Commissioners refine draft letter to BLM on competitive oil and gas lease — ask to add revenue impact details and species specificity

County commissioners reviewed a draft letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regarding upcoming competitive oil and gas lease sales at the July 8 work session and asked staff to add local fiscal context and to clarify ecological references.

Reese, a county staff member drafting the letter, confirmed that the letter should be addressed to BLM rather than to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). Commissioners asked that a bullet referencing “sage grouse” be revised to read “greater sage‑grouse” to match BLM and local management terminology. “We can add that. Adding greater sage grouse and not just sage grouse,” one commissioner said.

Commissioners also asked staff to include local fiscal context early in the letter — specifically, a short narrative describing how oil and gas production contributes to the county budget and to local school-district funding. One commissioner requested staff work with the county finance director (Renee, named in the discussion) to quantify the county’s oil‑and‑gas revenue share and the downstream effect on school district funding so those figures could be included in the letter.

The commissioners identified one draft paragraph in which the acronym “CEC” appears without explanation; they asked staff to expand the term (the drafter indicated it is a BLM acronym) so the letter is clear to outside readers.

No final signature or formal approval was recorded during the work session. Reese said he would amend the draft to include the requested fiscal narrative, add the “greater sage‑grouse” wording, and expand the CEC acronym for clarity before circulating the revised draft to the commission for review.

Because this work session did not include a formal vote, the letter remained in draft pending staff revisions and any additional commissioner direction.