2 Utah lawmakers flay wilderness bill

Two Utah lawmakers are opposing a New York congressman's plan to "lock away" more than 9 million acres of wilderness land around the state.

In a letter sent to more than 160,000 Utahns this week, Utah Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, and Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, said the proposed legislation would "cost Utah hundreds of millions of dollars" and lead "America to become more dependent on energy from hostile foreign nations."

The bill, proposed by U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., would designate wilderness land in the Uinta Basin, Mojave Desert, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Glen Canyon, Canyonlands and the San Rafael Swell, among other locations.

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance has offered its support for the legislation.

The legislation, dubbed America's Red Rock Wilderness Act, would help preserve the natural state of Utah's wildlands, according to a statement on Hinchey's Web site.

But Tilton and Noel believe it will bring economic troubles to Utah.

"It will raise the cost of energy and drive monthly bills higher — hurting low-income families the most," they wrote.

The Utah representatives said Hinchey "doesn't trust Utahns to do the right thing on lands in our state" and called SUWA "an extremist political group" that is "fueled by millions of dollars from out-of-state extremists and Hollywood elites."

Tilton and Noel urged residents to sign an online petition at www.stoputahlandgrab.org.