Agency backs off from land auctions

Bureau of Land Management will defer oil and gas exploration leases for some sites close to national parks. Environmentalists had accused Bush administration of giving energy industry a 'parting gift. The Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday backed off from plans to auction more than a dozen leases to explore for oil and gas on the doorstep of several national parks, deflecting accusations by environmental groups that it was handing a "parting gift" to the energy industry before the Obama administration takes over.

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