Groene's job won't be an easy one. Utah's wilderness wars rage unabated, with many county commissioners vowing no new wilderness and SUWA advocating more than 9 million acres statewide.

The gulf between the two sides would seem impassable. But Groene said he is optimistic that something can be accomplished.

"We feel what's happening now is a product of 15 years of work," he said, pointing out that Utah has gone from a congressional delegation saying "wilderness over my dead body" to county commissioners now reaching out to resolve the three-decades-old dispute.

"The conservation community has legitimacy with Congress. The governor wants to be part of the process to protect wilderness and she will have to stand up for it. And she's shown a willingness to show that leadership," he said.

He said SUWA's goal remains as it always has: to protect Utah's wild lands from development, fight damage caused by off-road vehicles and dispute counties' claims of ownership over dirt roads crossing public lands.

But he wouldn't mind if he was unemployed.

"The dream is to put ourselves out of business," he said. "There would be nothing more satisfying than to shut down SUWA and say we're done, that we have finally reached our goal."

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