Washington » A sweeping wilderness bill championed by Utah environmentalists for the past 20 years will finally get its day in Congress.

On Oct. 1, a House Natural Resources subcommittee plans to hold a hearing on what has been dubbed America's Red Rock Wilderness Act. The late Rep. Wayne Owens, D-Utah, first introduced the bill in 1989 and it has been reintroduced every year since, with large numbers of co-sponsors.

But the Red Rock Act -- the flagship proposal of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance -- has never received a hearing or been voted on before. With the Democrats in control of the government, that is about to change.

"This is a historic moment in the long effort to protect Utah's magnificent wilderness landscapes throughout the state," said SUWA executive director Scott Groene. "Places like Cedar Mesa, the San Rafael Swell , the Green River and the West Desert are one step closer to achieving the lasting protection they need and deserve."

The bill seeks to designate 9.4 million acres of federal land in Utah as wilderness, protecting it against future mining or development. It is sponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., who has repeatedly visited Utah's red rock country and said: "This part of our country is some of the most remarkably pristine and beautiful land in the world and this bill would ensure that it stays that way forever."

But SUWA's proposal has long

irritated county officials and the state's Republicans, who say the bill grossly overestimates the land that should be protected and would restrict economic development for rural Utah.

The hearing is clearly the high-water mark for SUWA and Hinchey, but in no way is it an indication that the Red Rock bill is on track to become law anytime soon. None of Utah's five federal lawmakers support the proposal, and even Hinchey has said it is highly improbable that Congress would pass a Utah-centric bill over the objections of all of the state's representatives and senators.

"Ultimately our goal is to raise the profile of these unprotected lands in the Red Rock bill," said SUWA's legislative director Richard Peterson-Cremer. "Having the public hearing and having public discourse on the issue is a very positive step."

Since Owens left Congress in 1993, no Utah lawmaker has backed the legislation, but a large number of Democrats have. The Red Rock act has 21 sponsors in the Senate and 138 sponsors in the House, that include the chairman of the public land subcommittee, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz.

The panel's ranking Republican member is none other than Utah Rep. Rob Bishop, who recently called the Red Rock act "lousy." SUWA and its environmental partners do have a better relationship with Bishop than other members of Utah's delegation.

In 2006, they teamed up to support the Cedar Mountains Wilderness Act. It created wilderness designation for 100,000 acres, which SUWA liked, and helped protect a nearby military installation from a proposed nuclear waste storage facility, which was Bishop's primary goal.

Since then, the wilderness debate in Utah has focused largely on county-level legislation where environmentalists, energy interests and county officials come together to craft a compromise. The first successful venture happened earlier this year, with the passage of the Washington County lands bill, which other counties are now trying to duplicate.

SUWA is a part of those negotiations, looking at them as a way to get the Red Rock act accomplished in piecemeal fashion. But the group, long known for its hard-line approach, has not backed away from its main bill. It is SUWA's guiding document, a way to show people what the group believes in and identify those who support its aims.

SUWA may be leading the effort, but it isn't the only environmental group that supports the Red Rock act. Other supporters include the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"It's a new day for Utah wilderness, one that will be marked by respect for one of this nation's most treasured landscapes," said Myke Bybee of the Sierra Club.

mcanham@sltrib.com