ST. GEORGE — Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff blasted Utah's lone Democratic congressman, Jim Matheson, on Saturday for voting in favor of a nonbinding House resolution that opposes President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq.

"I'm sad to say that your representative, who likes to say he's Republican in his heart, voted with (Democratic House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi," Shurtleff said in the keynote speech for the Washington County Republican Party's Lincoln Day breakfast at Dixie State College. "This Democratic resolution in the House and Senate right now condemns our president and our soldiers."

Shurtleff reminded the audience that Republican candidates John Swallow and LaVar Christensen were unsuccessful over the years in their attempts to unseat Matheson.

"I don't want to dis on Matheson, he's a nice guy, but this is what we're talking about," he said, referring to warnings voiced by Swallow and Christensen during their campaigns that Matheson would rubber-stamp whatever Pelosi and the Democratic leadership wanted.

"There are some good questions about whether we are executing this war properly, and I don't think that we are, but the Democrats are calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities and negotiation of a settlement," Shurtleff said. "Washington County continues to support the president and fight the good fight, and for that I am grateful. If nothing else, when we think of what happened at Trolley Square, it shows us we have to fight a war here (at home), too."

Shurtleff said the state's war on drugs, gangs and pornography remains a top priority.

"People become slaves to these things," he said. "We need to step out, step forward, be involved, volunteer and help somebody out. We must do the right thing for the right reason."

Other speakers at the event included Washington County Commissioner James Eardley, who said the county's unfinished business includes passage of a massive public lands bill.

Sponsored by Matheson and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act of 2006 has generated controversy in the public sector since its inception, Eardley said.

"We had hoped that this bill would be the law of the land by now," he said. "But we literally lost it at the last minute on the last day of Congress when Nevada Sen. Harry Reid negotiated our bill away. It needs to be reintroduced. It needs to come back."

The legislation would sell 24,300 acres of public land in two phases, with most of the proceeds going to fund conservation projects within Washington County. The measure also would designate 219,725 acres as wilderness, including some in Zion National Park, preserve utility corridors and create an off-road trail system for vehicles, among other items.

Environmental groups, such as the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and a local citizens' coalition that oppose the bill have worked against its passage.

Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, state Rep. David Clark, R-Santa Clara, and state Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George, also spoke to the group.

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com