Help stop a backroom deal that's bad for Utah wilderness
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White Canyon](../images/content/photos/34957.jpg) White Canyon in San Juan
County copyright Chris Case |
The effort to develop wilderness
legislation for San Juan County in the heart of Utah’s most iconic redrock
country has just taken another twist, and it’s not a good one. Now San Juan
County Commissioners seem to be rushing to put a legislative proposal together
before Utah Senator Bob Bennett leaves office in January, and their main
objective, according to a recent radio interview, is not to protect wilderness,
but our worst nightmare: to create more off-road vehicle (ORV) access! This is
the worst thing that could happen to the fragile and magnificent wild lands of
San Juan County - lands that are full of archeological sites.
Here’s a July 29 report
from Utah public radio station KCPW on what San Juan County Commissioner
Bruce Adams told them about developing a San Juan County public lands bill:
“County Commissioner Bruce Adams says the county’s proposal favors opening up
the area to everyone, including off-road vehicles, by creating a system of
access roads. The commission hopes the bill is introduced and passed before
Bennett leaves office. And he speculates Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could
expedite the bill, especially if he loses his race in Nevada.
“If Harry
Reid is not elected, and he’s flying on one wing, just like Senator Bennett is
flying on one wing, if two lame-duck Senators want to be friendly with each
other and do each other a favor and, say, leave a legacy for Bob Bennett, Harry
Reid says, ‘Ok, let’s push this through as an honorary thing for Bob Bennett,’”
Adams says.”
The brief process begun early this year for creating San
Juan County wilderness legislation that involved multiple stakeholders
(including the Utah Wilderness Coalition – of which SUWA is a member) was
terminated when Senator Bennett lost his re-nomination bid at the Republican
State Convention. Now development of San Juan County wilderness legislation has
devolved into a rushed effort being cooked up in a back room by county
commissioners, without allowing the voices of those who would protect these
special places to be heard. Here’s what you can do - please ask the
Obama administration to oppose the San Juan County Commissioners' “pro-ORV,
anti-wilderness” wilderness legislation should it get introduced and pushed
through in the waning days of this Congress. The magnificent landscapes of
San Juan County deserve meaningful protection and working together we can make
certain they get it.
Sincerely,
Richard Peterson-Cremer Legislative Director Southern Utah Wilderness
Alliance
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