The best thing the new Obama administration and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar could do is step back from the harsh rhetoric, court fights and bitter wrangling between public lands interests during the past eight years and try to create a more productive dialogue.

That especially includes politicians.

Take, for example, the final paragraph of Sen. Bob Bennett's op-ed piece in last week's Tribune, lamenting Salazar's rejection of 77 controversial Utah oil and gas bids approved by the Bureau of Land Management in the waning days of the Bush administration.

"As Secretary Salazar devises his plan for managing our federal lands, let's hope he keeps in mind that these lands and the resources that lie beneath them belong to all Americans, not just a few vocal and well-funded special interest groups determined to prevent the development of domestic energy and bring our state's economy to a grinding halt."

The oil and gas industry is not a well funded special interest group? And does the senator really believe that not issuing these leases is going to cause Utah's economy to come to a "grinding halt"? That kind of rhetoric is not only inaccurate but unhelpful to fostering the kind of open ended discussion and planning that involves all public land users. Bennett's posturing simply builds walls.

The incoming Obama administration needs to find leaders among all interest groups with a stake in public lands willing to cut the rhetoric and work on long-term solutions. We need to find a way to balance oil and gas development, outdoor recreation, grazing, hunting, fishing, wilderness, tourism, and off-highway vehicle use in the West.

The BLM uses Resource Advisory Councils comprised of different interests. This idea could be expanded to small local districts where reasonable members of all interest groups could sit down with land managers and try to find common ground.

For example, on the oil lease issue, it became clear that putting oil and gas development close to treasures such as the Delicate Arch, Dinosaur National Monument and Desolation Canyon was not a good idea.

But since developing domestic energy sources on public lands is a national priority, shouldn't there be a way to decide which areas offer the most potential for success with the least amount of conflict and drill there first? And how can environmental consequences be mitigated?

The same system could be used to plan off-highway vehicle use, wilderness designation, wild and scenic river designation, grazing plans and wildlife management.

What is needed now more than ever are reasonable people willing to solve problems with workable compromises rather than lawsuits and rhetoric. Unfortunately, such wisdom is in short supply these days.

Contact Tom Wharton at wharton@sltrib.com or at 801-257-8909.