEMBER 8: Elise Schmelzer - Staff portraits at the Denver Post studio. (Photo by Eric Lutzens/The Denver Post)
By | eschmelzer@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:
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Federal land managers have proposed blocking future oil and gas development on more than a million acres of Colorado's Western Slope as they reshape how they handle energy development in the face of a drying and warming West.
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