Utahns give Salazar an earful on public lands

Christopher Smart

Utahns from all walks of life came together Tuesday to talk about public lands. But despite all the polite discussion in close quarters, the various interests remain miles apart.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar brought his “listening sessions” to a cramped downtown Salt Lake City hotel conference room as part of President Barack Obama’s “Great Outdoors Initiative.” The goal: Allow disparate interests to search for solutions to Utah’s various land-use conundrums.

“There is great promise in Utah,” Salazar said, “that disputes that have gone on for generation after generation can be resolved by reasonable people.”

But the issues are as hot as ever: Preserve scenic lands or drill for oil and gas; close areas to off-roaders or open them up to motorized vehicles; set aside more wilderness or wipe out wilderness study areas.

About 300 Utahns came with full voice in an effort to direct the use of the state’s 22 million acres overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert joined Tuesday’s event and echoed Salazar’s comments.

“When all sides come to the table,” Herbert said, “we will be able to come up with strong policies.”

But balancing such things as ATV use and energy development with wilderness protection and cultural conservation isn’t easy, according to national BLM Director Bob Abbey.

“The dialogue didn’t start today and it won’t end today,” he said. “But we really support efforts to come up with common-sense solutions.”
Jack Johnston of the Utah 4 Wheel Drive Association wants the BLM to stop closing roads and reducing access for OHVs.

“I gradually see roads disappear. Where are we going to go?” he asked Salazar. “Give us a chance to have a voice and make it fair.”

But Gretchen Ziegler of Great Old Broads for Wilderness complained that there already are too many roads for motorized vehicles.

“We need some peace and quiet,” she said.

The wilderness debate seems to be as strident as ever. Tooele County Commissioner Jerry Hurst said “wilderness study areas are a joke.” He wants them to be either declared wilderness or opened to “mixed use.”

But Heidi McIntosh of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance urged Salazar to safeguard those lands and other wild places until Congress declares them wilderness. “He has a responsibility to protect those lands,” she said.

The debate surrounding oil and gas leases on public lands certainly hasn’t vanished, either.

The BLM should allow people in the energy business to make a living, said Uintah County Commissioner Mike McKee. Salazar shelved 77 leases in eastern and southern Utah after a federal judge blocked the sale.

“We’re finding it difficult to get access to [public] lands,” he said. “What can you do to ensure we can keep jobs?”

Abbey, however, defended Obama administration policies. “We have to be smart from the start,” he told the commissioner, so that leases don’t end up in court.

Time and again, Abbey and Salazar referred to last week’s agreement between energy giant Bill Barrett Corp. and SUWA. The company agreed to scale back wells on the West Travaputs Plateau between Nine Mile Canyon and Desolation Canyon if SUWA wouldn’t fight the natural-gas leases in court.

Salazar hailed the accord as an example of how commerce and environmentalism can work together. He also highlighted the Outdoor Retailer show as evidence that conservation and recreation are big economic factors for Utah, in addition to oil and gas.

The outdoor recreation industry provides Utah with 65,000 jobs, Salazar said, and pumps $5.8 billion into the state’s economy.

Many attending the session came away with guarded optimism.

Tim Peterson of the Grand Canyon Trust sees hopeful signs in Salazar’s invitation to the various sides to negotiate.

“We need to all sit down together and hash these issues out,” Peterson said. “We have great opportunities when we all get down and get beyond rhetoric.”

The new dialogue is refreshing to Red Oelerich.

“The Bush administration was so one-sided,” said the editor of the Outdoor Utah Adventure Guide. “This forum is open to all interests.”

Tooele County’s Hurst said he, too, was “cautiously optimistic” about the Obama administration’s requests for input. “We need to have our voices heard. I’d like to see some changes made.”

But some, including SUWA’s Deeda Seed, remain skeptical. The Obama administration’s rhetoric is better than Bush’s, she said, but it needs to do more to protect wilderness. “We need to see more,” she said. “Utahns want more wild lands protected.”

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Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50044931-76/salazar-utah-wilderness-lands.html.csp

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