The BLM started with 241 parcels on nearly 360,000 acres as its initial offering for the lease sale. Park Service officials negotiated with the BLM to remove some of the parcels. A federal lawsuit was filed this week by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups, with the aim of stopping the auction.

By the opening bid Friday, the number of parcels the BLM offered was reduced to 131 on slightly more than 163,000 acres. One of the parcels pulled from the sale offered mineral deposits that sit under a residential development near Moab.

When the sale concluded, the BLM had sold 116 of the 131 parcels for over $7.4 million in total revenues. More than $1 million of that total may be in question, because two men who may have made unsubstantiated bids were being investigated Friday by federal agents for possible criminal charges.

Sharon Buccino, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Wednesday that bidders in the sale will lease parcels at their own "peril," indicating the NRDC's lawsuit would result in legal challenges on at least 80 parcels on 110,000 acres.

The protesters' presence prompted the BLM to beef up security at the sale. Salt Lake City police, Gateway mall security and BLM's own officers roamed throughout the building.

Out on the sidewalk, protester Annie Knight, who lost her right leg to cancer, walked with crutches while holding a sign that read, "It is not enough to understand the natural world. The point is to defend and preserve." She was quoting author Edward Abbey. She and others held a peaceful protest.

As the 10 a.m. oil and gas sale began, BLM energy leasing team leader Terry Catlin announced that there had been more than 1,600 protests submitted regarding the parcels that the contracted professional auctioneer was about to offer.

Geologist John Adamson found just the right seat for the sale inside a room on the fifth floor of the BLM building. From his seat, he could see who was bidding. He took a lot of notes as bidders held up numbers that identified themselves. As a consultant for several oil companies, Adamson was also prepared to bid.

"There's some great parcels on this list," Adamson said before bidding began.

The Uintah basin, he explained, has a rich history of producing oil and gas wells. Adamson predicted some of the bidding would be a practice of "closeology," meaning companies want a parcel because it is next to land with a producing well.

Prices on parcels were "bargains" he said midway through the sale. He and others blamed the federal lawsuit and the protesters.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com