Powder Keg: Public Lands Face a New Wave of Coal Mining
Things move fast.
In early July, the Interior Department signaled a sharp policy shift. Over 2,600 square miles (~1.6 million acres) of previously closed public lands in Wyoming and Montana’s Powder River Basin may reopen for coal leasing. Proposals included dropping royalty rates to 7% and mandating lease offers.
The West Antelope III project, a 3500 acre lease for surface coal mining, is the first new federal coal lease in the Powder River Basin under this shift.
On August 21, 2025 the BLM advanced West Antelope III, releasing the Final Environmental Impact Statement. A public hearing is scheduled for September 3rd at Wright Town Hall. It will be the last step towards official approval.
West Antalope II has already been approved. It expanded an existing operation by 850 acres. This was a lease modification, not a new lease.
These plots may look small compared to 2,600 square miles (~1.6 million acres). But a 3,500 acre lease is no small thing. It signals a trend. More public land will face almost permanent degredation. Coal mining inflicts the deepest scare of any energy source. Coal is an energy of the past. The rest of the world knows this. It’s expensive to keep alive, and tax payers foot the bill. Breathing life into a corpse makes no sense.
Photo Credit: Bureau of Land Management Wyoming
Leasing may be better then selling of public lands as ownership stays with the BLM. But when land is leased for coal, the damange is done. We are still lose thos natural public lands for the long term.
Coal Projects pose a severe, often irreversible, ecological damage. Those 3,500 acres of public land will never be the same.
Surface mining strips away soil, forests, and entire econsystems. The damage doesn’t stop at the surface. Runoff pollutes rivers with heavy metals and acidic drainage, suffocating life. Dust and methane emissions degrade air quality. Destroyed land and habitats drive out wildlife and fragment biodiversity. Even when the mining operation ends, soils are left compacted, nutrient poor, and slow to support natural regrowth.
Restoration is possible, but its not quick, and rarely complete. Companies are required to reclaim mined land, but usually focus on erosion control. Many “reclaimed” mines become non-native grasslands or commercial sites, not native forests, prairie, or wetlands. True biodiversity takes centuries. The land is scared forever.
The Powder River Basin in Wyoming and southeast Montana is a sweep of rolling grasslands, sagebrush plains, and buttes that seem endless. The sky feels huge, open, and uninterrupted. Summers bring heat that shimmers across the land, while winters can be brutally cold.
Pronghorn antelope flash across the grass. Hawks circle overhead. Mule deer graze at dust, while coyotes call at night. The land has a stillness, but its alive in its own subtle rythm.
Cottonwoods cluster near streams, cutting sudden green into the muted brown and gold prairies.
But alongside the beauty you notice the scars. Open-pit coal mines deep into the ground. Haul trucks crawl like insects across ledges. Roads to transport coal mark the surrounding area. The contrast is jarring. Wild land against heavy unnessesary industry.
Why subsidize an industry many are trying to leave. Truly free markets would point to cleaner alternatives. All energy options are cleaner then coal, especially when methane is unregulated.
The West Antelope III lease is the only new lease proposal in the Powder River Basin right now. But the trend is clear. Lease mandates and lower royalties could spark a rush to take more public land. America’s prized and unique management system is under attack. Land meant for all will be damaged beyond repare.
Generations after us will inherit fewer wild acres to explore.
Feeling stuck? Speak up. If you oppose the permenant loss of public lands to coal leasing, tell your representitives.
Call 202-224-3121 and ask to speak with your representatives.
Will Pattiz at More Then Just Parks has set up email templates you can use to help reach out. Check it out on one of their recent posts: “This Bill Could Save America’s Public Lands - If We Act.”
