Will Your State Be Targeted Next?
Please Support
The Utah Delegation's United Opposition To A Wilderness Bill
That Some In Congress Want To Force
Upon That State
The Western Business Roundtable is deeply concerned with an effort by extremist environmental groups to push a Utah wilderness designation through Congress even though it is opposed by every single member of Utah's House and Senate delegation.
The bill in question, the "America's Red Rock Wilderness Act" (H.R. 1925), is sponsored by a member from New York State, who undoubtedly has little experience in dealing with the many 'on the ground' economic, regulatory and infrastructure development challenges inherent in wilderness designations. Perhaps that is why this bill proposes to lock up nearly 20 percent of the entire State of Utah as federal wilderness areas -- a breathtakingly large land grab.
The bill's proponents fail to mention that the federal government already controls 64 percent of surface land in Utah, and a sizeable amount of subsurface rights.
We strongly urge you to oppose this bill on both process and substantive issues.
We are alarmed by the growing trend, being advanced by the current Congressional leadership, of pushing "mega" land designation legislation. Federal land designations, and particularly wilderness designations, have very real consequences on the ground. They impact water, land and minerals rights and allocation regimes. They fundamentally alter local economies and job bases. They impact access to roads and private lands. And, they stop or vastly complicate energy infrastructure development, including the infrastructure that is needed to enable the many renewable energy systems that Congressional leaders seems intent on mandating.
It is precisely because of this complex interplay that wilderness designations have historically been carefully developed, on a state-by-state basis, with substantial input provided by the individuals, communities, local governments, states and local federal land managers. That bottom-up approach allows localized concerns can be identified and resolved and results in wilderness designations everyone can be 'for.'
Some of H.R. 1925's critics have politely termed the bill as a "top-down" approach to designations. Westerners tend to more blunt: H.R. 1925 is an attempt -- by interests from outside the state -- to cram these designations down the throats of Utahns. It is not surprising that the bill lacks support from any of the Utah Congressional delegation.
As we have pointed out in the past, the West does not believe that "all opinions are created equal" when it comes to Western wilderness designations:
- It is citizens of the West whose communities are in
proximity to federal lands and whose local governments are
called upon to serve the needs of others who visit these areas.
- It is citizens of the West whose water rights and state
allocation systems that are impacted when federal reserved water
rights are asserted.
- It is citizens of the West whose economies and job bases are
impacted when millions of acres are put off-limits to economic
activities.
- It is citizens of the West whose transportation options are impacted when vast new areas are designated as roadless.
We urge you to think carefully about the long-term implications of H.R. 1925. We believe that if you do, you will follow the lead of the Utah Congressional delegation and oppose the bill.
Sincerely,
James Sims
President & CEO
Western Business Roundtable
jim@wbrt.org
http://www.westernroundtable.com
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The Western Business Roundtable is a non-profit business trade association comprised of CEOs and senior executives of organizations doing business in the Western United States. The Roundtable works for common sense, balanced approaches to economic development and environmental conservation, and supports public policies that encourage economic growth, opportunity and free enterprise.
The opinions expressed in this letter represent the views of a majority of Roundtable Members, but not necessarily all of our members
