Former Gov. Mike Leavitt said of his decision to order work to continue on the highway project, "We . . . were confident we had done our work right."

Such overconfidence can have expensive consequences, as Leavitt and state highway officials discovered when the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a halt to construction that cost taxpayers $92,500 a day. The highway project, once expected to be completed in 2005, will be restarted in 2006 and will cost an additional $250 million.

Selling oil and gas leases in the Great Salt Lake could pose similar risks if state officials move ahead without proper studies.

Friends of the Great Salt Lake, the national and Salt Lake chapters of the Audubon Society and the Utah chapter of the Sierra Club, some of the same groups that sued over Legacy Highway, want the division to postpone selling the leases while it analyzes the impacts. They also say the process should be more public.

Their attorney argues that the division's own regulations require site-specific analysis and public comment. But division officials counter that such analysis is not necessary until actual drilling proposals are approved. That sounds to us like setting the cart on a downhill course with the horse trotting along behind.

For one thing, the groups warn, the five-year management plan for the lake identifies potential serious adverse impacts from energy development on fragile habitat for shorebirds. A geologist says the state has an obligation to weigh the effects of earthquakes on drilling rigs, since parts of the lease area lie on an active fault line.

Dave Grierson, the division's ecosystem management coordinator, said Monday, "As far as asking us to suspend the leases, I'm not sure . . . that we're in a position to do that."

On the contrary, now is the best time to re-evaluate the state's position in order to avoid costly and embarrassing problems later. Mike Leavitt might agree.