Barely two weeks after pushing the federal government into a corner over a chaotic oil- and gas-lease sale, conservation organizations threw more punches Tuesday, hoping to overturn a Bush administration quest to maximize drilling in Utah's redrock country.
Eleven conservation and historic-preservation groups amended a lawsuit that already has resulted in a temporary restraining order against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which on Dec. 19 auctioned 77 oil and gas parcels that were under formal protest.
The groups had argued that the leases were faulty because the BLM didn't properly study air quality or potential damage to ancient rock art. The amended lawsuit seeks to nullify long-term BLM management plans for the Vernal, Moab and Price regions, claiming the agency didn't properly consider wild and scenic-river designations, wilderness, climate change and the effects of off-highway vehicle recreation on arid public lands.
The cause has caught the attention of President Barack Obama's Interior secretary, Ken Salazar, who last week told reporters he was reviewing Bush administration "midnight actions," including the Dec. 19 lease sale.
Salazar also said he was keeping an eye on what may happen to University of Utah student Tim DeChristopher, who upended the auction by winning bids on parcels with no intention of paying the $1.8 million owed for the leases.
On Tuesday, Interior Department spokesman Frank Quimby clarified that Salazar didn't have the power to intervene in any possible prosecution of DeChristopher, which is the "sole discretion" of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City.
Quimby couldn't say whether Salazar had the power to throw out any complaint the BLM state office in Utah may have filed against DeChristopher, nor was Quimby aware of any such complaint.
As for overturning the lease-sale results, Quimby said Interior would defer to pending action in federal court and declined comment.
On Jan. 17, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina issued a temporary restraining order to indefinitely block the leases on more than 103,000 acres in eastern and southern Utah. The federal government has until Friday to respond to the order.
The parcels are near Arches and Canyonlands national parks, Desolation Canyon, Dinosaur National Monument, wilderness study areas and Nine Mile Canyon.
Steve Bloch, staff attorney for one of the plaintiffs, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said the resource-management plans gave preference to oil and gas drilling and OHV recreation over all other uses.
