Those who worry that the Bureau of Land Management may still lease land for oil and gas exploration near national parks and other sensitive landscapes in eastern Utah may be breathing easier now that a report outlining the shortcomings of the sale of 77 parcels last December has been issued.

According to the report from Deputy Secretary of Interior David Hayes, the 77 leases included in the sale must now be subjected to much more rigorous analysis before they can be put back on the auction block or reinstated.

The report reaches that conclusion after examining the reasons behind a temporary injunction against the leases issued by the federal court in Washington, D.C. one month after the leases were sold. Following that action, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar directed that the leases be withdrawn.

“It is clear that in the rush to sell the leases, the previous administration bypassed normal reviews and consultations with the National Park Service,” Salazar said in a news release from Hayes’ office. “Many of the 77 parcels that were auctioned off are close to National Park units and even closer to other sensitive, world-class landscapes including Desolation Canyon and Nine Mile Canyon.”

Hayes’ report indicates that some of the leases granted in December can be reinstated, but it lays out rigid conditions that must be met before the BLM can consider doing that. It also suggests that 47 of the leases – near parks and Desolation and Nine Mile canyons – may be in areas too sensitive to develop.

Before any of the 47 under scrutiny can be reinstated, Salazar has directed that four rigorous conditions, including a regional air quality strategy, must be met, according to the news release.

Salazar directed BLM to work more closely with NPS. Hayes’ report finds considerable fault with BLM for not consulting initially with NPS officials and for adding parcels close to parks at the last minute.

A memorandum of understanding has since been implemented to make sure the BLM does not take such actions in the future, according to Lynn Jackson, acting BLM Moab area field manager.

Salazar directed the Department of Interior to issue guidance to the BLM in leasing parcels near parks and sensitive landscapes – “including parcels with wilderness characteristics or other values that may not be consistent with oil and gas development,” the press release states.

“We got the message. It seems the oil and gas industry got the message,” Jackson said as he explained that it is the civil servant’s job to “do what the American people, when they elect a president, want done.”

The local office is waiting for that guidance to come from Washington, and when it does come it will be implemented, according Jackson.

Salazar also directed creation of a special BLM team to make final decisions “regarding potential re-offering of some of the 77 parcels....,” according to the news release.

“It makes sense to get somebody with complete objectivity to take a fresh look at the issues,” Jackson said. He explained that the team will likely be made up of NPS and BLM staff from other regions.

Salazar directed the BLM to initiate a “comprehensive air quality strategy for the region,” consulting with NPS, EPA, and state officials. Hayes’ report notes that the absence of quantitative air modeling was one basis for the federal court’s injunction against the sale.

An industry sponsored “Uinta Basin Study” is near completion. That study is looking at air quality issues from Wyoming south to New Mexico on both sides of the Utah-Colorado border.

“We’re hoping that study will give us a baseline assessment,” said BLM Canyon Country District Manager Shelley Smith. She said the study does not attempt to locate the sources of air pollution, but “it is something we can build on.”

“Hayes’ report is a step in the right direction,” said Liz Thomas, field attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “It confirmed our broader concerns about the [BLM’s] resource management plans, at least for air quality.”

After Salazar directed that the lease sales be withdrawn, Sen. Bob Bennett blocked the appointment of Hayes as deputy secretary. According to national news reports, that block, described as a “bargaining chip,” led to a commitment from Hayes that he would evaluate the lease sale and make recommendations.

Hayes’ report and Salazar’s four conditions are the result of that commitment.

In holding up Hayes’ confirmation, Bennett was accused by some of grandstanding. But the report he elicited from Hayes resulted in the possibility that at least 30 of the 77 parcels may be put up for lease once again.

“I am grateful for the department’s expeditious review. I will continue to work with the department to ensure that the conditions under which [the 30] leases are restored are reasonable and not simply an obstacle to a final resolution,” Bennett wrote in a press release earlier this month.

The Hayes report can be found online at www.doi.gov/utahreport/.