BLM making big bucks on leases
But some worry the rush to develop new energy poses threat to Utah's vistas
Today, against a backdrop of skyrocketing energy prices and the push to drill for more oil and natural gas, those same lands are capturing 10 times more money on average, with some bids commanding as much as $3,000 an acre.
In May, the federal agency's Salt Lake City office raised $54.1 million in its quarterly land-lease auction, a more than 300 percent increase from $13.5 million raised during the same quarter in 2005 and nearly 450 percent more than $10 million raised in second quarter 2004.
But the rush to develop new energy in Utah is bringing controversy as proposed leases encroach on some of Utah's most scenic landscapes.
Theresa Butler, owner of Moab-based Red River Canoe Co., is formally protesting the BLM's Aug. 15 lease sale. The company offers a 47-mile guided or self-guided paddle trip along a stretch of the Green River through Labyrinth Canyon, a three-day journey that Butler likens to an experience through the Grand Canyon.
"Our biggest request is that maybe they can lease other spots and not so close to Labyrinth Canyon," Butler said. "If they were to put oil wells that close to the river and the confluence of the San Raphael Swell, the noise pollution would be devastating."
"These special places are floated by Utahns and visitors from throughout the world, but many of them also have potential for oil and gas reserves that could help meet our nation's energy demands," Bisson said. "BLM is only offering lands for oil and gas leasing if they have appropriate setbacks from the river. These setbacks will prevent development from being seen from the river way and inaudible after the wells are in place, if development does occur."
Stephen Bloch, an attorney with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which is protesting 41,300 acres of the proposed 334,000 acres being offered in the August lease sale, said proposed leases have increased along the Green and San Juan river corridors, sections popular among river-runners. Some of the leases, he said, lie a quarter-mile from the river.
"That's why you've also seen not only an increase in protests from conservation groups but local businesses," Bloch said. "These leases are in areas that are incredibly environmentally sensitive and important for recreation and for tourism. They should be far enough back that you're not going to see them or hear them. A quarter-mile simply isn't going to cut it."
The renewed interest in Utah, along with record-breaking lease receipts, in many ways can be tied to one company — Wolverine Gas and Oil, a Michigan-based company, which in 2004 made one of the biggest surprise oil finds near the town of Sigurd, Sevier County.
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