MARIETTA, Ohio — The federal government has leased oil and gas rights on 2,777 acres of Wayne National Forest for $11 million, opening scattered parcels in Washington and Monroe counties to potential hydraulic fracturing. The Bureau of Land Management completed the 10-year lease sale Sept. 15. The companies that obtained the leases must still secure permits before drilling or fracking can begin, and no start date has been announced. BLM said the sale could support domestic energy production and create jobs. The agency also said a lower federal royalty rate made production more financially attractive. Under the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill, the onshore oil and gas royalty rate on federal land dropped from 16.67% to 12.5%. Sale records listed five companies among the leaseholders: Pennsylvania-based Apex Energy, with 1,793.5 acres; Oklahoma-based Gulfport Appalachia LLC, with 473.89 acres; Texas-based R&R Royalty, with 344.65 acres; Texas Independent Exploration, with 143.36 acres; and Ohio Gas Company, with 21.44 acres. Individual parcels sold for prices ranging from $10 to $9,751. The leases cover land near New Matamoras in the Marietta unit of Wayne National Forest. The forest encompasses about 240,000 acres across three southeast Ohio units — Athens, Ironton and Marietta — and is the state’s only national forest. The decision drew 3,657 protest letters. Residents and environmental organizations raised concerns about air and water pollution, including possible effects on Washington County’s air quality and the Little Muskingum River system. BLM rejected the objections, saying its review adequately considered those issues. Nathan Johnson, senior attorney for land and water at the Ohio Environmental Council, said the leases threaten one of Ohio’s most important public recreation areas. “Fracking the Wayne will pollute the air, harm local streams and industrialize the landscape,” Johnson said. The Ohio Environmental Council plans to challenge the leases in court. The group previously sued over proposed drilling in Wayne National Forest. In 2020, U.S. District Judge Michael Watson ruled that an earlier proposal had failed to properly assess environmental and public-health risks. Watson blocked new leases in 2021, calling the environmental review a “faulty foundation.” The current sale follows a new BLM assessment completed in 2025, which the agency used as the basis for offering the parcels. Southeastern Ohio sits within the Marcellus and Utica shale region, sometimes called the Shale Crescent. The area is a major natural-gas-producing region, and industry advocates say drilling has generated billions of dollars and supports thousands of jobs. But residents and conservation groups point to the risks associated with drilling, wastewater and abandoned wells. In 2025, five workers were critically injured while plugging an abandoned fracking well in Wayne National Forest; two later died. Marietta residents also have raised concerns this year that former fracking wastewater is bubbling to the surface and could threaten drinking water. More than 32,000 people have signed a petition opposing Ohio injection wells and fracking nationwide. The lease sale does not itself authorize drilling. The five named leaseholders must first obtain permits from BLM, and any court challenge could further delay development.