Welcome to the June 2026 Keep Routt Wild Newsletter!

Hello, Keep Routt Wild followers!

In this month’s newsletter we have updates on two topics.

First, we were surprised to learn that the Forest Service is considering Oil and Gas leasing on Routt National Forest, and has an active proposal.

Second, we are reporting on the latest proposal to suppress noxious weeds on the greater Emerald Mountain.

Read about these news items below, along with our standard section of “What We’ve been Reading and Watching”, summarizing conservation news from the region.

For those who are unfamiliar with Keep Routt Wild, we are a community organization dedicated to the preservation of wildlife and wild places in Routt County. To find out more about Keep Routt Wild, go to our website, or follow our nearly daily postings on Facebook.

We are a 501(c)3 non-profit, and we humbly ask you to consider a donation to Keep Routt Wild here. Thank you.

BREAKING NEWS: Forest Service Considering Oil & Gas Leasing on Routt National Forest

We were surprised to learn that the Forest Service is considering leasing “10 parcels of Routt National Forest to the BLM for a potential future oil and gas lease sale and subsequent exploration and development.”

According to Forest Service documents, “The USDA Forest Service is conducting an analysis of the Expressions of Interest (EOI) on the Routt National Forest. The proposed action is to be located on the Hahns Peak/Bears Ears Ranger District on the Routt National Forest. This EOI is for 13,850 acres approximately 30 miles northwest of Steamboat Springs, 20 miles north of Hayden, and approximately 25 miles northeast of Craig. The proposed action is to consent to the BLM leasing the nominated parcel lands by competitive bid for subsequent oil and gas resource development, with stipulations for the protection of surface resources. The stipulations are designed to be consistent with Routt National Forest land and resource management plan (LRMP) standards, and applicable laws and agreements. The Responsible Official for this decision is Michael Woodbridge, District Ranger of the Hahns Peak/Bears Ears Ranger District.”

Deadline for comments is July 17, 2026. For more information on this proposal go to the project page here:

EOI for Oil&Gas development on Routt National Forest

To our knowledge, this is the first time in many years that oil and gas leasing is being considered on the Routt National Forest.

Here’s a quick summary of what’s happening. The BLM owns the subsurface mineral rights, including oil and gas, but the Forest Service must consent to leasing any of the lands where it manages the surface resources, as is the case here. There’s a myriad of complications to this proposal, including whether, once the lands are leased by the BLM, any of the Forest Service’s stipulations for limiting operations would be enforced, as the BLM was given a strong mandate to lease lands under HR-1, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”. If the Forest Service consents to the parcels being leased, it is highly likely the BLM will offer them for lease.

The map below shows the locations of the proposed parcels to be leased on the northern edge of the block of Routt National Forest that juts out and crosses from Routt County to Moffat County.

Image: US Forest Service

The proposed parcels total 13,850 acres and sit in key wildlife habitats, including greater sandhill crane range, lynx habitat, mule deer migration corridors, elk summer range and calving areas, and greater sage grouse and Columbia sharp-tailed grouse habitats, among numerous others. Furthermore, the parcels are partially situated within two Colorado Roadless Areas, where road construction and reconstruction are not permitted on oil and gas leases.

We are partnering with other conservation groups to understand the implications of this proposed lease before commenting. Stay tuned.

Noxious Weeds: A Threat and an Opportunity

As we reported last month, noxious weeds are a growing threat to wildlife habitat and working lands in Routt County. These non-native weeds and grasses out-compete native vegetation wherever they take hold. Worse yet, they deliver little or no nutritional value, leading to habitat loss wherever they take hold.

Many of these noxious weeds are spread by humans or livestock. Boots, tires, and hooves prove to be an efficient transportation mechanism from one infestation to another pristine location to start another infestation. These locations and methods of transmission are called “vectors.” With high infestation rates around Emerald Mountain and Howelsen Hill, people recreating in that location serve as a primary vector that propagates weeds to pristine locations on our public lands, private working lands, and neighborhoods.

That’s the threat. Here’s the opportunity.

Now there is a proposal to eliminate all noxious weeds on the greater Emerald Mountain including Howelsen Hill and the rodeo grounds. That is the grant request being proposed from the Routt Recreation and Conservation Roundtable to CPW (Colorado Parks and Wildlife). It’s an audacious undertaking of at least three years of mechanical and chemical treatments. It is coupled with a similar project to suppress invasive organisms within or next to the Yampa River.

This proposal requires the support of multiple land managers, including the Bureau of Land Reclamation, the City of Steamboat Springs, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Routt County would lead the initiative. Keep Routt Wild would contribute volunteers for identifying the noxious weeds to be removed, along with a robust education program.

This is a proposal in process, and there is no guarantee we will even get the grant. But it is encouraging to see four key public agencies plus the Routt Recreation and Conservation Roundtable coming together to support this bold and daring initiative.

What we’ve been reading and watching

(Click on any title to read the article.)

Moose are native to Colorado after decades of experts believing otherwise, CU Boulder research finds

“For decades, government officials and wildlife experts have believed that moose are not native to Colorado. …However, a University of Colorado Boulder study published this month provides evidence from newspaper articles, databases, museum collections, photos, journals and Native traditions directly refuting that claim.

“What we found is that we can prove without a shadow of a doubt that moose have been established in Colorado since there is a historic record,” said William Taylor, an anthropology professor and curator of archaeology for the CU Museum of Natural History.”

How Colorado’s candidates for governor say they would address wolves, hunting, fishing and a rural divide

“The Colorado Sun surveyed the five candidates running for governor to get their plans and priorities for wildlife and the outdoors before Tuesday’s primary.”

Mule deer and mountain bikes: Can modern recreation and world-class wildlife coexist along the Winds?

“Standing amid sagebrush on slopes offering soaring views of Wyoming’s highest peaks and second-largest lake, Ryan Grove made his case for why Skyline Drive is the right place to put Pinedale’s first singletrack trail system designed for mountain bikers like himself. What’s standing in his way? Mule deer, elk and moose. …

”It really bums me out that there is such a pushback,” Faber said. …

”[We] have a lot of bike trails, they already exist,” [Heath Harrower countered]. “I don’t know why we would continue to build bike trails at the expense of what is special and unique to this area.””

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