New approach to oil, gas leases

An on-the-ground review of how and why 77 controversial parcels of land in Utah were offered up for gas and oil development will form the basis of a "reorganization" of the nation's approach to energy development, with changes expected to be announced in the next month.

"It's a new day," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a Thursday teleconference. "We've come into this department with a reform agenda — it's a new beginning."

Recommendations by the team that visited Utah this summer show eight of 77 parcels offered for oil and gas leasing by the Bureau of Land Management were inappropriate and will not be made available for development. Another 17 parcels reviewed by the 11-member team are "good to go," according to Salazar, but 52 parcels remain on hold pending additional review.

Salazar in February pulled the 77 parcels for review in the midst of disagreement and litigation. A federal judge had granted a temporary restraining order to halt their sale after environmental groups filed lawsuits. Additionally, the December auction in Salt Lake City was mired in controversy after environmental activist Tim DeChristopher bid on parcels he had no intention of paying for.

Salazar's move to pull the leases, however, earned a round of protests from some of Utah's congressional delegation, most notably Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, who threatened to hold up certain key appointments in the Interior department if the leases were to remain in limbo.

On Thursday, the criticism remained harsh.

"While I respect the authors of this report, their findings are insulting," said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah. "I fail to see how a nine-day on-the-ground review by a team of outsiders is better than the seven-year process of public hearings and real input that produced the comprehensive plan by professional BLM and state employees in Utah."

That site review was conducted by an inter-disciplinary team that tapped archaeologists, wildlife biologists, park service officials and air quality experts, among others. It was led by deputy secretary David Hayes and included visiting all 77 parcels to make recommendations to Salazar about the land in question.

Those recommendations, Salazar said, will form the "foundations for change" in how oil and gas resources are developed on public land.

"What the report demonstrates is that there was a headlong rush to leasing in the prior administration," he said. "We are allowing America's ownership of these lands to be leased out to gas and oil development. We need to do it right. It was not done right in the past. My direction is that we will do it right in the future."