RAWLINS — More than $100 million worth of unissued oil and gas leases may finally get acted upon by the Bureau of Land Management. The federal agency said this week that it will soon decide whether the first of the leases across the West will be handed over to drilling companies.

Updated by Staff

The latest announcement was met with cautious optimism by industry groups because they’ve heard it before. The BLM said last August and again in April that the backlogged leases were about to be issued, according to the Western Energy Alliance.

The backlog has become so pronounced that Wyoming Gov. Freudenthal wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Salazar earlier this year urging action.

 BLM Director Bob Abbey said in an interview Wednesday that the BLM will begin making decisions on backlogged federal leases in Wyoming by the end of July.

“Wyoming has done the work they needed to do to address the issues, to get us to the point of making those decisions,” he said. Abbey said that additional leases will be issued in the region on a state-by-state basis.

Wyoming is an example of the inertia surrounding the issue. Companies have paid more than $50 million over the past two years for leases the BLM has yet to issue. The money has been sitting in an escrow account until the BLM decides whether to issue the leases or withdraw them and refund the money.

Several issues have slowed the process, according to the BLM, including environmental protests, uncertainty about endangered species and the change from the Bush to Obama administration. One variable that has been resolved is the sage grouse listing as an endangered or threatened species.  In March, the Interior Department  announced that protection for sage grouse is warranted but precluded by higher priorities.

Additional information about the fate of Wyoming leases will be forthcoming by the end of this month.