Taking a Stand: The Art of Protest

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For most, December 19, 2008, came and went with little notice. With Hanukkah days away and Christmas looming around the corner, it is likely that a majority of us spent this day with thoughts of family and celebration dancing in our minds. Unfortunately we didn't know that the Bureau of Land Management was auctioning off 150,000 acres of Utah wilderness for oil and gas drilling; little did we know that the government was conducting what Stephen Bloch referred to as "the fire sale, the Bush administration's last great gift to the oil and gas industry."

Why bring up an event that occurred over a month ago, under a different administration, all the way across the country??

Rest assured I have no intention of criticizing the Bush administration for its eleventh hour conduct or preaching about all of the ways in which we are currently destroying our environment.? Instead, I write because I continue to be amazed that on that day, a college student named Tim DeChristopher remained resolute in his belief that this last minute auction was unjust and then, without any hint of violence, acted in such a way that he was effective in throwing this "fire sale" into chaos.?

How did he accomplish this feat? After taking a final exam at the University of Utah, DeChristopher quickly made his way to the Bureau of Land Management office. As he walked towards the entrance, he realized that he had two options: he could choose to join the ranks of the protestors who were picketing (though clearly having no impact on the progression of the auction) or he could attempt to truly spur change. Favoring the latter, DeChristopher entered into the office, registered as a bidder, and took his place inside of the auction room. And as they say, the rest is history.

Armed with a ballot, DeChristopher began to bid on parcels of land-driving up the prices for some of the oil companies and also claiming 22,500 acres of land around Arches and Canyonland parks.

How is it that this 27-year-old economics student could afford to purchase the leases for this land?? Well, that is the remarkable thing: he couldn't. DeChristopher had neither the means nor the intention to pay the 1.7 million dollars that he owed on his leases. He simply wanted to disrupt the process-to prevent hundreds of thousands of acres of Utah wilderness from being sold to oil and gas companies.According to reports, he was remarkably successful in achieving this feat: he threw the auction into chaos, halting the bidding before the auction was closed, with 148,598 acres having sold for $7.2 million plus fees. By the end of the day, DeChristopher had bid on numerous parcels of land, driving up the prices on those being sold to gas and oil companies, and also claiming a significant portion of the land as his own. While DeChristopher will not retain this ownership, it is important to note that the land he succeeded in purchasing cannot go up to auction until February, an event that most likely will not occur under the new administration.

So there it is--the story of how 27-year-old Tim DeChristopher made his way into history. Although this event will neither go down in the record books nor remain in our consciousness for very long, I think that it is very important that we recognize the efforts that this young man made to create change.

There is no doubt that DeChristopher broke the law-he committed fraud-an act that he most likely will be prosecuted for in the future. Yet at this same time, it is somewhat refreshing to hear that there are still young Americans like DeChristopher, who are willing to stand up for what they believe in, even when these acts of protest may have potentially serious consequences.

With this, I applaud him, not for his particular act, but for having the resolve to stand up against something that he (and so many others, including President Obama's transition team) thought was wrong. I hope that each person who hears his story takes with them the notion that the art of protest is something that remains alive today, and that we as Americans have both the right and the duty to continue to actively stand up for our convictions.