Huntsman's office announced Stevens' appointment as the coordinator of public lands policy Friday.

He will assume his new post on May 15.

Stevens will oversee the newly created office that will express the state's view on issues pertaining to federal agencies such as the Park Service, Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

The public policy coordination office will consolidate state workers who are now employed by the Governor's Office, Attorney General's Office, Natural Resources Department and the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration.

"If we don't speak to each other, we get inconsistent positions taken by the state," said state Rural Affairs Coordinator Gayle McKeachnie.

"It will be the same people doing basically the same work, but now they will have a boss to coordinate their work so they are speaking to each other."

Stevens' office will deal with such issues as the controversial state effort to gain local control of many roads that are on federal lands.

A coalition of businesses, environmental groups and others said Friday that they will place advertisements in Sunday's Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Morning News criticizing state efforts to "turn dirt trails across scenic public lands into highways."

mcanham@sltrib.com