Judge Halts Utah Land Sale
Restraining Order Issued Against Sale of Utah Public Land
The sale by the federal Bureau of Land Management of thousands of acres of public land in southern Utah for the purpose of extracting of dollars from oil and gas leases in Utah starting this week has been temporarily delayed, at least temporarily, by a court order.
Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of Federal District Court in Washington, has granted a temporary restraining order . Urbina ruled that the Interior Department had not done sufficient environmental analysis, particularly of how air quality might be degraded by the development of the land for oil and gas extraction.
Environmental groups have criticized the sale for being done very late in the tenure of the outgoing Bush administration. The sale has been the target of protest by environmental groups and has also been investigated by journalists.
Land Sale Targeted By Environmental Action and Journalistic Investigation
One such environmental activist who has protested the sale has been University of Utah student Ted. He has recently gained notoriety for taking direct action against the sale by bidding on, and then, raising the $45,000 necessary to put a downpayment on over 20, 000 acres of the land that was put up for sale by the Bureau of Land Management.
DeChristopher was detained and questioned at the auction site by federal officials, He is currently waiting to see if the US Attorney will seek any charges against him.
The development of public land on the Colorado River, such as those parcels in Utah sold by the Bureau of Land Management, has also been the target of journalistic investigation. One such report, by the San Diego Tribune and the public interest web site, Pro Publica, says that the extraction of oil and gas in these areas would draw down the Colorado River, which provides water for the Southwest, and major California Cities, such as San Diego and Los Angeles. The report also says that Colorado River would be be in danger of being polluted by such development.
The development would be near some of southern Utah’s most scenic and well-known national parks. Many national and regional environmental groups opposed the sale.
Parks That Would Be Impacted By the Sale and The Groups Fighting The Sale
The parks that are adjacent to the lands that were auctioned off by The Bureau of Land Management include:
- Arches National Park
- Canyonlands National Park
- Dinosaur National Monument
The groups that sought the restraining order include:
- National Resources Defense Council
- Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
- Wilderness Society
- Earth Justice
There is currently no word as to whether any of the companies who bought the land, or the Bureau of Land Management plan to challenge the restraining order issued by Judge Urbina.
What do you think about this article?
More in Politics & Society
Latest Articles