Colorado received more than $57 million in the latest disbursement of revenue from energy production on federal lands in the state.

The disbursement was about half the $108 million Colorado received for the 2019 fiscal year, though, and the lowest amount in the last five years.

The money was part of more than $8 billion disbursed by the U.S. Department of Interior Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) during the 2020 fiscal year.

Of that, $1 billion was distributed to Native American tribes and individual Native American mineral owners,
$1 billion to the Reclamation Fund and $150 million to the Historic Preservation Fund. Nearly $3 billion went into the U.S. Treasury. The Great American Outdoors Act enacted in August earmarks $900 million in revenue a year from energy production to permanently and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

The ONNR disbursed a total of more than $1.8 billion to 34 states.

“Importantly, these disbursements also go right back to the states and tribes where the energy was produced, providing critical funding for schools, public services, conservation improvements and infrastructure projects that create good-paying American jobs,” said Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

Colorado ranked sixth among the states receiving the largest disbursements. New Mexico ranked first at nearly $707 million, followed by Wyoming with $457 million, Louisiana $159 million, Texas $99 million and North Dakota $66.7 million. Utah ranked seventh with almost $54 million.

According to separate statistics for the 2019 fiscal year for Colorado, oil, natural gas, coal and other minerals extracted from public lands managed by the Department of Interior accounted for $8.1 billion in economic output, $5.5 billion in value added and 35,200 jobs.

The total economic contribution of energy development, recreation and other activities on public lands in Colorado managed by the department was estimated at $19 billion.

Nationwide, energy development on public lands accounted for $156 billion in economic output and 665,000 jobs. A total of about $12 billion in revenues were collected from oil, natural gas and coal extracted from federal lands.