Monday, September 29, 2014

County pins economic hopes on wilderness land swap

Karen Perry knows firsthand the power of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. The landscape, people and outdoor lifestyle pulled her family back again and again until they finally bought a trailer and parked it on property near Manila. Now a county commissioner, Perry and others believe if they can just get people to visit their spot in the rugged and remote northeastern corner of Utah, they’ll come back. The Daggett County commissioners are hoping Congressman Rob Bishop’s Public Lands Initiative will help them put that tourism and economic development strategy into play. In trade for designating additional wilderness lands in the High Uintas, county leaders hope to build additional resorts along the reservoir and a ski hill on the horizon. "Our businesses have not been doing quite so well as they did in the ‘70s and ‘80s," Perry said. "We are trying to garner new interests and other activities that will bring more people to our beautiful county." The idea of another ski area in Daggett County — population 1,059 in the 2010 Census — may raise eyebrows along the Wasatch Front, but it’s the kind of bucket list item Utah counties are floating as part of Bishop’s far-reaching legislative push. Daggett County is one of the first to put its plan on paper. Proposals in Daggett County include designating wilderness, swapping land between federal and state agencies to allow commercial development and securing designation for the Green River under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act...more

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