Updated 3/2/2026
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If a policy is "Open for comment" → submit a comment (I've included The Conservation Current's comment in 3–5 sentences).
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Conservation Current
Public Lands & Energy Tracker
Top 5 open comment periods & active legislation · March 2026
#1 · Critical
California BLM Oil & Gas Leasing — Supplemental EIS (Bakersfield & Central Coast)
3 days left
🌍 Why it matters
This is the rules-and-map moment for where oil and gas leasing resumes across more than one million acres of California public land. The Supplemental EIS is the last major public participation window before lease parcels are designated — the moment where no-go zones, buffer areas, and enforceable conservation boundaries either get written into the record or don't. Parcels under consideration include areas near and overlapping state parks, beaches, and ecological reserves along the Central Coast and in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Once parcels are leased, these boundaries become extremely difficult to revisit.
📅 Comments due: March 13, 2026 — URGENT
🖱️ Click "Participate Now" at BLM ePlanning
✍️ Sample comment / message to your Senator
I am writing to urge Senator ___ to push BLM to use the California Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement process to establish firm no-go zones around state parks, beaches, and ecological reserves before any leasing resumes. More than one million acres — including areas that directly border or overlap protected lands on the Central Coast and in the San Joaquin Valley — are under consideration. The EIS is the structured opportunity to write enforceable conservation boundaries into the record. Without those protections established now, leased parcels become extremely difficult to walk back. Please call on BLM to prioritize clear conservation buffers over extraction proximity in this EIS.
#2 · Critical
Western Oregon BLM Resource Management Plan — Old-Growth Logging at 1960s Levels
Open for comment
🌍 Why it matters
On February 19, BLM published a Notice of Intent to gut the management plans governing 2.46 million acres of western Oregon's O&C forestlands — the most concentrated old-growth landscape remaining in the continental U.S. The proposal would return annual timber harvests to pre-1990 levels, potentially quadrupling current harvest volumes to exceed one billion board feet per year. That means industrial-scale clearcutting of low-elevation old-growth Douglas fir and western red cedar: habitat for the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, and coho salmon, and the source of clean water for dozens of downstream communities. Scoping comments filed now directly determine what conservation alternatives BLM must analyze in its full EIS — and conservation groups have already signaled litigation is coming.
📅 Scoping deadline: March 23, 2026
📧 BLM_OR_Revision_Scoping@blm.gov
✍️ Sample comment / message to your Senator
I am writing to urge Senator ___ to oppose BLM's proposed revision of the Western Oregon Resource Management Plans, which would return logging to pre-1990 levels across 2.46 million acres of O&C forestlands. These forests contain some of the last remaining low-elevation old-growth Douglas fir and western red cedar in the continental United States — habitat for federally listed species including the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, and coho salmon, and the watersheds that supply clean water to communities across 17 Oregon counties. Returning to 1960s-era harvest volumes would undo decades of hard-won conservation progress. I urge you to demand that BLM fully analyze conservation alternatives in the Environmental Impact Statement, including a no-action alternative, and ensure the public comment period is extended to allow meaningful engagement.
#3 · Critical
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument — Congressional Review Act Resolution
Act now — legislation
🌍 Why it matters
On March 5, Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Celeste Maloy introduced a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act to nullify the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument's management plan — the governing document that protects 1.9 million acres of southern Utah redrock from mineral leasing, unchecked off-road vehicle use, and unrestricted grazing. The CRA has never before been used against a national monument management plan. If the resolution passes by a simple majority in both chambers, the Bureau of Land Management would be permanently barred from issuing any "substantially similar" plan — effectively stripping day-to-day protections from the monument while leaving its boundary legally intact but unmanaged. Six tribal nations that participated in developing the plan have formally opposed the resolution. Congress has 60 legislative days to vote.
