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Groups Soliciting Funds to Buy BLM Leases
Supporters of a man who disrupted an auction of land for oil and gas development near some of Utah's most famous national parks are trying to raise money to buy the land themselves.
Tim DeCristopher speaks with members of the news media after he was escorted out of the Bureau of Land Management offices in Salt Lake City on Friday, Dec. 19, 2008 following DeChristoper's bid on several oil and gas leases during a BLM auction. DeCristopher tainted an auction of oil and gas drilling leases by bidding up parcels of land by hundreds of thousands of dollars without any intention of paying for them, a federal official said. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Steve Griffin)
The Moab-based Center for Water Advocacy has set up a legal defense fund for Tim DeChristopher on its Web site, wateradvocacy.org. DeChristopher won bids totaling about $1.7 million in his efforts to disrupt the controversial Dec. 19 auction.
"Tim is asking that if you care about Utah's canyon country, you help us raise the funds to actually complete the purchase of these leases! Let's keep the land out of production and keep it wild!" the group said.
Paying for the leases could keep DeChristopher out of legal trouble. The U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah told the Deseret News earlier this week that it is still screening the case against DeChristopher to determine whether it will seek a federal grand jury indictment. The charge being considered is likely one of making a false statement.
DeChristopher, 27, has admitted to bidding to run up the value of some parcels. He won 13 parcels of land but said he had no intention of paying for them. When other bidders became suspicious, he was taken into custody by federal authorities.
A total of 116 of the 131 parcels of land were auctioned off, but the Bureau of Land Management said it is still unsure if it will have to re-do the auction.
The auction itself generated protests and controversy because many of the parcels are near national parks or wilderness areas. More than 100 parcels were dropped from the auction list by the BLM under pressure from environmentalists, outdoor-retail industry groups and even the National Park Service because they were too near tourist hotspots Arches and Canyonlands national parks.
A federal lawsuit over the auction remains pending.
Meanwhile, DeChristopher is being hailed on the Internet as an environmentalist folk hero on blogs and Web sites.
"The federal officials who took me into custody said that I cost the oil companies in the room hundreds of thousands of dollars and prevented 22,500 acres of land from being sold for fossil fuel development," DeChristopher wrote in a Dec. 20 commentary on the blog oneutah.org. "I had a very open conversation with the federal agents about my motives and values. They were friendly, respectful, and somewhat sympathetic."
DeChristopher acknowledges he faces the possibility of prison time, but believes what he did was right.
"If I am not willing to take a stand for my generation, then who will?" he wrote. "This year I have come to terms with the idea that I might be my own best hope to defend my future. Hopefully all of us will realize that we are the ones we have been waiting for."
- Posted in
49 Comments so far
Show AllThis aging environmentalist, tiring and prone to despair after a career's worth of environmental work, has been given new energy by this young man's action. I don't have much money, but I'm sending a check to his defense fund. I hope others also do what they can.
Me too! The check gets mailed tomorrow. I'm going for the Lease Purchase Fund. Let's buy up the leases.
I'm 72, retired, and would be considered poor by some criteria. But, I do send money to important projects and this is one of them.
Way to walk the walk tim. You're a great example for other young people. Hopefully, you'll inspire more of us to stand up and disrupt business as usual.
I believe Thoreau would be proud of you Mr. DeChristopher.
Monkey wrench the system. I'm sending a small check, but its the best I can do.
-- ekaton aka d.k.shaw
One person can make a difference
This made my month. The best Christmas gift ever
.People doing something!
.
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
I suspect it might be difficult to get a jury to convict. Personally I'd rather fund a defence against a corrupt system than contribute to buying what is already the people's land that the BLM manages in trust.
On the other hand, could making a contribution shame the BLM?
I just made a small donation - took all of twenty seconds. I hope this succeeds! Throw some money in the hat and pass it on!
These kids are tired of being ignored and are tired of the greedy profit machines. Their future is at stake. Hannity says Bush kept us safe since 9/11. Kept us safe my ass !!! Bush/Cheney and THE COAL INDUSTRY are toxic terrorists. http://www.wisecountyissues.com Hannity's America sure ain't My America.
