As the building of coal-fired power plants has become less acceptable in an era of growing concern about greenhouse gases, nuclear energy is being touted as a clean alternative, and a number of nuclear projects are being advanced. But this avenue, too, could have an impact on public lands. Already it has led to a uranium boom, with the price per pound rising from $15 in 2003 to more than $85 per pound today. As a result, in Utah and Colorado, the number of uranium claims in the West has increased 50 percent in the past five years, according to research by the Environmental Working Group. Hundreds of the claims are within several miles of the Grand Canyon.

Under the 2005 Energy Policy Act, power lines may be constructed within designated areas, called "national interest energy corridors," regardless of state or local opposition. The Department of Energy has proposed two of these huge "national interest" corridors, one in the Northeast and the other in the Southwest. Environmental groups, including the Wilderness Society and the National Parks and Conservation Association, estimate that the protected land within the proposed corridors—which encompass wildlife refuges, cemeteries, national seashores, wilderness, and national parks—amounts to millions of acres. What alarms many people is the way these proposals have been expedited—often, they charge, without serious consideration of environmental studies and public input. On the Roan Plateau in western Colorado, for example, the BLM received 75,000 public comments—98 percent of them opposed to the leasing. Yet the leases were approved. "A key part of the law that protects archaeological resources is to bring all interested parties to the table and find ways to minimize and mitigate impacts," says Spangler, who sits on the BLM Resource Advisory Council. "The BLM has done away with that. There's a real sense of arrogance on the part of the field office. It's about energy, and everything else takes a backseat."

"We've become a sacrifice area," says Josh Joswick, a former county commissioner who works for the San Juan Citizens Alliance.

The BLM's Spisak, on the other hand, argues that federal environmental and cultural laws are being adhered to and that the Energy Policy Act only streamlined a process that was already in place. The bureau's mandate to manage its lands for multiple use is also intact, Spisak says. "Not on every acre, but by and large, if you look at the number of acres disturbed by oil and gas, it's less than one percent." Public comments are considered as well, he says, but "they are not a vote."

Conservationists acknowledge the need to develop energy but argue that destroying the forest-draped wilderness of the Roan Plateau or the prehistoric stillness of Largo Canyon—places that nourish the spirit and the imagination—is like burning down the house to stay warm. The gas from these places is minuscule compared to the country's need. The Powder River Basin, for instance, will produce the amount the country goes through in two weeks. "An awful lot of people are counting down the days to the next administration," Spangler says.

That won't help as much as people might think, according to Flora. "Leasing is the critical decision," she says. "Once the government has leased the land, getting out of the leases is tough. We'll be dealing with the legacy for decades."