During the past year, the Bureau of Land Management has aggressively leased lands in southeastern Utah for oil and gas over the objections of historic preservationists who fear the agency lacks sufficient information about thousands of cultural sites to ensure their protection should the area get drilled.
Now one group, Bluff-based Friends of Cedar Mesa, is suing to invalidate several leases issued last year around Alkali Ridge and Montezuma Canyon, an area richly endowed with the remnants of an ancient civilization.
“This administration’s all-out push for ‘energy dominance’ is skirting the law and putting resources at risk all around the West,” said Sarah Stellberg, staff attorney with Advocates for the West.