14 DAY TRIAL // In a surprising PR stunt, the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced it was offering another 359,000 acres of oil and gas fields to the highest-bidding company in Utah alone, without taking into account the fact that the parcels are located next to three of the most beautiful sights in America, Delicate Arch, Dinosaur and Canyonlands. The National Park Service wasn't even notified, so it wouldn't be able to fight the proposal.
Selma Sierra, BLM state director, had the nerve to say that she found absolutely nothing wrong with drilling near national parks, and that "I'm puzzled the Park Service has been as upset as they are," as if nothing ever happened. "We find it shocking and disturbing. They added 51,000 acres of tracts near Arches, Dinosaur and Canyonlands without telling us about it. That's 40 tracts within four miles of these parks," said the chief Park Service administrator in Utah, Cordell Roy.
Environmental groups termed the measure, which was announced in the evening of the Election Day, as a going away present that the Bush administration made to its long-term friends, the gas and oil companies, which also prevented the US from joining the Kyoto Protocol, which would have engaged the nation in the struggle against global warming.
"This is the fire sale, the Bush administration's last great gift to the oil and gas industry. The tracts of land offered here, next to Arches National Park or above Desolation Canyon, these are the crown jewels of America's lands that the BLM is offering to the highest bidder," added Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance staff attorney, Stephen Bloch.
Sierra's attitude was further criticized by state officials, when she claimed to have a good working relationship with Roy. He denied this ever happened, and said that his answer to Sierra, when she said "We added some tracts, sorry we didn't notify you. We can take up these concerns when we issue," was "Holy cow."
Dirk Kempthorne, the Interior Secretary, sent his top aides to order the agency to come to a consensus. In a press release, his secretary, Shane Wolfe, told AP that deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett was ordered to bring the two parties to a consensus within 24 hours. The BLM was asked to "take quite seriously" the objections of the Park Services, so as to avoid such incidents from happening in the future. The auction is to be held December 19, a month before the new administration sets in, so there's no stopping this selfish decision.