Scores of oil and gas leases near national parks and proposed wilderness areas in Utah will not be sold after all, thanks to a federal judge's ruling Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Dee Benson said the companies and counties that sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar over 77 withdrawn leases missed their deadline for objecting.

So Benson ruled against their request to complete the sales, but, at the same time, scolded the federal government for offering the leases and then pulling them back.

Still, the ruling is a victory for Salazar, the BLM and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which had tried even before the auction to stop the 77 parcels from going on the block because they were in environmentally sensitive areas. The December 2008 auction included oil and gas drilling leases near Arches and Canyonlands national parks, Dinosaur National Monument and the famed rock art of Nine Mile Canyon.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued an order in January 2009 blocking the disputed leases from moving forward. Weeks later Salazar shelved them.

BLM spokesman Mitch Snow would say only, "We're reviewing the judge's decision."

But SUWA's Stephen Bloch said the ruling corrected the excesses of the Bush administration's drilling practices. The 77 leases, Bloch said, "epitomized everything that was wrong about the last administration."

Uintah, Carbon and Duchesne counties fought the lease withdrawal alongside three winning bidders, Impact Energy Resources of Colorado, Peak Royalty of Utah and Questar Exploration and Development of Texas. The plaintiffs argued that the federal government was required to issue the leases within 60 days of the Dec. 19, 2008, auction.

Attorney J. Mark Ward, who represents the three counties, said he is consulting with the other plaintiffs' lawyers about whether to appeal Benson's ruling.

"It's too early to say what we will do," he said.

But Ward was pleased with the judge's comments on how Salazar and the BLM had handled the case.

"The message was a good one," he said, "that the secretary is supposed to adhere to his leasing decision after it is made."

The BLM cited the handling of the 77 controversial leases as an impetus for reforming its oil and gas leasing program, a change that drew fire from Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah. Salazar also has opened the door for some of the original 77 leases to go forward after a more in-depth review.

The counties' original attorney was Mike Lee, Republican nominee for Bennett's Senate seat. He didn't respond Wednesday to calls seeking comment — nor did the attorney for the energy companies.

fahys@sltrib.com —

DeChristopher's case

Tim DeChristopher disrupted the highly disputed Dec. 19, 2008, oil and gas lease auction in Salt Lake City when he bid $1.8 million on parcels near Arches and Canyonlands national parks with no intention of paying. The then-University of Utah economics major acknowledged his false bidding, calling it an act of civil disobedience in protest of Bush administration policies that worsened the global climate crisis. DeChristopher was indicted on April 1, 2009, for violating the terms of the auction. He pleaded not guilty to two felonies and faces a much-delayed trial Dec. 13.