This book reviews the consideration of oil and gas leasing in the land use planning processes of the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service. This volume was required by the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987. It identifies problems in land use planning that are caused by current leasing practices and the availability and reliability of information at the planning stage, and makes recommendations that address the interrelation between oil and gas leasing decisions and the land use planning process for federal lands.

Public lands are available for oil and gas leasing only after they have been evaluated through BLM's multiple-use planning process. In areas where development of oil and gas resources would conflict with the protection or management of other resources or public land uses, mitigating measures are identified and may appear on leases as either stipulations to uses or as restrictions on surface occupancy. This brochure provides general information on oil and gas leasing of onshore public lands.

In FY 2008, the Dept. of the Interior collected over $22 billion in royalties and other fees related to oil and gas. Within Interior, the Bureau of Land Mgmt. manages onshore fed. oil and gas leases, and the Minerals Mgmt. Service¿s (MMS) manages offshore leases. A fed. lease gives the lessee rights to explore for and develop the lease¿s oil and gas resources. MMS is responsible for collecting royalties for oil and gas produced from both onshore and offshore leases. This report focus on Interior¿s: (1) policies for oil and gas leasing; (2) oversight of oil and gas production; (3) royalty regime and policies to boost oil and gas development; (4) oil and gas information technology systems; and (5) royalty-in-kind program. Charts and tables.