Utah projects included in bill

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, persuaded Senate appropriators to tuck $35 million for Utah projects this week into their Interior Appropriations Bill.

The projects range from building a new campground near Canyonlands National Park to buying forest land to protect views from national parks.

The Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the Interior approved the bill this week, and the full appropriations committee is expected to act on it next week. Bennett is a member of the subcommittee, and the only member of the Utah delegation on an appropriations committee.

• $5 million to help cover construction costs of the new Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah. It would bring the total given by the federal government for that project to $8 million. Legislation in 1992 authorized up to $15 million in federal money for the project over the next several years.

• $509,000 for the new Hell Roaring Rims Campground near the border of Canyonlands National Park near Moab. Addition of this 60-unit campground will help address the overflow from the park, while preventing degradation on the public lands.

• $2.3 million for the Cedar Project, Forest Legacy project, to prevent conversion of key forest areas into home sites. It is designed to protect the views of Zion National Park and visitor access to neighboring parks and recreation sites.

• $750,000 for the Pioneer Ranch, Forest Legacy project. This conservation easement would protect 800 acres located in a high development area in the East Canyon area near Park City. The Pony Express Route, Donner-Reed Trail, California Overland Stage Route and the Mormon Pioneer Trail cross the parcel.

• $750, 000 for the Sand Hollow Recreation Area in Washington County for campgrounds, trails and a staging area for off-highway vehicles and equestrian access to public lands.

• $1.2 million to buy property in Wellsville to add to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

• $3.2 million for the Sage Grouse Conservation Strategy, an aggressive initiative to restore habitat and increase sage grouse populations across affected Western states.

• $1 million for the Sleeping Rainbow Ranch partnership project between Utah Valley State College and Capitol Reef National Park.