State BLM spokeswoman Christine Tincher on Wednesday acknowledged that parcels included in the upcoming lease sale - the second-largest in Utah history - are in some of the same areas U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball on Aug. 2 said the BLM had improperly evaluated for wilderness potential.

Tincher said the agency's attorneys are still working out how to comply with the court's order killing the leases. "We don't know if the [Aug. 15] sale is going to go forward or what's going to be available," Tincher said. "We might not have a decision until the day of that sale."

Steve Bloch, staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said he believes 11 parcels around Moab and Antimony are directly affected by Kimball's ruling. The group has asked that the sales be deferred.

"The court said, very clearly, that the decision by the BLM to sell leases in wilderness inventory areas and other areas where BLM has recognized wilderness potential is illegal," Bloch said.

The BLM may appeal the ruling or ask for a rehearing. In the interim, he said, "why would you dig yourself a deeper hole? They can come back [and sell the parcels] in six months if there's a way to dig themselves out of that hole."

But if they don't, "we'll sue them," Bloch said. "And we'll win."

Kimball ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by Bloch's group, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Wilderness Society that claimed the BLM sidestepped federal environmental laws and its own wilderness-related findings and used outdated land-use plans when it sold the leases. The parcels are in the Book Cliffs, Desolation Canyon and the Flat Tops proposed wilderness area near the Colorado border in Uintah County.

The leases were among the first sold after the 2003 "No More Wilderness" settlement that then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton and then-Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt struck to end a lawsuit the state brought against the federal government over wilderness inventories conducted during the Clinton administration.

James Jones, manager of Denver-based Tidewater Oil & Gas, said Wednesday his exploration company holds half a dozen leases on about 10,000 acres in the Book Cliffs' Floy Canyon that were among those listed in the ruling. Jones said the BLM could have done a better job of defending the leases, but he also faulted the challenge.

"I feel like I've been robbed. Usually when someone puts a gun in my face I have a chance to do something about it," Jones said. "We are adamant about keeping our leases."

Jones declined to say how much money the company paid for the parcels but said Tidewater has spent millions on seismic studies in the area. Kimball, he said, "is taking real property from us. We paid for it."

But Tincher said leases don't imply property has been bought and paid for. Rather, she said, leases allow companies access to the land and some subsurface evaluations. Each subsequent step, including an application for a permit to drill, requires further BLM analysis.

Tincher said leases have been suspended on all 16 parcels the court listed. "That means any activity is suspended until everything is sorted out," she said.