Those lands are beautiful and worth fighting for. The young man’s courage in facing jail time is inspiring. I hope he remains a free man and the lands remain unsullied by drillers and their ilk.
My HERO !!! Imagine if some of us figured out ways to act in constructive ways to disrupt the trade of our public assets how effective we can be !!!
peace
"The charge being considered is likely one of making a false statement."
...No, really...wait just another minute.....ooh, hee hee...sorry, just laughed so hard i think i wet myself. THIS administration is prosecuting someone for making A false statement? Aren't they worried about setting a president?
Is there a $2300 limit on this campaign? No? Great. I'll send mine today.
I gave up driving and been bicycling exclusively for years and I'm pretty sure I haven't cost the oil companies hundreds of thousands of dollars. More power to ya, Tim.
"Aren't they worried about setting a president?"
Very punny!! And most appreciated.
-- ekaton aka d.k.shaw
please, donate, and send the appropriate persons the message that ordinary americans are tired of their b*sh*t.
Auction? What auction?
Already?
Not much time for public input on an issue involving public property being auctioned off!
And it keeps happening over and over in this administration. WHO PROFITS FROM THIS! Not U.S.
Hey, why didn't the activist throw his shoes, really make a strong point?
When am I going to read that in America people have begun to throw their shoes at officialdom, at the obscenely rich, at self-serving politicians, at fat clerics wearing dresses?
The time is now, folks. Let those shoes fly, show that you care about the earth and its people and that you want equality and a fair go for all.
"Who did you throw your shoes at today," should be the question on everyone's lips.
For support and inspiration check:
www.dangerouscreation.com
We need 80,000 of us at 25 bucks a piece to get up the money plus a little extra.
Android, thanks. Make that 79,999. You go, Tim.
79,998
Monkeywrench the system.
-- ekaton aka d.k.shaw
Now Im not so unhappy with the name of Tim after seeing a great one like this
Way to go Tim.
Environmentalists are the Dutch boys with their fingers in the dike keeping the tide of human populations from overwhelming our technological defenses and destroying everything.
Brilliant.... encore please.
toophat for you!
Right.
Who needs democracy and the rule of rule when you could just have a nation of vigilantes?
I'm sure you would all support pro-life activists engaging in illegal activity to support their beliefs, right?
Tim De Christopher's actions are at the very core of why dissent should never be stifled. Would the BLM look at the auctions as hurtful to the environment and therefore hurtful to us all. I doubt you can equate murdering abortion providing doctors with disturbing an auction.
I don't think wingers have a hard time equating monetary loss with personal injury, that's why they embrace the philosophies that they do.
I've read joehope's posts before, and it is very clear that he is one closed-minded sumbitch. He has not been the least interested in the facts. Just hearing his own voice in print, so to speak. And wasting the time of the rest of us.
So, joehope, although you might say that I'm not particularly articulate, I believe the intent of my words come through loud and clear.
Fuck you, joehope.
And Happy New Year.
Spirit Warrior,
You speak for many of us. Thanks for saying what needs to be said to joe hope-a-dope.
.I have posted my share of rebuttal to this person as well. But, however difficult it is to be polite to him, and it is sometimes near impossible as he seems to have majored in smarmy with a minor in untruthfulness, we owe the forum itself the attempt.
Perhaps, in the end, it is best to simply ignore his pretentious falsifying.....
.
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
There is a huge difference between someone's personal decision to birth a child (something that is no one's business or has any impact on anyone else) and the selling off of our commons for exploitation resulting in massive environmental degradation and poisoning of the water and air for millions (not to mention the future existence of our species and countless others). I mean, how can you even compare? This is the public welfare and common good being sold up the river for the short-sighted profits of a few. Despite white f**ked up fundies think, women's bodies are not the commons. Their opinions about what women choose to do with their own bodies is irrelevant to the nth degree.
