An Internet-based oil/natural gas lease sale by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Utah last week received bonus bids and fees totaling $208,693 for 19 parcels covering 9,050 acres. BLM sold 19 of the 24 offered parcels for bonus bids of $192,072, and grossed $13,581 in rental fees and $3,040 in administrative fees. Receipts from federal oil and gas leases are shared with the state and county where the leased lands are located. Denver-based Robert L Bayless Producer LLC submitted the highest total bid per acre ($171) for parcel 121 in the Vernal field office, and it also submitted the highest bid ($67,740) for parcel 122 in the Vernal office.

Joined by four other regional state organizations, the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) last week adopted a series of resolutions aimed at bolstering state-federal government relations with the incoming Trump administration and Congressional leaders. WGA, the Conference of Western Attorneys General, Council of State Governments West, Western Interstate Region of the National Association of Counties, and Pacific Northwest Economic Region seek more “shared regulation” that recognizes state sovereignty. At its winter meetings in San Diego, CA, WGA formally approved seven new policy resolutions on state-federal relationships, states’ share of royalties and leasing revenues, water quality, tax-exempt federal lands, and storage and disposal of radioactive waste. WGA, which includes 19 states and three U.S. territories, regularly enacts new policy resolutions and amends existing resolutions on a bi-annual basis.