SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A conservation organization has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior over oil and gas leases offered in southeast Utah, claiming the parcels are packed with ancient cultural relics.
The Deseret News reports Advocates for the West filed the suit Wednesday in federal court in Utah on behalf of Friends of Cedar Mesa.
The lawsuit targets the first of three oil and gas lease sales held in March 2018. The Bureau of Land Management has not yet issued the leases.
The parcels are between Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado and the former boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument
The organization claims the area contains dozens of ancient community centers and Chacoan Great Houses.