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Show Community 4It Yrv Comments "I don't personally like the idea of land use planning, but I'm going to vote for it now because I'm sure the federal government will do it for us if we don't." So spoke a conservative friend of mine from Southern Utah a few years ago when Utah voters were asked to approve or reject a ballot referendum which would have I prohibited or implemented statewide land use planning mechanism. The voters rejected the idea soundly. And the predictions of my friend seem almost prophetic. i Next Monday night in Moab residents are being asked to attend a meeting sponsored by the Bureau of i Land Management to review - some proposed groundrules for identifying possible roadless and j wilderness areas on the public domain, and make I comments on changes to those proposals if they do not J meet with general approval. ! Unfortunately, following the public meeting when ! the groundrules are set in concrete, BLM forces will i begin an intensive program of inventorying all their land in an attempt to meet a mandate written into the I so-called Organic Act of 1976. I Public news released from Bureau of Land Management officials in Salt Lake City have stressed that their work would be done with intensive public involvement, but just how they plan to involve the public beyond next Monday's meeting (and two others being held in Utah) isn't spelled out. Had Utahns voted in favor of land use planning several years ago, things might really be fouled up by now. It's my strong belief, however, that had Utah embarked on its own land use planning program a number of years ago, the federal agencies that are now slicing up the Utah pie would have to be doing it in formal partnership with a Utah land planning agency. I can only re-emphasize what Rep. Gunn McKay told ; residents of Utah recently: "The groundrules for this : review are critical. If they're not right at the very 5 beginning, we'll lose in the long run..." i If you've got an interest or a stake in the public domain particularly that under management of the Bureau of Land Management please take time to attend next Monday's meeting. It'll be held at Southeast Elementary School beginning at 7 p.m. sjt Normally we devote a good deal of space on this page to comments from our readers. Either they agree, or ! oft-times disagree-with editorial points made in this column, and that's fine. This week, however, is unique in that only one Letter to the Editor was received, and we're simply not going to put a big headline over the top of it since it was so brief. The message, however, ; was clear. It said: j "Dear Sam: j Thanks. Pete" I think I get the message. sjt Next Tuesday we can forget all about the upsetting and violent nature of the news that seems to dominate this week's news picture, and enjoy an annual treat: the Moab concert of the world-famed Utah Symphony Orchestra. This event has grown in local popularity over the twenty years the group has been coming here, and local patrons are never disappointed. To be sure you get a seat, pick up your ticket in advance. We have them here at the T-I, and they're available at other locations around town. sjt j |