Land grant says
Wilderness
hurts
A new study by Utah State University, a
land-grant institution, concludes that federally designated
wilderness could harm rural economies. The study, which features a
picture of a paved road running through southern Utah on its cover,
drew immediate praise from anti-wilderness groups. “This study
validates what the counties in Utah have been saying for many
years: There are huge economic costs associated with wilderness,”
said Mark Walsh, associate director of the Utah Association of
Counties. But Ken Rait, spokesman for the Southern Utah Wilderness
Alliance, blasted the study for kowtowing to agriculture and
industry. “It’s shameful that an academic institution can be bought
by special interests,” Rait said. Don Snyder, chairman of Utah
State’s economics department, said his group of researchers worked
assiduously to be free of bias. The report was released two weeks
before rural county commissioners in Utah were scheduled to
recommend to Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt how much Bureau of Land
Management land should be designated wilderness. For a copy of
Wilderness Designation in Utah: Issues and Potential Economic
Impacts, write the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, USU,
Logan, UT 84322-4810, or call
801/797-2310.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Land grant says wilderness hurts.
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