Colorado man challenges drilling rights beneath his mountain as 400,000 acres head to lease sales

Mayne is challenging drilling rights beneath the mountain where he lives and has brought other landowners into the dispute. (Photo: The Slope) A Colorado motorcycle instructor and Desert Storm veteran is continuing his fight against oil and gas drilling rights beneath his mountain after federal regulators rejected his protest. Joel Mayne, who lives near Craig in northern Colorado, had organised local landowners to oppose the US Bureau of Land Management’s decision to sell mineral rights beneath Baker’s Peak.Mayne’s protest was rejected by the BLM, and the agency went ahead with the December 2025 lease sale that included the Baker’s Peak leases. Mayne appealed the decision to the Interior Board of Land Appeals in Washington, DC. His case is now part of a wider debate over the scale of oil and gas leasing on federal land in Colorado.According to The Colorado Sun, the BLM is preparing a major expansion of federal oil and gas lease sales across the state. From the December 2025 auction, which included the Baker’s Peak leases, through planned sales in December 2026, the agency is expected to offer more than 400,000 acres for drilling across six auctions.The scale of the planned sales is...