The grass roots sprouting up around Utah are mostly green.

New environmental groups are sprouting up all over -- contrary to a declaration five years ago that the green movement had grown monolithic, fossilized and died.

Some of Utah's new groups focus on neighborhoods, such as the San Juan County community concerned about uranium mining planned for their area.

Others organize constituencies, like the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and the Utah Moms for Clean Air.

And still more focus on a particular environmental problem, like Uranium Watch, concentrating on pollution from nuclear energy, or Urgency Utah, campaigning to bring climate-change solutions to the forefront.

Brigham Young University political science professor Kelly Patterson says the sprouting of new green groups makes sense on an issue as diverse as the environment. While Utahns might snub a Washington-based organization focused broadly on national environmental policy, they readily welcome neighbors addressing a problem down the block.

"It's what you do about uranium tailings," said Patterson, who studies interest groups. "It's what you do about particulate matter [air pollution], it's what you do about preserving open spaces."

The trend isn't unique to Utah. A new study by the Urban Institute shows that green groups are increasing at nearly double the rate of other kinds of nonprofits. Meanwhile, author Paul Hawken describes the phenomenon as part of a global movement in his book Blessed Unrest .

For Cherise Udell, president and founder of Utah Moms for Clean Air, none of this is surprising.

Exasperated with the apparent apathy about high-pollution periods in the Salt Lake Valley, she recognized "a need and a niche to be filled" when she launched Moms nearly two years ago.

"Caring about the environment has become mainstream," says Udell. "It's no longer a fringe issue."

The group now has an e-mail list of around 1,200 and a track record of accomplishments that include reducing motor vehicle idling at schools and a school-bus retrofitting program intended to lessen children's exposure to polluted exhaust. Members, many with a professional background, have been known to petition lawmakers with a baby balanced on their hips, a loaf of banana bread in one hand and legal documents in the other.

"We really brought the air issue to the kitchen table," says Udell.

Air-quality problems also prompted Salt Lake City anesthesiologist Brian Moench to create the doctors' group. With about 80 members now, the doctors emphasize health impacts of pollution to nearby communities.

"The public's knowledge of these issues is probably our biggest ally," he says. "The best progress that will be made is through public pressure."

Jim Westwater, founder of the Utah Valley Sierra Forum, says he rallied inactive Sierra Club members and others interested in environmental issues after he relocated to Utah a couple of years ago. Now over 400 people are part of the network, participating in hikes, cleanups and the group's monthly discussion forums.

The debate has included lively sessions on such issues as the benefits of nuclear power, consumerism and faith and the environment. It's a delicate balance to strike in a community where environmentalism is often shunned.

Says Westwater: "We're trying to appeal to people's higher nature."

Sarah Fields, of Moab-based Uranium Watch, agrees that public education is key. For many years the go-to person for information on all things nuclear in southeastern Utah, Fields now shares the government documents she digs up on the group's Web page.

A better-informed community years ago might have gone a long way toward preventing the Atlas uranium-processing mill from becoming a $1 billion hazardous waste cleanup, she says.

"It's when you are in the local community -- that's when you know what's going on."

In the end, the proliferation of environmental groups is a trend that's likely to continue, says University of Utah political science professor Dan McCool. It's also bound to be good for democracy, he says.

"Small, local groups, can target in a way that national groups cannot."

fahys@sltrib.com