📅 Call senators now — 60 legislative days to vote
📋 Resolution introduced March 5, 2026
✍️ Sample comment / message to your Senator
I am writing to urge Senator ___ to vote against the joint resolution of disapproval targeting the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument management plan. This resolution would use the Congressional Review Act in an unprecedented way — applying it to a monument management plan for the first time — to permanently strip the Bureau of Land Management of its authority to manage 1.9 million acres of southern Utah's redrock landscape. If enacted, BLM would be barred from issuing any substantially similar plan, leaving the monument without binding management direction for wildlife habitat, cultural site protections, and recreational access. Six tribal nations that contributed years of input to the plan have formally opposed this resolution. I urge you to vote no and protect this irreplaceable landscape from being opened to mineral leasing and unrestricted development through a procedural maneuver.
#4 · High
BLM Oil & Gas Commingling Rule (BLM-2025-0070) — Royalty Accountability on 245M Acres
Open for comment
🌍 Why it matters
BLM's proposed rule updates regulations on "commingling" — the practice of mixing oil and gas from multiple wells before royalty measurement. Conservation and tribal advocates warn the changes reduce accountability for exactly how much is being extracted on public and tribal lands, making royalty underpayments harder to detect and audit. Royalties are the primary mechanism by which the public is compensated for the extraction of non-renewable resources from federal land. Weakening measurement and reporting requirements affects every American who shares in that revenue, and disproportionately harms tribal nations whose revenue rights depend on accurate, auditable accounting across all 245 million BLM-managed acres.
📅 Comments due: March 31, 2026
📋 Docket: BLM-2025-0070
✍️ Sample comment / message to your Senator
I am writing to urge Senator ___ to scrutinize BLM's proposed oil and gas commingling rule (BLM-2025-0070). When production from multiple wells is mixed before royalty measurement, it becomes significantly harder to verify the volume extracted from any individual lease — including leases on tribal and public lands. Royalty accountability is the foundation of the public's financial stake in federal mineral extraction. If measurement requirements are weakened, the American public and tribal nations may be systematically underpaid for resources that belong to them. I urge you to demand that BLM maintain rigorous, independently auditable measurement standards and reject changes that prioritize operational convenience over transparent public accounting.
#5 · High
BLM Western Oil & Gas Lease Sales — Colorado, Utah & Nevada
Sale March 31
🌍 Why it matters
BLM is proceeding with competitive March 31 oil and gas lease sales across three states: 90 parcels (52,703 acres) in Colorado, 57 parcels (68,632 acres) in Utah, and 11 parcels (19,957 acres) in Nevada — 141,000+ acres entering the leasing pipeline in a single auction. Many parcels fall within greater sage-grouse habitat, mule deer and elk migration corridors, and headwaters supplying downstream communities. The formal protest window has closed, but these parcels do not become drillable overnight — calling senators to demand BLM conduct additional environmental review, and supporting conservation groups challenging specific parcels in court, remain meaningful actions before and after the sale date.
📅 Lease sale: March 31, 2026
📋 Protest window closed — call senators now
✍️ Sample comment / message to your Senator
I am writing to urge Senator ___ to call on BLM to ensure rigorous environmental review of the 141,000+ acres of Western public land scheduled for the March 31 oil and gas lease auction in Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. Many parcels in this sale overlap greater sage-grouse habitat, mule deer and elk migration corridors, and the headwaters of rivers that supply drinking water to downstream communities. A leased parcel is not a drilling permit, but it is the first and most consequential step — and once leased, these parcels become extremely difficult to reclaim for conservation. I urge you to use your oversight role to demand that BLM conduct parcel-by-parcel wildlife review and exclude areas with the highest ecological value from this and future sales.
Conservation Current
Watchlist & Upcoming Comment Periods
Set your calendar — these windows are opening soon · March 2026
How to use this page: These are comment periods opening soon or currently open but with later deadlines — your runway to prepare. Set a calendar reminder now. Even 3–5 sentences submitted during a comment period creates a formal public record that agencies must address. Quantity matters — the more comments, the harder to ignore.
