Updated by Staff

DENVER — Thursday’s oil and gas lease bidding went off quietly with only two of 11 offered parcels netting bids in the Bureau of Land Management’s quarterly auction. About 1,470 acres out of a total of 11,073 up for lease in the area were bid on.

North Park features high plains, rugged foothills, towering peaks and plenty of streams and rivers; making it one of the best habitats for wildlife in the state.

The lack of leasing interest on behalf of energy companies comes on the heels of mounting criticism and formal protests by a coalition of hunting and angling groups that said the area is too valuable as wildlife habitat to drill. The headwaters of the North Platte River can also be found there.

“This is some of the most biologically rich wildlife habitat in the state,” John Gale of the National Wildlife Federation, one of the groups that formally protested the proposed leases, told  the AP’s Judith Kohl.

The proposed leases were among nearly 19,000 offered on federal land across the state. The BLM has sold leases on a total of 9,114 acres for $426,322. Colorado gets 49% of the revenue generated from the lease sales.

Prior to the Thursday auction, the BLM withdrew thousands of acres in North Park after hearing the concerns of state wildlife officials about the potential impact on sage grouse, whose numbers have dropped across the West.

Wildlife and environmental groups filed protests with the agency, contending that drilling would conflict with the wildlife migration routes in the area, including elk, pronghorns, mule deer and  moose. Fisheries and sage grouse breeding grounds could be threatened, according to the protesters.

Surprisingly, North Park has witnessed prior energy development, according to the BLM. Agency data reveals that permits for approximately 230 wells on federal and private land have been issued, along with 107 wells drilled since the mid- 1920’s.

Still, the groups opposed to expanded energy development in North Park say the BLM should not be relying on a management plan for the area written in 1984, calling it inadequate for current conditions. BLM spokesman Steven Hall counters by saying the plan has been updated and amended through the years.