Policies Needed to Ensure Taxpayers Receive a Fair Share on Public Lands

An analysis released last week by the Center for Western Priorities reveals that oil and gas companies continue buying up leases on American public lands at next-to-nothing prices.

Between January 1 and March 31 of this year, over 166,000 acres of national public lands were leased to oil and gas companies in seven Western states. Nearly 41,000 acres—or 25 percent—were sold at the minimum bid of just $2 per acre.

The new data comes on the heels of an announcement from the Interior Department and the Bureau of Land Management that they are beginning a process of reexamining outdated royalty rates, rental rates, minimum bids and bonding requirements on public lands.