Going, Going, Gone! Bush Auctions Off Wilderness Land in Utah

On Friday December 19, the Interior Department will hold an auction of pristine Utah wilderness to oil and gas companies for exploration and drilling. Robert Redford joined members of Congress--lead by Congressmen Baird (D-WA), Hinchey (D-NY), and Holt (D-NJ)--and a coalition of environmental, preservation and business groups to stop the auctions. 

Friday’s sale would include lands that were recently made available to industry through hastily approved resource management plans that will have serious ramifications for public lands. Affected are 3 million acres of land which include the nation’s greatest density of ancient rock art and other cultural resources, which are also the habitat for many native species.

Redford commented about the Bush administration:

What you keep getting shocked about is how devious and secretive -- and basically, in my mind, morally criminal -- their behavior has been. These lands are not Cheney's and Bush's. The lands are ours. ... They're part of our legacy.