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."

The draft legislation moves now to a public-comment period with open houses scheduled in St. George and Hurricane on April 5.

Gardner said the environmental groups had been given plenty of opportunity to participate in the process. "They want the entire west side of the county to be wilderness," he said. "It's an unrealistic proposal."

Bennett said last week that the draft bill is modeled after Nevada legislation authored by Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign that sailed through both houses of Congress. The proposed legislation for Washington County is based on data gathered by a diverse group of people who met 20 times on field trips or in planning sessions over the past two years.

"Everyone involved in the process, including the wilderness groups, understood from the outset that the intent was to replicate Sen. Reid's success in Nevada," said MaryJane Collipriest, Bennett's communication's director.

"The wilderness community accepted this approach when it was used in Nevada," she said Tuesday. "We look forward to hearing from them next week why this approach ought not to work in Utah as well."

Matheson, meanwhile, believes more public comment on the proposed legislation is expected and needed, said his spokeswoman, Alyson Heyrend.

"We are eager to hear from all stakeholders," she said Tuesday. "We need to hear ideas and proposals from all points of view so we can have a land-use bill that everyone can get behind and support."

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com