UPDATED The roadless area south of Battlement Mesa that is part of a gas lease sale next week, is in a an area that has been deemed for “no-surface-occupancy” by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which handles gas leasing on Forest Service land. Neither drill pads nor roads can be built to those leases under that regulation. Therefore, gas extraction would have to be made from directional drilling from another location.Despite the regulation, a gas company can ask the Forest Service to have the stipulations waived which worries environmentalistal groups protesting the sale.
Areas in the Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison, White River and Manti-La Sal national forests are also part of a nearly 180,000 acre lease sale across Colorado on August 10th by the BLM.
