U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Montana/Dakotas
Programs
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BLM manages a vast federal mineral estate in Montana and the Dakotas encompassing some 47 million acres. That’s an area roughly the size of Nebraska. The prudent management and environmentally responsible development of energy minerals—coal, oil and gas—are important parts of our conservation mandate. Traditional oil and gas activity is scattered across the three states with significant fields in two areas: the Williston Basin in western North Dakota and eastern Montana and the general vicinity of Great Falls in west-central Montana. Natural gas also occurs in significant quantities in coal seams, particularly those in the Powder River Basin. In 2007, there were about 6,000 oil and gas leases covering nearly 5.3 million acres in the three states.
Coal Some of the nation’s largest coal deposits lie beneath the eastern Montana and western North Dakota prairies. There are 19 federal leases covering about 36,000 acres in Montana and North Dakota. Much of this coal is used to fire electrical generating plants. Mining operations on federal leases produced 36 million tons of coal last year. Wind In the future, wind energy generated on the public lands may be an additional source of clean, renewable energy. Several wind farm proposals involving BLM lands are in various stages of planning. There are no geothermal leases or activity within our three-state area.
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