This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I was standing in my backyard watching the full moon rise over the Wasatch when it dawned on me how small my property is and how many years of hard work it took for me to own it. I also pondered our public lands and how our own state government is willing to spend our tax dollars to sue the U.S. government to take control of these hard-earned lands.
These secessionists want to parcel off our public lands for sale to the same corporations and developers that helped pay for their political campaigns. If this insidious plot comes to fruition, they all stand to profit from those sales, while Utah's citizens will lose millions of acres of wilderness-designated lands that have been a mainstay of Utah's economy through tourism and outdoor recreation.
Future energy sources and needs will surely fluctuate, but our public lands, if left intact, will continue to be an ever-increasing part of our state's financial backbone. I urge all Utahns to take a long, hard look at the motives of our leaders and legislators in regard to our lands.
Hugh Culley
Murray