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BLM to auction oil and gas leases next to Utah’s Dinosaur National Monument and in San Rafael Swell

Conservation groups object, questioning whether federal land managers are ditching ‘master leasing’ plans in favor of more drilling in sensitive places.

(Erin Alberty | Tribune file photo) Dinosaur National Monument's Desert Voices trail shows off some of the monument's rocky scenery and desert plants and wildlife. The BLM has decided to lease terrain neighboring the Utah part of the monument of oil and gas drilling.

Federal land managers are moving forward with a proposed sale of controversial oil and gas leases in Utah’s San Rafael Swell and on the doorstep of Dinosaur National Monument, the agency announced Friday.