A Move to Protect Red-Rock Country in Utah

In a move that has heartened some environmental advocates, a state senator has proposed a resolution calling on the federal government to protect 1.5 million acres of red-rock arches, mesas and spires adjacent to Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah. The Canyonlands acreage, the largest roadless tract in the lower 48 states, is currently managed by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Conservationists and the hikers, bikers and backpackers who flock to the southern Utah’s five national parks say that recreation is the “highest and best use” for this fragile area. Meanwhile, industries see the potential for a potash mine and tar sands development. After a Utah state Senate committee hearing last week that was packed with conservationists and outdoors enthusiasts, the proposed resolution was referred to an interim committee for study. In conservative Utah, where many believe there is already too much protected land that doesn’t generate taxes for the state, the bill could have easily died, according to its author, Jim Dabakis, a Democratic state senator from Salt Lake City. Mr. Dabakis, who won a special election in December, said he planned to propose to the federal government and Congress that 1.5 million acres around Canyonlands be protected from development while an unspecified amount of federal land in eastern Utah was turned over to energy development. “That way, we protect the land but still do right by the people of Utah,” he said...more