OCR Text |
Show SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS WEDNESDAY JULY 7. 1999 Community &wls m rim1t r By Dixie Brunner solitude or primitive recreation. According to the Act, A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its commuTheres one major concept nity of life are untrammeled by SUWA Communications Coordi- man, where man himself is a nator Tom Price wants southern visitor who does not remain... Utah residents to understand about public lands. Its not their Whats allowed on wilderness: land, it belongs to everybody. hunting, fishing, backcountry wia Utah Price, native,' says camping, outfitting and guidlderness is the place where ing, raftingcanoeingkayaking, America develops. Think of the horseback riding, hiking, scienchallenges the pioneers tific and nature study, educafaced. ..they were real chal- tional programs, control of fire, lenges, said Price, admitting insects, and disease, livestock that he selfishly wants those grazing where previously estabsame things for himself. We lished, mining on need to save places like that to mining claims. (In addition to remember who we are and where valid existing claims, the President has emergency powers to we come from. And apparently, hes not alone. allow extraction of strategic Editors has become a powerful environmental voice in Congress over wilderness issues. The following is a profile of the Wilderness Act and SUWA. note-SUW- A . pre-existi- ng During 1997, Southern Utah minerals.) Wilderness Alliance claimed an average of 2 1 ,800 members, with a 1997 total income of $ 1,587,000, according to the Federal 990 tax filing. The income was primarily from contributions, dividends, and interest from securities. Expenditures were $1,222,000. While organizations Activities not allowed in wilder- ness areas: road building; logging and other forest removal such as chaining; mechanized transport (cars, vehicles, mounjeeps, d tain bikes), except in emergenlike cies, or such vehicles as wheel- off-roa- Its not their land, it belongs to SUWA spokesman Tom Price. everybody. SUWA continue to thrive, the chairs; staking new mining claims or public land use debate has come increasingly-heated- , with mineral leases; both sides becoming less willing new reservoirs or powerlines, to compromise. except where authorized by the President as being in the nabe- Beginnings tional interest. . Congress established The derness Act in 1964 to preserve the nations remaining wilderness heritage for its enduring cultural, scientific, and natural values. Land put aside into the National Wilderness Preservation System had to be publicly-owne- d Wil- Different shareholders with different land use opinions The Bureau of Land Management was required to inventory public lands for wilderness in 1976. Utah was a large focus of the inventory due its 23 million federal land. Qualifying acres of federal land. The entire west is precious, lands are to be at least 5,000 acres in size, and must provide said Price. There was never outstanding opportunities for much public land in the east. The debate was on. Southern Utah ranchers, miners and loggers had a different perspective of what constituted wilderness, compared to an environmental group such as the Southern Utah teria defined by the 1964 Wilder- ness Act. Add 3.2 million acres of wilderness study areas previously identified, and the agency says it has 5.8 million acres of wilderness in Utah. And everyone has their own Wilderness Alliance, whos avowed mission was to protect view of how much Congress Utahs spectacular wild lands. should actually designate. Each have their own view of The radical environmental how much, and to what extent, group Earth First! argues 16 the land should be protected. million acres. Representative Many public land users fear too Wayne Owens bill before Conmany restrictions on use will gress requests 5.4 million acres, bankrupt the area economically. and Utah Wilderness Coalition Environmental groups say the (of which SUWA is a member) land must be protected from fur- has proposed a citizens prother degradation. posal of 5.7 million acres of wiThe handicap accessibility of lderness. More conservative wilderness has come into focus elected state and federal reprein recent months, with propo- sentatives are proposing signifi- nents arguing that the handi- cantly less. But SUWA has done their capped cannot access wilderness, unless theyre allowed vehicular homework on the issue. In the transportation. They reason that back of their Salt Lake office, wilderness restrictions will de- (they also have offices in Cedar, prive them from having the same Moab and Washington, D.C.), are opportunity to enjoy the land as rows upon rows of boxes filled other Americans. with hundreds of wilderness Yes, its true, admits Price, documentation items. For any there will places that they (the road, wash or dirt trail in Kane handicapped) cant get to, but County, they have a complete there will be places that I cant file containing aeriel and ground get to either. photos, as well as commentary on the subjects physical characteristics. They are doing everythe sug- thing they can to prove which Interestingly enough, land hasnt been used. gestion for a wilderness came from Utahs own Likewise, the counties have Rep. Jim Hansen, a member of also undertaken extensive invenHouse Resources Committee torying of their roads and lands. public lands panel at the time. Theyve hired consultants, phoFrustrated over the surprise tographers and even lobbyists to Grand StaircaseEscalante Na- help prove which lands and roads tional Monument, Hansen told are being used. Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt that the designation had Economy issue been unnecessary, because Utah Many southemUtahns feel enalready had at least five million vironmental groups and the fedacres which qualified as wilder- eral government are trying to ness. Hansen encouraged Bab- destroy their livlihoods. the lands, bitt to Utahs future is not in ranchand see for himself. ing and mining, avows Price. That study, which was completed and released in February, Re-Invento- ry was conducted by professionals in the BLM. The new study concluded an additional 2.6 million acres of public land administered by the BLM, met wilderness cri DUKES SUMMER SHOPPING SPREE COUPON Tor a'iiilincnt 11 The global economy is chang- ing, and these changes will happen irregardless of whats happening on the Wilderness is- sue. People are moving into places like Kanab, just to be near something beautiful. They are putting money into the economy and not taking any- thing out. Its the city park analogy, said Price, referring to why the restrictive wilderness designa- tion is needed despite appar- ent economic hardship on local people. If you have a parcel of land reserved as a park to ben- efit everyone, would you begin selling off little pieces of it to different developers, and private citizens? Soon the whole thing would be gone, and then you would have nothing for the future. Selling away the pieces might be temporarily good for the economy, admits Price. But would it be good for all of the people in the long run? Price concludes with his vision ofwhat voice southern Utah should have in land use matters. The people who live there have a role and a voice in the debate, but they shouldnt have the only role. Organizations like ours will play a large part in all future public land debates. Decisions But much to the dismay of those utilizingpublic lands, land use decisions arent made made in Washington. Were feeling very good about how we stand, said Price. We believe that 33 of Congress is currently in favor of our wilderness proposal. As for bill we have 142 in the House and 12 in the Senate. Price asserts that SUWA is riding on a tide of success in their quest for more wilderness. here-they- re rs, v call 644-377- 3 Gel JVculd BY SHANNON If NIELSEN Something New at Shannons! Besides gelling a piolcsvioii.il vet if Uel Nails lh.it ate With over 00 Ji'fcmit coloicd gel lo i hoove from. lUWTe gii.u.inlccd between mmIv. 1 i OFF ENTIRE PURCHASE Just Out! tar piercing with lioops. Itr.nul new Studcv System 75 - plus over 85 choices of piercing earrings to elusive from, plus real 14 Lt gold. Mil while and eeilow gold, ac.ul.ible. 25 Apply discount to regular retail prices only! Excludes Levi brand products. Present coupon to cashier at time of purchase. Offer expires 0S0199. I Nails -- - I) Shannon $4(1 -- Tull Set $22 - Fills t |