Meanwhile, Joel Webster, with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, fears "wildlife's going to take it on the nose" if petroleum fields are developed in places like Utah's Book Cliffs. A well could be spaced in a 20-acre tract, near another in its 20-acre tract, and so on, with roads carved throughout the region to service them.

Foot said she isn't familiar with spacing rules. But a reason the November sale is being postponed is "we do want to make sure we have the adequate documentation on wildlife habitat to be able to offer the parcels.... State Division of Wildlife Resources has given us some new information on wildlife critical summer range, and that is also a piece of it."

BLM is "trying to do a responsible job of resource management," she said.

New roads could break up large-animal migration routes and drive deer to other areas where concentrations may become too high, according to the wildlife advocates. A main concern about dirt roads carved through land above watersheds is that silt and other runoff could wash into the streams and rivers, damaging fish habitat.

Burbridge said the state of Utah has embarked on a laudable program to restore wildlife habitat. He does not want to see the effort go to waste because of too much oil and gas development.

In Montana, gas developments badly damaged mule-deer habitat and drove the animals away from some of their range, causing a high population density in adjacent, he said.

"There's real concern that similar things are going to happen in this state."

---

E-mail: bau@desnews.com