The sale of oil and gas leases on more than 17,000 acres of federal land in south central Montana was postponed today.
The Bureau of Land Management pulled the leases on the parcels just outside Livingston and in the foothills of the Absaroka and Beartooth mountain ranges one week before they were set to be part of a statewide oil and gas lease sale.
A BLM press release says officials will review resource management plans for the lands removed from the sale. The release said BLM staff will decide whether the management plans include adequate protections.
The BLM's director for Montana and the Dakotas told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that the parcels were removed from the sale after people raised concerns about them.
The Chronicle also says it's the second time in less than a week that the Interior Department has postponed lease sales. Last Friday, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke postponed a sale near Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico.
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