From Deseret News archives:
Lands bill: For preservation or profit?
Dixie residents at odds over proposal's impact on area
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, introduced the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act of 2006 in Congress this past week. They first unveiled the measure on March 22 at a news conference in St. George. Community leaders, elected officials and other public employees heralded the draft legislation as a positive step forward in land-use planning.
"This is an exciting time. We've had 20 different stakeholders at the table, at the meetings and on the ground, all working together on this for two years," said Washington County Commissioner Alan Gardner. "Other Utah counties are anxious to see what happens."
But soon after the draft was released to the public, opposition mounted and has become national, with environmentalists calling the measure a massive sell-off of federal public lands.
"The more that I look at this, it seems it's really not so much about the land. It's about selling the land and capturing the revenue," said Lawson LeGate, the Sierra Club's senior Southwest regional representative. "It's really a matter of choice. Do we treat public lands as a heritage and treasure, or do we treat it as a cash cow?"
National concern
Gardner bristles at any suggestion that the county is selling off its heritage to the highest bidder.
"I don't know that anybody's getting rich off of this bill," said Gardner, a rancher who also holds federal grazing permits within the county. "If we're not going to have any more growth in Washington County, we might as well tell our kids, 'See you when you come back to visit.' I think overall this bill is going to help the entire county."
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