"The amount of public land managed by my office, within Tooele County, west of our Simpson Springs Campground and north of the Pony Express Trail includes about 145 square miles, or almost 93,000 acres," he said.

"It is unclear whether there may be an interest in that total or whether it is closer to 55 square miles, or about 35,000 acres, which was discussed almost 20 years ago."

Carpenter said he didn't know if Dugway was thinking about trying to obtain part of the Dugway Mountains in Juab County that extend south of the county line. If that is also under consideration, the size would grow by another 25 square miles.

The paper asked what impacts a military acquisition could have on public use. "There's a great deal of recreational activity that occurs in that area," Carpenter replied.

"There's rockhounding, there's a little bit of hiking, a lot of hunting." In addition, he said, a wild horse herd roams there, and a closure could affect its management.

"If they fence the area and fence those horses out, then that would eliminate those horses from areas they have used for generations," he said.

An active group of all-terrain-vehicle users likes to go four-wheeling there. Members of the public enjoy visiting sand dunes in the area, he said.

The Simpson Springs Campground, near the northeastern corner of the area the base could acquire, is going through renovations. "We're going to be adding some restrooms" and make other improvements, he said.

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com