Biden Administration Bans Oil and Gas Drilling on 221,898 Acres in Colorado’s Thompson Divide for Conservation.

The Biden administration has finalized a 20-year ban on new oil and gas drilling and mining activity on 221,898 acres of federal lands in western Colorado’s Thompson Divide. The mineral withdrawal involves mostly Forest Service land, parts of four national forests, and about 15,000 acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The move was part of President Joe Biden’s plan to designate the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in 2022. The Interior Department praised the decision as advancing the administration’s “America the Beautiful” initiative to protect 30 percent of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030. The decision is seen as a major victory for conservationists who have long argued that the Thompson Divide is too valuable to develop.