Beehive state may get new wilderness — and more
Wilderness advocates in Utah have long butted heads
with rural county commissioners and the state’s conservative
congressional delegation. Last May, in an attempt to resolve the
impasse, then-Utah Gov. Olene Walker announced county-by-county
discussions on land use, including potential new wilderness areas
(HCN, 6/21/04: Lame-duck governor moves deadlocked wilderness
debate).
Now, the state may see its first new wilderness
designations since 1984 — but they’ll come tied to
public-lands development. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, says he is
drafting an "omnibus" public-lands bill based on land-use
discussions in Washington County, in the state’s southwestern
corner. That bill, modeled on two successful
wilderness-and-economic-development bills in Nevada, will likely
propose several new wilderness areas in and around Zion National
Park. It will also authorize auctions of federal land for
development and establish a right-of-way for a water pipeline from
Lake Powell to the rapidly growing community of St. George (HCN,
9/13/04: A water-and-wilderness bill kicks up dust in Nevada).
"This is an economic plan as much as anything," says
Washington County Commissioner Alan Gardner, although he concedes
that wilderness will play an important part in the bill. "The
wilderness issue has been out there, and we want to get that behind
us and get on with life."
Peter Downing, legislative
director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, remains
cautious about Bennett’s proposal, saying that the draft bill
"will be the beginning of negotiations.
"It’s clear
that there are some pretty significant differences" between
conservation groups, off-road vehicle users and the county
government, Downing says.
