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Show FEBRUARY Dick Carter, UWA issue fter 20 years on the front lines of environmentalism, Dick Carter says it’s time for some reflection. He is resigning from his position as director of the Utah Wilderness Association (UWA), the organization he to protect Utah’s wild lands but also give rural Utahns some of what they wanted on federal lands, as well. As a result, UWA was criticized by the environmental community as well as by Gov. Leavitt. Neither side has been willing to compromise. “The inability to have a discussion on BLM wilderness, across the board, has really pained me. I think we have all failed . We were hung by our environmental peers, who said we copped out. . . And we got hung by Leavitt and Hansen, in particular,” The out-going UWA director has been involved in the BLM wilderness Founder Calls It Quits - for Now for 20 years and recalled testify- ing in a BLM hearing in Reno in 1976. “My view is that in 1996, we are far behind where we were in 1976... We know more today, but environmentalists have adopted the same language as (Reagan’s secretary of Interrior) James Watt: draw a line in the sand and don't compromise.” founded 17 years ago. ‘It's hard to carry on the day-today battle,” Carter said in a Mountain Times interview. “I’ve never seen us win an issue, I’ve never seen us lose one. It just keeps coming back, day after day . . . I need some time to reflect.” Carter’s tack has always been compromise and consensus building. As an example, he and UWA forwarded the notion that 3 million acres of designated BLM wilderness would be sufficient 1996 “Wildlife issues like this are really symbolic of what wilderness is all about. We have wild places in this state, but we don’t have wild Species... they are always responding to human pressures, rather than living out their wild lives.” — Dick Carter In the end, a solution will be forced on one side or the other. And losers don’t go away in this political’ climate, Carter said. There will be no real solution until the two sides can agree. But Carter is quick to explain that UWA has covered all aspects of the environment in Utah, from timber harvesting in the Uinta Mountains, to wildlife issues like cougar and bear hunting to river preservation. The next three-to-six months could determine what UWA will be in the future. UWA’s longtime assistant director, George Nickas, is also leaving the organization. Longtime UWA stalwart, Gary McFarland left last year. The UWA board of directors will determine what happens next, Carter said. They will have to answer these questions: Do people support the type of organization UWA has become? Is there adequate funding to hire a good, visionary staff to take the organizaton forward? Although Carter won’t be with UWA, he says he will still be involved in a limited number of issues. Among them, is the management of the Uinta Mountains and the so-called management of the Utah cougar and bear population. “The high Uinta Mountains remain one of the least understood but most important ranges in the mountain west.” But Carter has only harsh words Utah Division of Wildlife for the Resources, who he says have become patsies for the Cowboy Caucus — rural lawmakers — which runs rough shod over the State Legislature. Pointing to recent polls in a numCarter said ber of western states, cougar and bear hunting are falling out of popularity with the general public. Yet DWR the state Wildlife Board allow cougar and bear hunting at unprecedented levels. “If DWR doesn’t wake up, endum will take place. There choice because DWR and the in Utah won’t and listen,” he said. : This year the Wildlife Board and DWR are issuing over 800 cougar issued 10 years ago. “Wildlife issues like this are really symbolic of what wilderness is all about,” Carter noted. “We have wild places in this state, but we don’t have wild species they are always responding to human pressures, rather than living out their wild lives.” Cc blames DWR for not standing up to the Wildlife Board and the Cowboy Caucus and insisting that hunting be based on solid scientific information, rather than knee-jerk emotionalism from ranchers. He also points out that urban legislators must take some responsibility rey Aste PRE 801 649-1884 orrice * 800 641-1884 ‘Valley Drive * P.O. how “There is a terrible amount of apathy. Because of that, the wrong people are making the decisions. And the right people feel disenfranchized... If we are going to have successful wildlife and wilderness, the decision-makers in urban areas are going to have to get involved.” @ Times April Edition yy for wildlife is managed. Arriving in the Seah to per- mits — about twice as many as were GETAWAYS Mountain a referisn’t a board: Special Features and Advertising Section for Adventure Travel * Tour Guides ® Hotels Outfitters ¢ B&Bs © Airlines * Travel Agencies Reserve Advertising 801-649-8046 Space Now! |
