OCR Text |
Show Bennett Hails Call by Utahn For Balance Fed. Land Policy WASHINGTON Sen. Wallace Wal-lace F. Bennett, R-Utah, today to-day praised testimony presented pre-sented before the Public Land Law Review Commission by a Department of Commerce spokesman, Utahn L. Ralph Mceham, who urged greater consideration of the high degree de-gree of economic dependence of many areas of the country on Federal land policy. Mr. Mecham, a former administrative ad-ministrative assistant to Sen. Bennett and now Federal Co-chairman Co-chairman of the Four Corners Cor-ners Regional Commission, asked the Land Commission to recommend to Congress that regional economic impact analyses be required before public land policies are adopted. adopt-ed. Mr. Mecham stated that because be-cause Federal lands are heavily concentrated in certain cer-tain regions of the nation, "Federal land policy changes which may cause only a ripple rip-ple nationally can be either catastrophic or a tremendous tremen-dous blessing to the dependent depend-ent regions." Sen. Bennett noted, "Utah as a whole certainly is such ain area as Ralph described in his testimony. Our state's land is actually more than 70 per cent owned' by the Federal Fed-eral government, so policies affecting public land obviously obvious-ly have 'great significance for Utah." The Senator said, "The need for careful evaluation of the impact of a change in Federal Fed-eral land policy was well illustrated il-lustrated in the Johnson Administration's Ad-ministration's decision to increase in-crease grazing fees. "The elevenithJhour decision by the Johnson Administration Administra-tion just 'before it left office spelled virtual economic disaster dis-aster for some livestock owners own-ers if it were allowed to be fully toplemented. The Nixon Adrnihistration, fortunately, took a far-sighted view late last year in announcing suspension sus-pension of further implementation implemen-tation of the grazing fee schedule until completion later lat-er this year of a study now undierway by the Public Land Law .Review " ' Commission," Sen. Bennett said. The increases proposed by Ifie Jthnson Administration call for increased graz'ng fe? rates averaging 25D per cent cn Forest Service lands and 375 per cent on Bureau of Land Management lands over a 10-year period. Sen Bennett said, "Ralph illustrated the mu'ual dependence depen-dence of a land policy favorable favor-able to local residents, and the desirability of reversing the migration from rural areas to cur already overburdened over-burdened urban centers. "For example, he states, 'It would make little sense for the Federal Government to aid declining regions on the one hand and to impoverish them on the other through overly restrictive public land administration.' " The Senator noted that Mr. Mschi-vm also recommended thit enviro!men!al impact analyses accompany the economic ec-onomic studies by s' at ing that protecticmofjhenviro ment and economjc i ment are mutually pendant and cemj-'! objectives. However th swer is r.t to ' ab ' growth but to redirect: |