🗓️ Top 3 Upcoming Comment Periods
#1 · High — closes March 19
BLM Alaska — 4 Parcels, 10,211 Acres for June 2026 Lease SaleOpen now
🌍 Why it matters
BLM has opened a 30-day comment period on 4 oil and gas parcels totaling 10,211 acres slated for a June 23, 2026 lease sale in Alaska — the second Alaska lease action following ANWR's coastal plain nomination call in the same month. This is part of the administration's explicit push to treat Alaska as the cornerstone of its domestic energy strategy. These parcels sit adjacent to some of the most ecologically sensitive tundra and riparian habitat in North America, where a warming climate is already accelerating permafrost loss and disrupting subsistence hunting and fishing that Indigenous communities depend on.
📅 Comments due: March 19, 2026
📍 Sale date: June 23, 2026
✍️ Sample comment / message to your Senator
I am urging Senator ___ to oppose the June 23, 2026 BLM Alaska lease sale of 10,211 acres of tundra habitat. This sale is part of a coordinated push to open Alaska's most ecologically sensitive landscapes to extraction — in the same month that ANWR nominations were solicited. The Conservation Current has tracked how each individual Alaska leasing action is a building block in a strategy that, taken together, represents the largest expansion of Arctic fossil fuel access in a generation. Please call on BLM to pause Alaska lease sales until a comprehensive regional environmental review is completed.
#2 · High — closes March 23
BLM New Mexico, Oklahoma & Texas — 32 Parcels, 21,181 Acres (August 2026 Scoping)Open now
🌍 Why it matters
BLM has opened a 30-day scoping period on 32 parcels totaling 21,181 acres across New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas for a potential August 2026 lease sale. Scoping is the earliest formal public input stage — before the environmental analysis is even written — making it the highest-leverage moment to push for meaningful wildlife stipulations, buffer zones, and water protection requirements. Parcels in the New Mexico portion fall in the Permian Basin, already one of the most heavily drilled regions on federal land, where cumulative impacts on pronghorn, mule deer, and desert grassland bird species are poorly studied.
📅 Scoping ends: March 23, 2026
📍 BLM New Mexico State Office
✍️ Sample comment / message to your Senator
I am urging Senator ___ to call on BLM to require rigorous cumulative impact analysis for the 32 proposed parcels in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas before any August 2026 lease sale proceeds. Scoping is the moment in the process where agencies are most receptive to shaping the scope of their own analysis — and the Conservation Current has documented how Permian Basin public lands are already among the most over-leased federal landscapes in the country, with cumulative impacts on wildlife that have never been comprehensively studied. Please push BLM to include wildlife connectivity, water quality, and noise impact analysis in the scope of their environmental review.
#3 · High — closes March 30
BLM Utah — 39 Parcels, 54,114 Acres Near Canyon Country (June 2026 Sale)Open now
🌍 Why it matters
BLM has opened a 30-day comment period on 39 oil and gas parcels totaling 54,114 acres for a June 2026 lease sale in Utah. Many parcels are located near or adjacent to Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante — landscapes already reduced in size and under ongoing political pressure. Public comment is the last structured opportunity to push BLM to defer parcels that overlap monument buffer zones, desert tortoise habitat, pronghorn migration corridors, and the canyon country watershed that supports both downstream communities and Utah's $12 billion outdoor recreation economy.
📅 Comments due: March 30, 2026
📍 Sale date: June 2026
✍️ Sample comment / message to your Senator
I am urging Senator ___ to demand that BLM defer any Utah lease sale parcels that fall within or adjacent to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument boundaries. The 54,114 acres currently proposed for June leasing include canyon country habitat that is irreplaceable — for desert tortoise, golden eagles, pronghorn, and for Utah's outdoor recreation economy. The Conservation Current has covered how monument boundary reductions have already opened this landscape to greater extraction pressure. Adding oil and gas leases in the remaining buffer zones removes the last layer of protection for these places. Please hold BLM accountable to meaningful conservation deferrals.
🔔 Public Land Sales — Ownership Transfers 500+ Acres
No formal sales with open comment periods as of March 2, 2026
Actual fee-simple public land sales (permanent title transfers, not leases) are rare under FLPMA. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act's mass land-sale provisions — which would have mandated disposal of up to 1.8 million acres — were stripped after bipartisan opposition in June 2025.
