Federal lands, along with the vast resources they contain, belong to American taxpayers. The Bureau of Land Management, part of the Department of the Interior (DOI), manages these resources. This includes leasing federal land to private entities for oil and natural gas extraction and development. The DOI must ensure taxpayers receive a fair return from the development of these valuable resources. However, the current onshore oil and gas leasing system doesn’t meet this goal, instead burdening taxpayers with liabilities from orphaned wells and escalating federal climate costs.

Outdated and below-market federal rates have cost federal and Montana state taxpayers $123 million over the past decade. This has also left them with more than $180 million in potential reclamation liabilities due to inadequate federal bonding requirements. If the leasing system isn’t reformed, taxpayers will continue to face losses from oil and gas operations on Montana’s federal lands.

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