"We've made some real progress with this bill," said Washington County Commission Chairman Jim Eardley. "There's still far too much wilderness in it, but with today's political climate it's probably the best we can do."

If the revised lands bill is passed into law, Eardley said the ramifications for Washington County are significant.

"It is going to change the landscape of southwestern Utah," he said. "We are going to protect the off-highway routes we already have and will try to respect and protect the mining claims. We also hope to ensure the transportation and utility route rights-of-way are maintained. We need to do that in order to manage our growth."

The Utah Wilderness Coalition is still evaluating the bill but said it is "an improvement" over the previous bill, although they still had concerns about the land disposal and distribution of revenues from land sales.

"With Washington County's burgeoning population putting tremendous pressures on the area's resources, this bill would designate as wilderness many of the region's most wild and diverse areas," said the coalition, which includes the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society.

Bennett and Matheson modeled their bill after similar ones proposed by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., for Nevada's Clark and Lincoln counties, each of which became law.

"This new bill shows that bipartisan effort — with all interested stakeholders — can resolve long-running contentious public land issues in a way that protects the land, the economy and the way of life in Washington County," said Matheson, who will introduce the House version of the bill later this month. "It's a real breakthrough in my state, following on the heels of the historic Vision Dixie planning process, where the past has been marked by a lot of rhetoric, but not much progress. I am proud of our effort and I'm proud of the collaboration at the local, state and federal level."

Dave Livermore, The Nature Conservancy's Utah State Director, also said the bill was "greatly improved" from the earlier version and has his support.

"If passed, this new bill will go a long way towards protecting the key natural areas which make Washington County such a special place," he said.

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E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com; nperkins@desnews.com