Associated Press - August 4, 2009 7:35 AM ET

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A big-game conservation group is protesting the lease of 26,000 acres of federal land in Utah that will go up for auction this month for energy development.

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership says drilling can spook mule deer, elk and pronghorn from prime habitat in Utah's west desert.

It's up to the Bureau of Land Management to review Monday's protest and decide whether the group is raising legitimate concerns.

The BLM's next quarterly auction of lease parcels in Utah is set for Aug. 18.

The conservation partnership has been demanding since 2007 that the government adopt environmental safeguards to protect big-game herds in Utah's west desert.

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