May 21, 2025

OEC Wayne Leasing IBLA Appeal

On Monday, May 19th  the OEC’s Law Center filed an administrative appeal at the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) challenging the federal government’s renewed effort to open 40,000 acres of the Wayne National Forest to oil and gas development, or “fracking.” The Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Ohio Valley Allies, and Heartwood joined us in this appeal. In 2020, we litigated a stop to this same leasing project in federal court.

 On April 17 of this year, the Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) decided again to approve the “Wayne Leasing Project” — this time with a supplemented, but woefully inadequate, environmental review. If the Wayne Leasing Project moves forward, it would likely industrialize a large portion of the Forest and the surrounding landscape, generate significant amounts of air pollution, threaten sensitive streams and wildlife, and cancel out up to 30 years of the entire Wayne National Forest’s expected carbon sequestration services.