UPDATED WITH STATEMENT FROM U.S. ATTORNEY, 3:45PST, 2/4/09

The Obama administration isn’t messing around: Just 15 days after taking office, it’s canceling the disputed and controversial Bureau of Land Management auction of 77 leases on December 19 that opened lands near Arches National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, and Nine-Mile Canyon to oil and gas exploration, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar announced today in a conference call with media.

“Those are America iconic treasures that we need to ensure are being protected,” Salazar said.

Salazar said the leases comprise 103,000 acres. A total of 130 parcels with 150,000 acres were auctioned.

The land sale was controversial from the beginning. The BLM was accused of accelerating the parcels to auction before the Bush administration ended, and a federal judge issued a restraining order last month to prevent the completion of the leasing until he could review them. The auction also saw the most-visible, resonating act civil disobedience since Julia Butterfly climbed into her tree, when Tim DeChristopher, a University of Utah student, bid on and won 13 of the leases even though had no intention or way to pay the $1.8 million for them.

“There were a number of decisions that were made by the Bush Administration in the last several months of its existence. In my view, many of those decisions were being rushed without going through the proper environmental review, without making sure there was the sound science that supported those decisions,” Salazar said. “They’re on the table. This is only one among a dozen or so of those matters.

Salazar did not offer an opinion on DeChristopher’s case, which remains under investigation by the Justice Department. He has not been charged with any crime.

Late this afternoon, Brett Tolman, the U.S. attorney for the region, issued this statement:

“Today’s decision by the Interior Department to withdraw the BLM oil and gas leases in Utah does not impact our obligation to analyze the facts and law at the time of the alleged conduct in the DeChristopher case. The decision to withdraw the leases does not wipe the slate clean. We are obligated to enforce the law, a responsibility we take very seriously. As we do with every case referred to our office, we will continue to carefully review the facts in this case and, if appropriate, present it to a grand jury. Because it is an ongoing criminal investigation, we will not be making further comment.”

Scrapping the auction results won quick praise from environmentalists, members of Congress, and DeChristopher himself, who said, “That’s the kind of strong stance we need our leaders to be taking.” The oil and gas industry was predictably less enthused. “This action signals the beginning of the administration’s plan to disregard the voices of millions of Americans who want to utilize our vast domestic energy resources,” Institute for Energy Research President Thomas J. Pyle told the Salt Lake Tribune.

Salazar didn’t tip his hand on other public lands issues, but he made it clear to expect action in the months ahead.

“I have been charged by President Obama to clean up the Department of the Interior,” he said. That’s right, put the czar in Salazar, baby.

Tagged as: conservation, public lands