The Bureau of Land Management today released a final environmental report that further advances a contested oil and gas leasing plan that could open roughly 850,000 acres of public lands and federal mineral estate across Central California to future drilling and fracking. The agency’s announcement explicitly ties the action to the Trump administration’s “Unleashing American Energy” agenda. The proposal drew approximately 175,000 comments in opposition during the draft review process and includes areas near communities, recreation lands, water resources, wildlife habitat, and nearly 40,000 acres within California’s recently established Health Protection Zones.
“We are disappointed, though not surprised, to see the BLM continue moving this plan forward under a federal agenda aimed at expanding oil and gas development on public lands,” said Benjamin Pitterle, Director of Advocacy at Los Padres ForestWatch. “ForestWatch will be working closely with conservation partners across California to review the final analysis and evaluate our next steps to keep these public lands and our communities intact.”
Critics of the proposal say the BLM continues to illegally rely on an outdated analysis. A final decision is expected from BLM within 30 days.
Los Padres ForestWatch responds to Bureau of Land Management’s Final Environmental Report on Central Coast Oil Development
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