This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A little over three years ago an effort began to put together a plan for Utah — a plan that would address, and hopefully solve, public lands issues that have vexed the state for decades. Economic development, recreation, energy production and the conservation of some of America's most spectacular wildlands were at stake in Rep. Rob Bishop's Public Lands Initiative. People from across political spectrums and interests joined together to build consensus. In the end, unfortunately, Utah is left with a proposal that abandons the collaborative process and instead imposes policies that leave the effort unlikely to succeed.
Recently some anti-public lands advocates, including State Sen. David Hinkins ("PLI won't hurt air quality in eastern Utah, and environmentalists know it," March 2) blamed organizations like The Wilderness Society, which have long advocated for the many values these lands represent, and a four year old air quality memo as the cause for what could be the proposal's ultimate demise. Hinkins' serial misrepresentation of our views and the reasons that we, and many others, cannot support the proposal shows a blatant disregard for the many people who sat at the table in good faith. The proposal leaves many communities wondering what happened to years of hard work to reach consensus and compromise.
Hinkins was misguided in his statements on why many now oppose the initiative, but he is right in that there is cause for concern. Bishop's proposal would prohibit the state of Utah from ever protecting the air quality above and around wilderness, conservation areas, recreation areas and other places. The proposal would also roll back existing air quality protections for Canyonlands and Arches national parks, to the detriment of Utah residents and visitors.
In our years of working with many people across Utah, the idea of rolling back existing air quality standards and limiting future air quality protection was never part of the discussion or on the table for negotiation. Such rollbacks and limitations have no place in legislation addressing management of public land.
For years, county commissioners, state legislators, ranchers, motorized recreation interests, Native American tribes, conservation groups and others have sought common-ground solutions to land management issues. The Wilderness Society spent countless hours in rural Utah working with stakeholders to resolve past disputes, seek areas of agreement and winning solutions focused on a wide range of issues. It was hard, but groundbreaking, work that brought long-time adversaries to the table to resolve age-old issues.
Through these efforts we made great progress. A historic agreement was reached with Daggett County and hailed as a model for the nation. In Summit County, we helped broker an agreement that received broad support and was unanimously endorsed by the County Council. While we didn't reach complete agreement, we also made significant headway in Grand, Uintah and Emery counties as well.
In short, we found that despite our differences there are many areas of agreement even among diverse stakeholders in Utah. We agree that some places deserve to be permanently protected to maintain their scenic and historic values and recreational opportunities. We also agree that there are ways to expand economic development in a manner that cares for the land and guides energy development to places identified through other collaborative efforts with the oil and gas industry.
We were surprised and disappointed to find that the discussion draft of the Public Lands Initiative ignored these many areas of agreement — even disregarded actual agreements — and instead included numerous controversial proposals that lack broad support and were never discussed. Abandoning the collaborative process that the Public Lands Initiative was built upon and instead seeking to impose unsupportable policies — like the air quality rollbacks — jeopardizes the success of the initiative to the detriment of all.
The Public Lands Initiative process has demonstrated that areas of agreement regarding public land management in Utah do exist. Shortsighted attacks on those who participated in good faith is not the way to move Utah forward and solve these longstanding issues.
Paul Spitler is director of Wilderness Campaigns for The Wilderness Society.