3 counties saying no to river designations

OREM — As the U.S. Forest Service considers which of its river segments should receive congressional protection, the Mountainland Association of Governments has sent a clear message for its area: none of them.

At a recent MAG executive council meeting, local officials representing Summit, Wasatch and Utah counties voted unanimously to send a letter to the Forest Service requesting that none of the 21 proposed river segments in their areas be submitted to Congress for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River System.

Most of the segments are already included in a National Wilderness Preservation System, so the council agreed the streams are already sufficiently protected. Adding another designation to the streams would only increase the need for resources to maintain the areas, the letter says.

"Being a lifelong resident of the state, it seems that when you get something that is designated as wilderness ... I think it draws people, and people require management," said Ray Loveless, MAG water quality specialist. "You get a national designated highway as being a scenic byway, and what does it do? It brings more people because they want to see what makes it a special highway. It's the same thing with a Wild and Scenic river. ... I don't want to exclude people, but by my experience with people and water corridors, it's not always a good thing to have people walking with their pets up the riparian corridors."

The Forest Service started examining which river segments could be included in the Wild and Scenic River System about a year ago, but public comments on the proposed segments were gathered at a series of public meetings in May.

During that time, the executive council of MAG, which is made up of mayors and county leaders from the three counties, expressed concern about the possibility of having some of the rivers in their area receive the designation.

Currently, Utah doesn't have any rivers included in the system.

Some of the rivers in the area being considered are Henry's Fork, Thompson Creek, Blacks Fork, Stillwater Fork, Beaver Creek, Provo River and Fifth Water Creek.

Some members of the government group were frustrated that local leaders were not involved in developing the list of proposed rivers with the Forest Service early on.

And, in the eyes of council members, some river segments that have been proposed, such as Fifth Water Creek, should not be on the list.