Petition seeks to delay Dixie land bill

WASHINGTON — More than 1,700 people in Washington County have signed a petition in the past two weeks asking Sen. Bob Bennett to postpone pushing a major public lands bill through Congress.

Bennett, R-Utah, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, introduced the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act of 2006 in Congress this past July. The bill is the subject of a congressional hearing today as lawmakers try to wrap up final pieces of legislation before adjourning for the year.

Supporters want to see the bill make it through, to avoid having to start from scratch at the beginning of the next Congress. But the bill's opponents see no problem in stopping what they see as a flawed piece of legislation.

Lin Alder, executive director of Citizens For Dixie's Future, and Brooks Pace, president of Dammeron Corp., were in Washington on Wednesday to meet with Bennett's staff members and remind him that not everyone in the county supports the bill. Both men are real-estate developers in Washington County.

"They just don't get it," Alder said of Bennett and the bill's other supporters.

Alder and Pace argue that the public-land sales proposed in the bill would bring more people to St. George and destroy the landscape and lifestyle that make residents call it home and tourists call it a prime vacation destination.

"What we need is land in its current state," Pace said. "That's what attracts the 2 million visitors a year."

The two men complain that the bill has had insufficient public input. Alder would rather see the public come up with the ideas for the legislation rather than be told what it is and not have any opportunities to try and change it.

Bennett spokeswoman Emily Christensen said the senator is looking forward to the congressional hearing.

"We are coming to the end of a three-year effort to address Washington County's growth challenges, " she said. "Senator Bennett has welcomed public comments throughout this process and has incorporated many suggestions into his legislation."

Alder said some women in Washington County formed a group two weeks ago to gather signatures to postpone consideration of the bill until the public can learn more about it. The petition is on the group's Web site, citizensfordixie.org.

"When you have grandmothers gathering signatures in a grocery store, you know there is something wrong," Alder said. "People care about Washington County, and this is clearly not what they want for the future."