Young activist defends canyon environment with an unusual action

"If I am not willing to take a stand for my generation, then who will? 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." - Tim DeChristopher

When oil and gas leases went to auction last week, opening Utah land next to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks for drilling, twenty-seven-year-old Tim DeChristopher registered for the auction. In an effort to stop the destruction of the land, he won bids of about $1.7 million, disrupting the controversial Dec. 19 auction.

DeChristopher admitted to bidding to run up the value of the property. He won 22,000 acres of public land. but said he had no intention of paying for them. When other bidders became suspicious, federal authorities took him into custody.

"Once I started buying up every parcel, they understood pretty clearly what was going on ... they stopped the auction, and some federal agents came in and took me out. I guess there was a lot of chaos, and they didn't really know how to proceed at that point," DeChristopher recounted.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah is 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.

By disrupting the auction, he has temporarily blocked a Bush-enabled land grab by the oil and gas industries. If DeChristopher can raise $45,000 by Dec. 29 and make the first payment on the land, he may avoid any claim of fraud. If the Bureau of Land Management decides to re-auction the land, the re-auction can't proceed until after the Obama administration takes over in January 2009.

Thanks to the quick thinking and direct action of an activist, who raised his voice and his bidding paddle in opposition, the sales will look different next time.