Group blasts land bill

A pro-wilderness coalition and 47 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives are blasting the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act, sponsored by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.

The 47 Democrats signed a letter to the House Committee on Resources, saying the bill "would harm many public lands adjacent to Zion National Park and in the Mojave Desert that would be protected under America's Red Rock Wilderness Act."

The Red Rock bill has not passed. It would designate more than 9.3 million acres of wilderness in Utah. The 47 representatives who signed the letter are among the bill's 160 co-sponsors in the House, said Pete Downing, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance's legislative director in Washington.

The coalition, formed in 1985, includes 200 local, regional and national groups, including SUWA.

"These wild public lands are an irreplaceable national asset — wild and unspoiled, renowned among hikers and outdoor enthusiasts, rich in archaeology and paleontology, and home to many threatened and endangered species," the coalition said in a news release.

Downing said the land bill is controversial even among Washington County voters. "By selling off public land, you necessarily impact the legacy and the natural heritage" that everyone should be able to enjoy, he said.

He believes the smartest action would be to drop the bill for now and re-examine the issues in the 110th Congress, which convenes in January.

Alyson Heyrend, spokeswoman for Matheson, said the bill's motivation was to "try and get something going for stemming the unchecked growth that's adversely affecting the land in Washington County."

The county is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the nation, she said. "As a result of this bill, people have begun addressing the need to plan for growth."

Heyrend attacked the assertion that the bill would harm public land adjacent to the park and Mojave: "The legislation creates 220,000 acres of wilderness in a county where the local officials have declared that their preferred wilderness acreage is zero."

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