Skimming the headlines of last Sunday’s Tribune, my hopes ran high that my rebuttal to our Utah politicians’ view that the feds are all bad would be unnecessary. The Tribune had done the research and was telling Utahns to count their federal blessings and be thankful.

Unfortunately, a thorough accounting of the food the fed is feeding us and the compounding effect were missing. Where would Utah be without federal dollars for the rebuild of Interstate 15 from Lehi to Santaquin ($1 billion), for the National Security Agency data center at Camp Williams ($1.5 billion), for TRAX, for Hill Air Force Base, etc.?

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Without federal lands, where would we camp, hike, ski, ATV, hunt, fish, snowmobile? How many tourist dollars are spent at Cabela’s, REI, CamperWorld, Sportsman Warehouse and the Outdoor Retailer markets? How many in the gateways to federal lands — Wasatch Back, Moab, Springdale, Ruby’s Inn?

We need a better count of our blessings before we throw them away. Someone must have these numbers; is it too much to ask to share them with us before we continue to bite the hand that feeds us? Are these numbers in the hands of political appointees afraid to bite the hands that feed them?

Eric Kankainen

Salt Lake City