ST. GEORGE — A coalition of three environmental groups on Tuesday blasted proposed federal legislation that seeks to manage public lands in Washington County, saying the measure would eliminate protections now in place for wilderness study areas and pave the way for further sprawl.

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, unveiled the draft legislation last week in St. George. Highlights of the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act of 2006 include selling about 25,000 acres of public land and using 15 percent of the proceeds for public education, water projects and fire and flood protection. The other 85 percent of the money would be earmarked to preserve historic rangeland and vital watersheds, protect endangered species like the desert tortoise, and improve conservation efforts on numerous projects throughout the county.

Utility corridors would also be designated for protection, and a system of trails would be set aside for public use. More than 219,000 acres would be added to the National Wilderness Preservation System.

But the Sierra Club, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the Wilderness Society said that falls far short of the roughly 300,000 acres of wilderness-quality land in Washington County that could be protected. They joined together Tuesday, as the Utah Wilderness Coalition, to voice concerns about the plan. They said the legislation proposes wilderness protection for less than 30 percent of the deserving lands in the region. It also requires a massive sale of federal public lands and opens the way for many new roads, utility corridors and water-development projects.

"As written, this bill not only shortchanges wilderness protection but also puts a real estate sign out on prized open spaces around St. George," said Lawson LeGate, senior southwest regional representative of the Sierra Club, in a written statement. "This proposed giveaway of such a massive amount of precious public lands, and without prior identification in a public planning process, is of deep concern to us."

The three environmental groups plan to meet with Bennett next week in Washington to discuss their concerns. "It would be a great mistake to push these half-baked ideas through Congress given the values at stake," said Scott Groene, executive director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, in a written statement. "This legislation needs involvement by all citizens and significant work."

Washington County Commissioner Alan Gardner said Tuesday that he was disappointed in the environmental groups' response to the draft bill. "A lot of their comments are just sour grapes," he said. "We had a diverse group of people working on this, and everybody submitted their ideas and comments to Sen. Bennett's office."