However, Sen. Lee has vowed to reintroduce legislation, and BLM retains standing authority under FLPMA to sell individual parcels without a congressional vote — as long as Congress doesn't formally disapprove within 90 days for sales over 2,500 acres. Watch the three active threats below.
Actual fee-simple public land sales (permanent title transfers, not leases) are rare under FLPMA. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act's mass land-sale provisions — which would have mandated disposal of up to 1.8 million acres — were stripped after bipartisan opposition in June 2025.
However, Sen. Lee has vowed to reintroduce legislation, and BLM retains standing authority under FLPMA to sell individual parcels without a congressional vote — as long as Congress doesn't formally disapprove within 90 days for sales over 2,500 acres. Watch the three active threats below.
#1 · Watch — legislation pending
Sen. Lee Public Land Sale Legislation — Expected Reintroduction in 2026Legislation threat
📋 Status
Sen. Mike Lee's public land sale provisions were stripped from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in June 2025 on a technicality (Byrd Rule violation). He publicly vowed to reintroduce the legislation as standalone or attached to another vehicle. No bill number has been filed as of March 2, 2026 — but Lee chairs the Senate Natural Resources Committee and has legislative tools available. This is the highest-risk structural threat to Western public lands in 2026.
🌍 Why it matters
Lee's original proposals would have mandated BLM disposal of up to 1.8 million acres — including lands in Conservation Lands designations, backcountry areas, and recreation hotspots across Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, and beyond. The stripped provisions were only blocked on a procedural technicality, not on policy grounds, meaning they could return at any time. The Conservation Current covered how the final reconciliation law mandated quarterly lease sales, cut royalty rates, and eliminated BLM's discretion to defer harmful leases — the land sale fight is round two.
👀 Watch for bill introduction — 2026
📋 Prior bills: S. 1459 (2025)
✍️ Sample preemptive message to your Senator
I am urging Senator ___ to publicly commit to opposing any reintroduction of Sen. Lee's public land sale legislation, whether as a standalone bill or attached to another vehicle in 2026. The fact that his proposals were stripped from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act only on a procedural technicality — not on policy opposition — means this fight is not over. The Conservation Current has documented that once public land changes hands, it is gone from the federal estate permanently. There is no do-over. Please make your opposition public and unequivocal before another bill is filed.
#2 · Watch — ongoing
SNPLMA Nevada Fast-Track Land Disposals — Las Vegas Metro Area OngoingRolling sales
📋 Status
Active and ongoing. The Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA) creates a special fast-track authority for BLM to sell public lands in Clark County, Nevada for private and local government development — with proceeds going to regional conservation and recreation. BLM conducts multiple SNPLMA sales annually. Individual parcels are frequently under 500 acres, but cumulative sales in 2025–2026 total thousands of acres. The administration has signaled interest in expanding SNPLMA-style frameworks to other Western states.
🌍 Why it matters
SNPLMA is the existing template for fast-tracking public land sales, and the current administration has signaled it may extend SNPLMA-style disposal authority to Nevada counties beyond Clark County and potentially to other states. While many SNPLMA sales are routine disposals of isolated, low-value parcels, the program is also being used to accelerate sales of larger desert habitat parcels adjacent to growth corridors — with shortened review timelines and less public scrutiny than standard FLPMA disposals require. This is the quiet mechanism to watch alongside the high-profile Lee legislation.
👀 Monitor BLM Nevada notices quarterly
📍 Clark County, NV + expansion risk
✍️ Sample message to your Senator
I am urging Senator ___ to oppose any expansion of the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act's fast-track disposal framework to additional Nevada counties or other Western states. SNPLMA was designed as a targeted, locally-accountable mechanism — expanding it into a national template for public land sales would remove habitat protections, shorten environmental review windows, and replicate a system that was never designed for the scale being proposed. The Conservation Current tracks how these quiet, incremental disposal mechanisms add up to structural change over time. Please commit to opposing any SNPLMA expansion legislation.