Groups sue to stop Utah oil and gas drilling

WASHINGTON – Conservation groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block the Bush administration’s last-minute sale of oil-and-gas drilling leases in Utah near national parks and ancient rock art panels.

The Bureau of Land Management has scheduled an auction Friday to sell drilling leases covering more than 100,000 acres of wild land in eastern Utah.

Sharon Buccino, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the Bush administration was rushing to approve the leases before leaving office next month.

“In their midnight maneuvering, BLM failed to complete the analysis required by federal law for the protection of America’s natural and cultural treasures,” she said.

A spokeswoman for the BLM declined to comment.

MSNBC