And that might be putting it mildly.
The Sierra Club, Wilderness Society and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance panned the proposal on Tuesday, calling it a public lands giveaway that doesn't come close to protecting what they call the county's 300,000 acres of wilderness-quality lands.
"In some ways, this legislation is worse than anything we've seen come out of the Utah delegation," said SUWA Executive Director Scott Groene. "What this legislation does, in one of the fastest-growing counties in the country, it brings more water, more roads, more private land and more money for developers in a way that will change the face of southwestern Utah for decades to come."
Reached late Tuesday afternoon, Bennett's office did not immediately reply to messages seeking comment.
The conservation groups have called on the Republican U.S. senator to hold public hearings on the draft proposal and allow input from residents from around the state. Thus far, they feel they have been shut out of the process.
"We spent much of the last year offering to meet with Senator Bennett, but we never got a reply," said Lawson LeGate, southwest representative of the Sierra Club. "At a minimum there should be public hearings, including in Salt Lake City, where many interested Utahns live. Senator Bennett has talked of an informal public process, but we're hoping to change his mind. It's a draft bill, and we need to be able to discuss it."
Bennett, along with Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, rolled out his land-use proposal last week in St. George. It calls for 221,000 acres of designated wilderness, protection for the endangered desert tortoise, protection of waterways and vistas near Zion National Park, and off-road trails.
But of the 221,000 acres of wilderness, 123,743 are within the boundaries of Zion, already offering some level of protection. The environmental groups say the wilderness designation is more needed in other areas, including Dry Creek, which sits just outside of the park.
The conservation groups also have decried what they call a proposed sell-off of 25,000 acres by Washington County commissioners - a proposal they claim could increase the St. George metropolitan area from 65 square miles to 105 square miles by 2009.
"We had hoped for a more balanced proposal that would protect [Washington County's] outstanding wild lands and wildlife while also allowing for smart growth and sustainable land use around St. George," Suzanne Jones, regional director for the Wilderness Society said in a statement. "Unfortunately, as written, this draft legislation fails on all scores."
jbaird@sltrib.com
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Reporter Robert Gehrke contributed to this story.
