Ryan Beam, Center for Biological Diversity, (928) 853-9929, rbeam@biologicaldiversity.org
Carly Ferro, Sierra Club, (801) 467-9294, Carly.Ferro@sierraclub.org
Salt Lake City, UT-- Earlier today, opponents of the Trump administration’s plan to auction off nearly 10,000 acres of public land for oil and gas drilling near the Great Salt Lake protested the lease sale outside of Gov. Gary Herbert’s office.
The Bureau of Land Management wants to allow oil companies to drill just west of the lake-- in and around the foothills of the Hogup Mountains. Conservation groups say drilling here could harm historic artifacts, migratory birds, and other wildlife and the Great Salt Lake ecosystem. The online auction took place this morning and all parcels sold for the minimum bid of $2/acre.
After the event, representatives of conservation organizations released the following statements:
“The Great Salt Lake is enormously important to the people of Utah and migratory birds worldwide and already faces significant stressors,” said Carly Ferro of the Sierra Club’s Utah Chapter. “Adding opportunities to develop the lake’s adjacent landscape for oil and gas is a complete disregard for the Great Salt Lake ecosystem and all of the critters and people that depend on it for their well-being-- virtually all Utahns.”
“Gov. Herbert is bending over backwards for the fossil-fuel industry and jeopardizing the cherished Great Salt Lake,” said Ryan Beam, a public lands campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity. “These public lands are home to plentiful wildlife, including millions of migratory birds. Protecting the Great Salt Lake ecosystem should be a top priority, but Herbert is knuckling under to for-profit companies and abandoning Utah’s natural wonders.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.