A coalition of environmental and preservation groups and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) filed an agreement in court late last week that could save 100,000 acres of pristine Utah wilderness from destruction.
The deal will temporarily prevent BLM from issuing leases on 80 contested parcels of Utah wilderness, including land adjacent to national parks, for 30 days (until January 19). Although BLM went forward with the auction last Friday, the agency agreed not to issue the contested leases. This will give a U.S. District Court Judge time to hear the case.
The environmental groups filing the court case claim the federal government is rushing through the land lease process without adequately conducting environmental impact analysis.
The BLM already agreed to remove 100,000 acres that were originally planned for auction.
In Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday, the BLM auctioned off a total 116 parcels out of 131 being offered, as more than 100 protestors demonstrated outside. Parcels were sold between $10 and $200 dollars an acre for a total of $7.47 million.
The Natural Resources Defense Council urged President Bush to take Utah’s unprotected wilderness off the auction block
for good. "This is not a mess that should be left to the Obama
administration," the group said in a release.
John Podesta, the co-chair of Obama’s transition team, said last month
that Obama would likely reverse Bush’s executive order allowing
drilling in sensitive lands in Utah.
Other environmental and preservation groups filing the case include: Earthjustice, Grand Canyon Trust, National Parks Conservation Association, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Sierra Club, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and the Wilderness Society.
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