Drill baby, drill! But not in Utah!

By Christian Probasco, 12-13-08

	Photo courtesy Ian Britton

Under pressure from environmental groups, Utah’s BLM dropped another 80,000 acres near Fillmore and Fishlake National Forest from next weeks sale of oil and gas leases, according to articles in the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News.

The parcels are the subject of an environmental assessment by the Fillmore Field Office which should be completed after the next administration takes office.

Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) attorney Steve Bloch pointed to the backtrack as evidence that the BLM had rushed to get the initial 360,000 acres up for sale.

According to Kathleen Sgamma of the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, the initial lands for sale had been evaluated back in the Clinton administration.

“The BLM has buckled under pressure from environmental groups who want to stop any responsible development of natural gas on public lands,” said Sgamma.

The BLM pulled sales in Nine Mile Canyon, which is heavily decorated with petroglyphs, on December 2. It also pulled parcels near a residential area in Moab and Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. Then it deleted 24 more parcels near Arches, Canyonlands National Park and Dinosaur National Monument.

A group called “Visual Cacophony” protested the sale on Friday, Dec. 12 in front of the BLM office in Salt Lake City by pouring what the Deseret News describes as “a substance simulating crude oil” on themselves.

SUWA plans a protest at the BLM’s Salt Lake headquarters on the day of the sale, Friday, Dec. 19.

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