"The long legal battle over Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's controversial 2009 decision to cancel 77 leases near pristine federal lands in Utah may have finally reached its end."
"The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver late yesterday issued a 22-page opinion upholding Salazar's decision to cancel the leases sold at a December 2008 auction, ruling that a coalition of energy companies and Utah counties did not file its federal lawsuit within 90 days of Salazar's decision.
The May 2009 lawsuit was brought against federal officials by three Utah counties -- including Uintah County, a sharp critic of the Obama administration's land-use policies -- and three energy companies that had successfully bid on some of the canceled parcels. They had argued that the lease parcels covering more than 100,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management holdings in the state should be reinstated."
Scott Streater reports for EnergyWire September 6, 2012.
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