The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has leased nearly 3,000 acres of Ohio's Wayne National Forest to five out-of-state oil and gas companies for over $11 million — the first such lease sale for the forest since 2017.
The decision will kick off the installation of horizontal fracking wells in the area, which already has around 1,200 conventional oil and gas wells. Conventional wells have been in place there since 1990.
Here's what to know
Five out-of-state companies came away with 2,776 acres of Wayne National Forest in a quarterly Bureau of Land Management lease sale, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
The BLM's auction had been announced earlier this year. The acreage reportedly spans two counties in the state.
Pennsylvania-based Apex Energy Operating III LLC took 25 parcels for $7.97 million. The other successful bidders were Texas-based R&R Royalty LTD, Oklahoma-based Gulfport Appalachia LLC, Texas-based Texas Independent Exploration Limited, and Pennsylvania-based Ohio Gasco LLC.
The BLM said the leases will last 10 years and can continue beyond that if oil and gas are produced "in paying quantities," according to a statement, per the Ohio Capital Journal. As the agency put it, "Leasing is the first step in the process to develop federal oil and gas resources."
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According to The Post, a student-run newspaper published out of Ohio University, the state would see "about 50% of the total revenue from the sale of the lease and any production on that lease." The BLM told the paper that money often goes toward local roads, bridges, and schools.
Meanwhile, Nathan Johnson, a senior attorney for the Ohio Environmental Council, told the Journal that the lease sale breaks environmental laws meant to protect endangered wildlife and environmental quality, and that his group will mount a legal challenge.
What's being done?
A federal court challenge is in the works, with the Council preparing to contest the leases.
"The Wayne is Ohio's only National Forest and one of the state's best places for outdoor recreation," Johnson told the Journal. "Fracking the Wayne will pollute the air, harm local streams, and industrialize the landscape."
Where can I learn more?
This lease sale is part of a broader fight over fracking and drilling on public lands. Ongoing reporting is tracking other federal lease sales, drilling approvals in state parks, resident backlash, and cleanup failures tied to oil and gas operations:
• In Belmont County, Ohio, residents made an emotional plea as oil and gas expansion closed in.
• In Colorado, a federal lease sale reached habitat crucial to the nation's largest elk herd.
• Weak state rules let oil companies abandon wells, leaving pollution threats across family farms.
• Arizona received federal funding to tackle abandoned energy projects that have plagued communities for generations.
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