PROTEST: DOI-BLM-NM-F010-2014-0227-EA Farmington Field Office

The Western Environmental Law Center, along with Amigos Bravos, Chaco Alliance, Earthworks, Natural Resources Defense Council, Rio Arriba Concerned Citizens, San Juan Citizens Alliance, and WildEarth Guardians (together “Conservation Groups”), submit the following Protest regarding the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) Farmington Field Office (“FFO”) Environmental Assessment (“EA”) and unsigned Finding of No Significant Impact (“FONSI”) for the January 2015 Oil and Gas Lease Sale, which includes a Proposed Action to sell 5 parcels covering 2,802 acres of Federal mineral estate under standard terms, conditions, and lease stipulations. These 5 parcels are all on Navajo Allotment lands, with a federal mineral estate administered by the FFO. These parcels were originally included amongst parcels in the FFO’s October 2014 lease sale, DOI-BLM-NM-F010-0154-EA, but were “deferred until after the FFO Mancos Shale/Gallup Formation RMPA/EIS alternatives have been developed.” Oct. 2014 Lease Sale EA at 14. While the Mancos RMP remains incomplete, the FFO has nevertheless chosen to move forward with the sale of these parcels.