Nearly 25,900 acres in Garfield County, more than 6,400 acres in Mesa County and another 7,321 acres in Rio Blanco are proposed by the Bureau of Land Management for an oil and gas lease sale next March.

Altogether the agency is proposing offering 72,848 acres in the state in the sale. Some 21,772 acres in Las Animas County are proposed for inclusion in the sale, along with about 7,167 acres in Jackson County, and some smaller amounts in several other counties around the state, including Delta and Gunnison counties.

Much of the Garfield acreage proposed for leasing is in the western part of the county northwest of Grand Junction, in an area just south of Douglas Pass. At least some of it appears to overlap acreage the BLM has identified as having potential for helium development.

Much of

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