Leavitt Says Wilds 'Extremists' Twist Facts
By Nancy
Perkins
Deseret
Morning News
CEDAR CITY — Gov. Mike
Leavitt went on the offensive Wednesday, telling a sympathetic audience that
environmental extremists are manipulating the facts about Utah wilderness in an
expensive public relations campaign.
"I am the subject
of much of that, but I am not troubled by it," Leavitt told more than 280 people
attending the 16th annual Utah Rural Summit held at Southern Utah University.
"There is power in the moderate position; strength in dealing with the
facts."
Attending the three-day conference are elected
officials, federal land use managers, and representatives from public and
private companies that work directly with such public issues around the
state.
"I'm not optimistic that the extreme
environmental community is reaching for a solution on wilderness," said Leavitt.
"I think they're establishing their brand. If I thought there was serious
interest from the extreme environmental groups to settle wilderness issues, I'd
be there."
Leavitt reviewed Utah's history
surrounding the designation of wilderness and public roads, pointing out the
issue has polarized some groups that actually have much in common.
"There are some who have bought into this misperception that we're
trying to take wilderness out of the area. I'm speaking specifically about the
outdoor retailers. I am persuaded we can build an economic alliance with them,"
said Leavitt, who has met three times with the organization that threatened to
pull its convention from the state because of the governor cutting a deal with
the Bush administration that removes wilderness protection from lands considered
potential wilderness.
"These are people who believe in
the qualities of wilderness, but they're not extremists. They want a
solution."
That solution, said Leavitt, is in the form
of the memo of understanding he signed in April with Secretary of the Interior
Gale Norton. The memo lays out the process for Utah to identify land that
qualifies as wilderness, he said. It does not give Utah or the Bureau of Land
Management the authority to set aside or manage any land as if it were
wilderness.
"Some said it (the agreement) was decided in
secret," said Leavitt. "It's just a memo of understanding to create a process to
settle some of these disputes. The essence of the agreement is that Congress is
the only one able to designate wilderness. Those who suggest otherwise do so by
design to affect politics, not policy."
When the outdoor
retailers begin going into the details of wilderness designation and what it
means, they will find much of what they promote isn't even allowed in wilderness
areas, said Leavitt.
"It's in our interest to protect
the land, but there are 46 different methods of management," he said. "I do know
that most of the 6 million acres that SUWA (Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance)
wants designated as wilderness has roads. It doesn't even come close to meeting
wilderness protection. We cannot, must not, and I will not, concede 6 million
acres to wilderness."
Leavitt offered nine strategies he
believes the state should deploy in order to resolve the two long-standing
issues of roads and wilderness.
Among the strategies
mentioned were focusing on basic transportation needs, localizing discussions,
finish documenting roads, begin immediately to map acreage and its protection
status, identify premiere recreation assets around the state, and be willing to
act when the time is right.
"I am not certain the time
is right for settlement of wilderness issues," he said. "But I am certain the
time is right to settle the road issue."
Environmental
advocates are charging that counties are declaring little-used trails as roads
and seeking ownership of the right-of-way under as a way to disqualify lands as
wilderness. Leavitt and Norton have also signed an agreement to come up with a
process of determining which roads on federal land qualify for a local
ownership.
Determining which roads truly belong to the
public is a massive undertaking, but the process needs to get underway — and
soon, he said.
"We need local discussions. We need to
get it out of Washington and get out with the local managers to walk the roads,"
said Leavitt. "We have to deal with the facts, get started and play forward. We
have to make this a top priority. We need to get some roads
submitted."
County leaders were challenged to invest
more time and money in identifying which roads in their regions are legitimate
public roads.
"This is a historic opportunity and we
have to seize it, "the governor said. "But we also have to be willing to
compromise to solve this problem."
Leavitt also proposed
a statewide effort to brand Utah as the outdoor recreation destination of the
world.
"The question is, how soon can we get our act
together to bring economic value to that brand? It's a real opportunity that's
optimal right now," he said.
E-mail: nperkins@infowest.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material
herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who
have expressed prior interest in receiving this information for
non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information
go to:http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml