Federal Bureau of Land Management officials on Tuesday delayed a push to open 18,316 acres in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve for oil and gas development, saying they will first honor a Navajo Nation request for consultation.

The Navajo Nation last year purchased ancestral lands in the area, and Navajo President Russell Begaye vowed to “protect the beauty and sacredness of the land.”

BLM officials are “deferring all 11 parcels in Huerfano County until tribal consultation with the Navajo Nation is complete. After consultation is complete, the parcels could potentially be considered and offered on a future lease sale,” agency spokesman Jayson Barangan told The Denver Post.

Gov. John Hickenlooper had intervened, asking BLM officials to consider Navajo concerns.

The push to open this land for oil and gas development at a lease sale Sept. 6 reflects Trump administration efforts to accelerate fossil fuels production using public lands in the West. BLM officials under Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke have shortened environmental reviews and periods for public protest. The BLM still could open some of Colorado’s most pristine mountain terrain for oil and gas drilling on parcels touching the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness Area and as close as one mile from the boundary of the Great Sand Dunes park.

Federal land managers have received a petition to allow access to minerals under land that energy company owner David Watts of Texas bought last year. Watts has said he and his family are committed to environmental stewardship and told Huerfano County officials they would be using their land for a conservation-oriented elk hunting ranch. Watts could not be reached Tuesday.

The Western Energy Alliance, an oil and gas industry advocacy group, supports opening the area for development and argues that any industry development would be done in a way that protects cultural resources. “We’re disappointed,” WEA president Kathleen Sgamma said. “We urge the BLM to move forward expeditiously with the consultation and bring the leases up for sale in the near future.”

The Navajo Nation’s newly-acquired ancestral property covers more than 16,000 acres north of the Watts’ property. Navajos regard 14,344-foot Tsisnaasjini, or White Shell Mountain (Blanca Peak), and Big Sheep Obsidian Mountain (Mount Hesperus), as sacred and, in a letter to BLM last month, cited this “traditional cultural property.”

Navajo leaders on Tuesday welcomed the BLM decision to delay.

Begaye told The Post that when Navajos discovered the agency was going to offer access to minerals in the area, “the Nation demanded a consultation” and that a meeting took place “over the potential discovery and extraction of oil.

“The Nation raised concerns over oil spillage and the contamination of groundwater. We expressed that it is our intention to keep the beauty of that area intact and the water pristine that exists on the property,” Begaye said.

The purpose of the delay, he said, is “to verify if BLM has the rights to minerals where they want to conduct testing.”

Hickenlooper asked BLM officials to consider Navajo concerns on Friday, spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said. “We appreciate them listening.”

Conservation groups opposing the industry push for energy development in the area applauded the delay — and resolved to fight until lease sales are halted.

The delay shows “the importance of consulting directly-impacted communities in the face of dirty fuels extraction,” Sierra Club organizer Kim Pope said.

“Stopping the encroachment of dirty fuel development on Great Sand Dunes National Park and the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness will preserve not only these great wild places but the outdoor economy, wildlife, culture and community they support,” Pope said.

WildEarth Guardians attorney Rebecca Fischer said BLM environmental analysis for this project “was clearly rushed” and that federal officials “failed to even mention that the Navajo Nation had recently purchased land just north of the parcels.”

“Some areas are just too important to frack for oil and gas,” Fischer said. “We urge the BLM to ensure that this area receives permanent protection.”

The Environmental Protection Agency previously urged BLM officials to consider a delay to bolster their environmental review and consult with Navajo leaders. Huerfano County commissioners and residents also have been challenging this federal push to open land for development.

On Tuesday, Citizens for Huerfano County leader Jeff Briggs put forth “a request that the BLM recognize other legitimate requests” for discussion before any offerings of access to underground minerals.

In the San Luis Valley, Conejos Clean Water representative Anna Vargas interpreted the delay as evidence that “the BLM is listening” to constituents.

“We want to protect our public lands,” Vargas said, “our Sand Dunes, and the land and public health of our communities in the San Luis Valley and Huerfano County.”