Wayne Owens was an outstanding and courageous Utah representative who related closely to the best interest of Utahns and championed protection of Utah's wild places because these lands were important to the state's economy by attracting tourists eager to experience America's wild places.
In that spirit, this bill would designate 9 million acres of Utah's stunning public lands as wilderness. I've personally visited many of these places and know that they are deserving of this special protective designation. These lands, currently managed by the U. S. Bureau of Land Management, are at risk from a variety of development pressures.
While some believe there's no space for wilderness in states with energy reserves, here are some facts: Recoverable petroleum reserves beneath the 9 million acres proposed for wilderness amount to a scant four days worth of oil and four weeks of natural gas at current national consumption rates.
Millions of acres already leased to energy corporations are ignored by them, yet companies continue to apply for and receive additional leases so they may control additional wilderness quality lands.
Recently, two Utah state representatives challenged efforts to protect special places in Utah. These representatives sent an e-mail prepared by Americans for American Energy to 160,000 Utahns comparing me to Osama bin Laden, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claiming support for red rock wilderness is tantamount to supporting terrorism.
Those claims are both ridiculous and absurd and are designed to draw attention away from the real issue - the need to protect public lands in Utah for all Americans, rather than lease them for scanty oil extraction that provides little benefit to Utahns and degrades the quality of Utah's tourist economy.
AAE supports increased drilling on the public's most special lands. The group is widely criticized by local and state governments across the West for its misleading claims and tactics. It began lobbying for drilling in Alaska but now is branching out to Western states, advocating the oil industry's agenda, despite strong wishes of Americans across the country hoping to save what's left of America's treasures for future generations.
It's no surprise that the national chairman of AAE is former Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., one of the environment's biggest foes. AAE's brainchild and chief policy adviser is Jim Sims, who is a federal lobbyist and was the top communicator for Dick Cheney's energy task force, infamous for its refusal to disclose its industry contacts and for putting corporate welfare above public benefit.
If AAE wants to have an open debate on the merits, then I welcome that. However, in its zeal to turn over what's left of our wild places to corporate control, AAE should be ashamed of itself for insulting our intelligence and playing petty political games with important national issues.
Meanwhile, the Red Rock bill seeks to protect these special places, which are not worth sacrificing at the expense of such an insignificant increase in energy supply. These public lands are the birthright of Utahns and all Americans, of urban and rural dwellers, and of families from all walks of life. To sell them out for short-term gain will ultimately make us all poorer.
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* REP. MAURICE HINCHEY represents New York's 22nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
