College Student Puts Down Payment On Public Land
Tim DeChristopher "Monkey Wrenches" Oil and Gas Land Sale
© Jon Pike
Jan 13, 2009
University of Utah economics student, Tim DeChristopher decided he was going to participate in an auction of almost 150,000 acres of federal land in Utah. The land in question is rich in oil and gas. The land is also near some of Utah's most popular and scenic parks, such as Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Dinosaur National Monument. DeChristopher bid on 22,000 acres of land. The cost: $1.7 million dollars. The good news: He only had to come up with $45,000 as a downpayment by December 29th. The Better News: He set up a website and successfully raised the amount that was needed.
At the auction, he was escorted out of the bidding room by federal agents. The agents detained him, questioned him, and let him go. He is currently awaiting the decision of a federal prosecutor to find out whether he will be charged with any crime, or not.
DeChristopher intended to disrupt, or "monkey wrench" a sale of public land that has been criticized by environmentalists and the subject of investigation by journalists.
Federal Land Auction Questioned By Environmentalists and Journalists
The auction was engineered in the 1th hour to take place towards the end of the Bush Administration's time in office. The land in question lies on the Colorado River. While this land is rich in oil and gas, extracting those reserves is very water-intensive. The water that would be used would come from theColorado. The public interest journalism site, Pro Publica, and the San Diego Tribune published an investigation which said that,"getting those resources would suck up vast quantities of the river's water and could pollute what is left." The Colorado not only supplies water for the inter-mountain West, but also supplies water for some major California cities, such as Los Angeles and San Diego
DeChristopher decided he was going to take direct action and “monkey wrench” auction.
“Monkey Wrenching” and Civil Disobedience
“Monkey wrenching” takes its name from the Edward Abbey novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang. The book follows the adventures of a group who sabotage equipment that belongs to a group of developers intent on bulldozing part of the West.
DeChristopher’s actions fall into the traditions of civil disobedience and “monkey wrenching” in that, his actions caused no harm to any people, nor even property.
De Christopher disrupted the auction, prevented several thousand acres from being developed, and drew attention to the issue.
It remains to be seen if other environmentalists decide to “monkey wrench” future auctions by bidding on and buying federal land.
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