"(something that is no one's business or has any impact on anyone else) "
Actually, not having a child is the most environmentally-friendly decision any person can make...even if you use and throw away a hundred plastic containers every day, drive a hummer everywhere, etc, it'll have less impact on the planet than adding another person to the Western way of life, adding another consumer.
For a long time, I - and others of my generation and beliefs - looked behind us and found that no one was following us at all. That time is gone and this generation is bringing a rebirth of hope.
Art: the most dangerous gateway drug of all. Go cold turkey or turn in your parents at
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Trailer/8989
We can ALL live without ART!
If Tim is prosecuted, O'bama should be "lobbyed" to, not only pardon him immediately, but name him to some important post in the BLM looking into this "business" of auctioning off our public lands to PIGS! The kid's got talent and "huevos!"
Bravo to Tim DeChristopher!
These gas and oil Capitolists are just being lazy. Our eventual need for alternative energy has been evident for decades, but they would rather wait until the need is beyond extreme, all for the sake of their personal convenience, and personal control and profit. If they had worked to develop alternative energy decades ago, as they should have, we would all praise and respect them, as we do Jonas Salk, who discovered the polio vaccine and saved billions of people, without regard for profit.
And the growing of corn and using batteries pollutes just as much as oil, coal and gas.
Peaceful resistance is an American tradition that keeps Democracy alive, and benefits everyone. And don't forget to support, develop, and conserve for alternative energy as well.
Working together we can do this - it's not about "Me" - it's about "Us"!
"If they had worked to develop alternative energy decades ago, as they should have, we would all praise and respect them, as we do Jonas Salk, who discovered the polio vaccine and saved billions of people, without regard for profit."
I think that is well said and powerful.
The elites raping Utah for fossil fuel is only another of millions of symptoms of the underlying problem. The underlying problem is a society ruled by elites. You don't fix the problem by avoiding it. You have to face it. Face the problem. Face the elites. Starve them. Can you? Can you stop feeding them? The sign says DON'T FEED THE ELITES!
The reason the signs say: DO NOT FEED THE BEARS, is because the more you feed them the more dangerous they become!
OK, so he registered to participate in the auction. He bid in the auction. I've read that the rules of the auction provide a period of time for the winning bidder to withdraw (maybe two weeks) if they change their mind. This is probably so people have a chance to raise the money (as he is trying to do).
Sounds to me like he is being arrested and harased for not being rich. How dare he participate in a public auction while not being a billionare!
Is this public or private land? If it is public, then of course it belongs to the people. Do we or do we not have a say and when are we going to stand up and say it? I am so sick of all of us just standing around watching and going OH, gosh! Weenies never win. I do not care what they tell you about being polite and nice. Show me one place in history where weenies have won.
Jesus was a bleeding heart liberal hippie, who won. Gandhi was a weenie who won.
Wait... how did Jesus win again?
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" -Epicurus
25 bucks a piece from 80,000 of us and we can buy the land along with Tim plus some left over.
Send it to Center for Water Advocacy, P.O. Box 331, MOAB, UT 84532.
Specify Tim DeChristopher Legal Defense Fund.
Hey, so after becoming owner of the land, can it be transferred back to the indigenous groups if they so choose?
Excellent idea!
This bold man did something most of us only imagine.
Here are several thoughts about his actions.
It's similar to Cindy Sheehan demonstrating/mourning
tremendous unthinkable loss.
Taking lands as sacred as these and permanently scarring them
violates our rights similar to the taking & destruction
of Native American lands. The BLM should be called BLMM.
Where are the heavy hitting environmental think tanks like Greenpeace,
Sierra Club, NRDC, Audobun, NWF, EPA and the like? Surely these groups have the
know-how and cash to throw monkey wrenches in the system & civil disobedients.
Certainly the legal environmentalist talent in these groups have methods.
Tim is right - marching, signs, calls, lobbying, letters haven't worked.
Tim deserves support for his courage.
I sent a contribution to this cause. Hope others will continue doing so too. It's definitely worth it.
If any of you are wondering what else young environmentalists are doing these days, check this out: http://www.powershift09.org/about
Tim DeCristopher, Julia Butterfly, Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi...