How Long Is “Bidder 70”?

A cautionary yet inspirational tale of civil disobedience, Bidder 70 offers a fascinating look at the clash between activism and modern politics by detailing the grueling legal struggle endured by Tim DeChristopher, who spent two years in prison for bidding $1.7 million for 22 acres of land in Utah at a controversial Bureau of Land Management Oil and Gas lease auction, though he had no intentions of paying. A University of Utah economics student at the time, DeChristopher put his future on the line to block plans by gas-industry power players to drill on the land, signaling the beginning of a five-year legal battle that encouraged a national dialogue on the topic of environmental preservation.