DENVER — A coalition of conservation groups joined forces this week to put the brakes on Bush-era regulations and land management plans to fast-track development of oil shale, a dirty fossil fuel that threatens water resources, communities and wildlife in the West. Oil shale development would also contribute to climate change.

WASHINGTON — On the heels of a controversial sale of oil and gas leases on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands in Utah, many in close proximity to popular National Parks, in lands proposed for wilderness protection, or in lands retaining sensitive archaeological resources, Congressmen Rush Holt (D-NJ), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and Brian Baird (D-WA) today led 58 U.S.

WASHINGTON — Robert Redford joined members of Congress and a coalition of environmental, preservation and business groups to stop the Interior Department from auctioning Utah wilderness to oil and gas companies. Congressmen Baird (D-WA), Hinchey (D-NY), and Holt (D-NJ) are leading the charge on the Hill to stop the auction, which is scheduled to take place on December 19.

Today a coalition of conservation groups representing more than one million Americans will file a formal administrative protest with Utah’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) state office to protect land and resources from a midnight “Fire Sale.” The protest challenges BLM’s decision to auction off 92 parcels of land — covering approximately 100,000 acres — for oil and gas leasing and development, including protected areas that the National Park Service asked BLM to omit from the sale.

DENVER — Statement by Ann Morgan, Vice President, Public Lands Program, The Wilderness Society