The drilling leases adjacent to Arches and Canyonlands national parks and Dinosaur National Monument are off the December 19 auction block (see previous post), thanks to fierce opposition from the National Park Service, congressional representatives and President-elect Barack Obama’s transition (as well as any of you who have already sent in letters of protest.) But it is a shallow victory given what remains on the block: thousands of acres of wilderness-quality land, including two-thirds of the lease areas that the National Park Service wanted removed from the auction. Crux of the problem: BLM’s resource-management plans for 11 million acres of redrock desert in southern and eastern Utah, finalized in the last few months of the Bush administration, which in effect turn the keys of our public land over to the oil and gas industry. Best Quote of the Day: Dave Nimkin, a regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association, referring to drilling on nature’s red rock masterpiece, said the BLM “would burn the Rembrandts to heat the castles.”
National Parks, Utah
The Bureau of Land Management’s controversial plan to open several dozen parcels of land bordering Arches and Canyonlands National Park for oil and gas drilling is being countered by the incoming Obama administration, which threatens use of an executive order reversing the decision. According to the Associated Press, John Podesta, in charge of President-elect Obama’s transition team, said “There’s a lot the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we’ll see the president do that.” He went on to say, “They want to have oil and gas drilling in some of the most sensitive, fragile lands in Utah. That they’re going to try to do this right as they are walking out the door, I think that’s a mistake.” An executive order rescinding the sale would be quick to implement, and would not require congressional approval, but could result in energy companies filing legal suits that could last years. Backstory: the BLM typically holds quarterly lease sales, informing the Park Service three months in advance, especially when the lease of certain parcels might have environmental impact on the national parks. But on Tuesday, Nov. 4, the BLM released information about the sale without informing the National Park Service. Nor did the BLM provide any maps or details about the sale for either the Park Service or the public to see. (Publishing news of the lease sale on election day is consistent with what Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz, chairman of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands subcommittee, claims is the BLM’s penchant to release information when the public is least likely to know about it, such as during holiday weekends.) The Park Service wishes to delay the lease sale — the last one before President Bush leaves office — until next year, as there is precious little time to comment: 37 days and counting. The BLM refuses to change the auction date, slated for Friday, Dec 19. BLM finally did release maps of the parcels bordering the national parks, which can been seen only at the BLM’s state office Public Room, 440 W. 200 South, Suite 500, Salt Lake City. What you can do: the 30-day public protest period began Nov. 4, and will end on Dec. 4, 2008. I’ve been trying to get hold of more specific information but four phone calls to BLM in Salt Lake City and Moab have so far been unanswered. You can send a message to President-Elect Obama by clicking here: http://change.gov/page/s/contact
And send a letter to Utah senators Hatch and Bennett: here: https://secure2.convio.net/suwa/site/Advocacy?page=ActionAlertTakenPage&id=319
More on BLM’s oil and gas lease auction:http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/info/newsroom/2008/november/blm_utah_posts_list.html
Charlie Kulander
National Parks, Utah
Arches, BLM, Canyonlands, Drilling