News - Local
Colorado energy leases offered on prime hunting land
Posted: May 13, 2010 9:18 AM by Bea Karnes, News First 5
Updated: May 13, 2010 9:18 AM
Federal energy leases are being offered in an area of northern Colorado that is prized by hunters and anglers for its biological richness.
Leases on about 11,400 acres of public land near Walden were up for bid in the Bureau of Land Management's quarterly auction Thursday in Denver.
Hunting and angling groups have filed protests with the BLM, saying the land is in the middle of wildlife migration routes. The land in a roughly 8,000-foot-high valley is also home to moose, fisheries and sage grouse breeding grounds.
The BLM withdrew leases on nearly 49,000 acres from the auction. BLM spokesman Steven Hall says about 70 percent of the leases were in North Park and were yanked because of concerns about sage grouse.
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