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October 9, 2009

Interior Dept. Blocks Bush Admin Utah Wilderness Sale
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Meanwhile, in Utah the Interior Department has frozen a majority of oil
and gas drilling permits sold off in the Bush administration’s last
weeks. In a new review, government regulators say the sales were made in
a “headlong rush” on land “not appropriate for development.” The move
freezes or blocks the sale of the three-quarters of the initial
seventy-seven land parcels. Many are located near national parks and
other protected wilderness. The move could bolster the defense of a
college student who initially disrupted the land auction by posing as a
bidder. The student, Tim De Christopher, is currently facing ten years
in prison on charges of interfering with a public auction.



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