Activists to show opposition to lease sale

A local group of activists is taking to the street Friday with a visual representation of its opposition to a federal lease sale in Salt Lake City that will open up land for oil and gas drilling near certain wilderness areas of Utah.

Visual Cacophony member Hasen Cone said his group wants to help retroactively nullify the effects of a lease sale planned for Dec. 19.

"There's still a chance to legally reverse it and still stop it," said Cone, 31, of Salt Lake City.

The group planned to hold a protest Friday in front of the Bureau of Land Management offices in downtown Salt Lake City from noon until 5 p.m. The visual part of Friday's protest depicts people pouring crude oil on each other. They have another protest planned for Dec. 19, the day of the sale.

Friday was chosen for a protest because the BLM planned to release its final lists of deferrals for parcels it planned on pulling from the sale. To date, the BLM has pulled several parcels from near Arches and Canyonlands national parks, Dinosaur National Monument and from the Nine Mile Canyon area, prized for its collection of Indian rock art panels.

Cone said his group is working with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance on raising funds to cover the cost of a lawsuit seeking to reverse impacts of the Dec. 19 sale. Toward that end, the two groups had organized a fund drive for Friday night at the parking lot for Momentum Climbing Gym, 220 W. 106000 South in Sandy.

Cone said a private donor has agreed to match, up to $100,000, funds raised Friday night from 8 p.m. until midnight at the gym parking lot. Cone said the money raised will be donated to SUWA for the legal fight against the lease.

— Stephen Speckman