DENVER - Federal officials are withdrawing most of the proposed oil and gas leases up for sale in a May 8th auction.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said Friday that it will defer offering leases on 144,000 acres out of the original 175,430 acres. The parcels withdrawn are in the Rio National Grande Forest in southern Colorado.
BLM officials say the parcels could be auctioned later. They'll go over the analysis of the sites with the Forest Service
The decision comes on the heels of a request by Rep. John Salazar and his brother, Sen. Ken Salazar, to defer consideration of the leases. Rio Grande and Saguache (suh-WAHCH') counties and the towns of Del Norte and Crestone had raised concerns about the areas eyed for energy development.