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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah state officials are planning an auction for oil and gas development near wild land protected -- or proposed for protection -- by the federal government.
The Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration plans the auction for land near Bureau of Land Management parcels that are either wilderness study areas or candidates for that designation.
The auction scheduled for April includes about 7,000 acres in five counties.
Stephen Bloch, an attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, says his group will oppose efforts to lease and drill on state lands that are surrounded by wilderness study areas.
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Information from: Deseret News
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
