The Bureau of Land Management’s quarterly oil and gas lease sale in Utah generated net proceeds of $3.04 million drawing bids for 96 of 105 parcels offered, according to a Dec. 12 press release.

• The sale excluded 116 parcels following a court ruling in September by the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho due to the need for longer comment periods on environmental compliance documents associated with parcels that intersect “priority or general habitat management areas for greater sage-grouse,” a bird species protected under the Endangered Species Act.
• The agency said that awarded leases have a 10-year term and plans to offer the excluded portion in the upcoming March 2019 lease sale.
• The lease sale is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to ramp up fossil-fuel extraction on public lands.
• A memorandum issued by the bureau in January reduced environmental reviews and protest opportunities to expedite decisions.