Activist Bidder Disrupts Federal Lease Auction for Oil and Gas Development

An environmental activist threw “into chaos” the Bureau of Land Management auction of leases on federal lands for oil and gas development recently approved by outgoing president George Bush. The sale has been characterized by the Natural Resources Defense Council as a “Midnight Land Sale” of 110,000 acres near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Dinosaur National Monument, and Nine Mile Canyon. The auction on Friday was disrupted by a bidder who “tainted the entire auction” by bidding the price up on several parcels of land by hundreds of thousand of dollars with no real intention of paying for the bids.

College student says chaos was the goal

The bidder registered for the auction as Tim DeChristopher, a 27-year-old economics student at the University of Utah, bidding up prices on numerous parcels. DeChristopher placed winning bids on 13 parcels totaling 22,500 acres around Arches and Canyonlands, owing some $1.7 million, but says he can only afford to pay for a few of those acres.

Disrupting the auction was DeChristopher’s goal, one that he says he feels he accomplished: “I thought I could be effective by making bids, driving up prices for others and winning some bids myself,” he said.

Sale drew numerous complaints

The original proposal to auction off 360,000 acres met stiff opposition earlier this fall from environmental groups like the NRDC as well as from the government itself, with protests coming from the National Park Service and several congressional leaders. Much of the proposed land leases are adjacent or near national parks and monuments. Oil and gas development would destroy pristine views and pollute the air in those parks. The National Park Service contend they were not properly consulted about the sale, which they claim was being pushed through without proper comment or oversight. The sale would also include lands that contain the nation’s greatest density of ancient rock art and other cultural resources. These lands were recently made available to industry through hastily approved resource management plans that will have serious ramifications for 3 million acres of public lands.

In response to those protests the BLM scaled back the leases available to about 164,000 acres. A move that didn’t impress Democratic Representative Brian Baird of Washington, who co-chairs the congressional National Parks Caucus: “It’s a little bit like someone telling you they’re going to rob only part of your house,” said Baird. “It is a final insult from an administration that has done so much to destroy this country.”

Several environmental groups, led by the NRDC, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and Earthjustice, filed suit in federal court to halt the sale. A deal was reached only hours before the auction was to take place, allowing the sale to proceed but requiring the BLM to temporarily prevent issuing leases on 80 of the parcels set for auction that include the most sensitive wilderness areas. The injunction will remain in effect until January 19th, giving time for federal judge Ricardo Urbine to hear the case.

NRDC senior attorney Sharon Buccino said it is possible the sale of the challenged leases could be deemed unlawful. “Anyone buying them at Friday’s sale will be proceeding at their peril,” Buccino said.

That didn’t stop DeChristopher from getting inside the BLM’s headquarters in Salt Lake City determined to disrupt of the lease auction. More than 100 others braved the foul weather to protest the sale outside.

Legal protest is always best

DeChristopher’s determination and desire to stop the sale is admirable and it gets headlines. But it is not the most effective way of achieving the desired goal. DeChristopher now has a date with the FBI and may likely get charged with a federal crime. And it will likely do nothing to halt the sale or keep the leases for which he was ostensibly the winning bidder out of the hands of those how would develop it. The best chance of that is with the lawsuit filed in court.

DeChristopher’s actions can play into the hands of those that would use such an event to create further animosity and confusion. Nor does it necessarily help to clarify the real issue of what congressional leaders, the National Park Service, Southern Utah Alliance, the NRDC, and others are fighting in court.

Writing in Desert News, Lee Benson demands that DeChristopher apologize to everyone whose “day (Dechristopher) disrupted” and demand that he “…stop using gas and oil and any other product bequeathed to us humans by dinosaurs and other ancient creatures and plants.”

Benson makes a ridiculous leap of logic, of course, as DeChristopher nor anyone else is making a case against using any oil at all. The case is against these particular leases put up for sale, where they are located, and the manner in which the sale was brought forward by the Bureau of Land Management and Bush administration. None of which Benson bothered to address, other than to say

“…If you think Canyonlands and Arches are beautiful, you should have seen New York and Massachusetts back in the day. West Virginia before coal mines was absolutely stunning. And don’t get us started on Texas before oil derricks.”

His argumentation skills aren’t nimble enough for much more than that. Issues such as the federal leases already held by oil companie that remain undeveloped or the amount of domestically produced oil exported out of the country. Benson would much rather take away DeChristopher’s toothbrush (made from oil-based plastic), and by doing so he plays into the fears and stereotypes of many people, further polarizing the issue instead of adding to a substantive debate on how best to proceed with our nation’s energy policy.

I certainly don’t blame DeChristopher for Benson and those who seek to employ flawed logic to fan the flames of fear and division. But I do believe there are consequences to DeChristopher’s actions beyond what he intended or likely considered.

It is best to leave effective protest within legal civil demonstration and court action, where opinions can be rightfully expressed and effective action can be achieved.

Image Credit: Tom Schueneman