by Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFileThe U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued a “record of decision” Thursday, greenlighting the sale of 441 million tons of coal in the Powder River Basin in northeast Wyoming — the first major federal coal lease offering in the region in a decade. The West Antelope III coal lease will go to competitive auction on Oct. 8, the agency said. Though the 3,508-acre tract contains approximately 441 million tons of coal, the estimated “recoverable” volume is about 365 million tons, according to the BLM. The company eventually sold its Powder River Basin mines to Navajo Transitional. Visit this BLM website to learn more about the West Antelope III coal lease.