BLM Scales Back Wyoming Oil and Gas Sale, Pulls Plug on ‘Golden Triangle’ Leases

The original story by Mike Koshmrl for WyoFile.

After weeks of backlash, the Bureau of Land Management has dramatically slimmed down its next Wyoming oil and gas lease sale — and removed the most controversial parcels from the list.

The agency’s Wyoming office cut the size of its upcoming second-quarter 2026 auction by more than half, scrapping leases that included acreage in the so-called Golden Triangle, a sprawling stretch of sagebrush-steppe prized for its wildlife.

Back in October, the BLM raised eyebrows by proposing to lease nearly 20,000 acres inside an area that’s currently off-limits to drilling. One parcel sat smack in the middle of the world’s longest-known mule deer migration route. Another was within two miles of the largest documented sage grouse lek on the planet. Conservationists, hunters, and wildlife advocates responded loudly — and in the end, those parcels didn’t make the cut.

“All of those contested parcels were removed,” said Kris Kirby, acting state director for BLM Wyoming. The initial proposal, she explained, was meant to show transparency by including all “expressions of interest” submitted by oil and gas companies — even ones that ultimately can’t be leased.

That transparency, however, collided with bad timing. A federal government shutdown overlapped with the public comment period, leaving BLM staff unavailable to clarify why parcels in a closed area were even being floated. The confusion only fueled opposition.

Under the current Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, the Golden Triangle is designated as the South Wind River Area of Critical Environmental Concern, which bars leasing. That plan is now being revised on a fast track, in line with the Trump administration’s push to “unleash American energy,” but for now the protections still stand.

When the dust settled, the BLM shrank the auction from 227 parcels covering about 251,000 acres to 112 parcels totaling roughly 121,000 acres. According to the agency’s environmental assessment, the biggest reason for the cuts was “sage grouse prioritization,” which deferred 80 parcels. Ten Golden Triangle parcels were deleted outright because they sit in areas closed to leasing. Others were dropped due to conflicts with coal leases or because they fall within Wyoming wildlife habitat management areas.

Even with the Golden Triangle off the table, the revised auction isn’t free of controversy. Many of the remaining parcels overlap mule deer and pronghorn migration corridors — including routes used by the Baggs, Platte Valley, and Sublette mule deer herds. Some protections and stipulations will apply, but critics say the risk to wildlife remains.

The BLM released hundreds of maps showing how proposed leases intersect with known wildlife habitat, along with dozens of public comments. Most of that feedback urged the agency to avoid leasing in migration corridors and near sage grouse habitat.

One of those voices came from Joey Faigl, president of the Muley Fanatic Foundation.

“These parcels have remained free of oil and gas activity to this point, and introducing development now would be tragic,” Faigl wrote.

He emphasized that his stance wasn’t anti–oil and gas — his family has worked in the industry for decades — but a call to draw clearer lines about where development belongs.

Not everyone is happy with the BLM’s pullback. Steve Degenfelder, a landman for Kirkwood Oil and Gas, said he was disappointed to see the Golden Triangle parcels removed.

“The geology hasn’t changed,” Degenfelder said, arguing that surface restrictions could allow drilling while still protecting wildlife.

Kirkwood already holds leases in the area and may get another chance if the Rock Springs plan revision loosens current protections.

For now, though, the message from the BLM is clear: public opposition mattered. The Golden Triangle stays off the auction block — at least this round — even as Wyoming continues to wrestle with how to balance energy development and some of the most important wildlife habitat in the West.