Suit over Utah oil and gas leases likely to land on Salazar's desk

Suit over Utah oil and gas leases likely to land on Salazar's desk

By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON — Environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday to try to block the sale of oil and gas leases that the Bush administration plans for Friday on 110,000 acres of wide-open redrock country in Utah near Arches and Canyonlands national parks.

The suit says that the sale would result in oil wells, electricity lines and roads through wilderness that includes Desolation Canyon, one of the largest roadless areas in the Lower 48. The suit also argues that oil and gas development would make the air dirtier in the two national parks and Dinosaur National Monument, and also would harm Nine Mile Canyon, which contains archaeological sites and prehistoric rock art.

If the sale goes through as planned, a decision about whether the government should buy back the leases could hit the desk of President-elect Barack Obama's choice as secretary of the interior, Ken Salazar.

Salazar hasn't made his views public about the Utah lands. In the Senate, he's supported oil and gas development, but he's also supported various forms of environmental protection.

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