4 Utahns named to BLM councils

SALT LAKE CITY — Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the appointment of four new members to Utah’s citizen Resource Advisory Councils, which advise the agency's Bureau of Land Management on public land issues.

The appointees are Brian Merrill, commercial recreation, Sandy; Bill Hopkin, state agency, Woodruff; Steven Slater, environmental, Brighton; and Porter Teegarden, dispersed recreation, Salt Lake City.

“The BLM’s Resource Advisory Councils help ensure that the management of our public lands and resources are guided by a wide range of perspectives and by the input of citizens and local communities,” said BLM Utah State Director Juan Palma.

The councils, composed of citizens chosen for their expertise in various fields of natural resource use and management, help the bureau carry out its stewardship of 245 million acres of public lands.

“RAC members come from different backgrounds and reflect a wide range of perspectives,” Palma said. “Their diversity results in a balanced outlook that the bureau needs as it carries out its multiple-use mission. The BLM is responsible for managing these various uses — such as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production — while conserving the land’s natural, historical, and cultural resources.”