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Show Utah Politicians Cry Wolf Over The New National Monument By Scott Groene Issues Director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Mo of Utah's congressional delegation continue to stamp their feet and cry that the new Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument hurt funding for Utah's education system, while the Utah Trust Land Administration (TLA) contends the monument somehow "locked-up" valuable state lands. These claims are ludicrous. At statehood, ‘Utah was granted four one- square-mile sections out of each township for the support of the state's education system. The parcels are scattered throughout the townships and as a result are extremely difficult to manage for revenue. The TLA, the administrator of these lands, generates little money from these acres: the direct con- income for our education system over the past century. Creation of the monument placed no legal prohibition on the development of state lands. The limiting factor is the economic feasibility of developing these scattered parcels in the first place, not the monument designation. the 3.8 million acres of this The politicians claim the state lands con- trust land across the state generated,less than tain valuable coal deposits, ignoring the reasons the fuel has been left in the ground over tribution from one half of one percent.of Utah's total education budget in 1996. There are approximately 176,000 acres of Utah trust lands located within the monu- ment, ,parcels that have genefated little the past century. The United States recently released a report which is the first to consider the economic feasibility of mining coal in the monument. The report found the Kaiparowits coal is on the average higher in sulfur. and-lower A THE SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY : PRESENTS in BTU (energy) quality than coal found elsewhere in Utah. Due to the costs of mining this lower-quality coal, including transportation from the remote the bulk remain in a natural state. It is in the best interest of the school trust and the monument that these lands be exchanged for federal revenues or lands located elsewhere. SUWA and other members of the Utah Wilderness Coalition have asked Goy. Mike Leavitt, Senators Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, and Representatives Jim Hansen, Merrill Cook, and Chris Cannon to work with us for a fair exchange of the state lands out of the monument. The RIVERDANCE politicians have declined. And July 16 - September 21 on June 23, TLA filed litigation against the creation of the monument. If TLA succeeds in the law suit (a result no one Imagine Deedee and the dancing version Mike Leavitt, Doug Short, Tom Welch, Corridini, Ron Yengich, Gayle Ruzicka Craig Taylor Dancers singing and in a Michael Flateley Irish 12-step of Chorus Line meets Lord of the Dance. An all new Saturday's Voy PAGE 6 e JULY 1997 mythic proportions. UTS ee) eed) aE Yr ee yi Sundays 2 pm & 7 pm The Salt Lake Acting Company 168 West 500 North aolg Don't miss it! TICKETS seriously expects), the monument would no longer exist, and TLA would hold 176,000 acres of scattered lands without water or road access - just as it does now. The only change would be the elimination of both the monument and the political impetus to trade these low value state parcels for more manageable blocks of land elsewhere. So why is TLA wasting money on a shaky lawsuit with no apparent benefit for education, when the agency has a legal duty to maximize revenues for Utah's education system? Probably for the same reason TLA does not advocate for higher grazing, oil, or min- Ga ee by a board of directors, and under a lawsuit to open the new monument to oil drilling, rather than on our school kids. Some education interests apparently, and perhaps logically, are afraid to demand fair industry compensation for the use of state lands, or to oppose use of education money on frivolous law suits, because they fear retal- iation by state legislative funding committees whose members are beholden to extractive interests that do business on state and federal lands. Instead, education lobbyists chose the least politically controversial action, that is, playing along with the pipe dream that not be profitably mined in the future. On the bright side, the monument desig- state lands might some day play a significant nation may give us the political impetus to role in the funding of education. The irony trade the state parcels for federal lands else- "is this: even if the TLA was able to suddenly where in Utah which could generate revenue generate large revenues by strip mining, possible a few of the state sections may be developed for commercial purposes while JORDAN trolled location, the study concluded the coal could for education. The state lands threaten the wilderness, wildlife, and archeology the monument was established to protect, as it is Saturday's Voyeur ‘97 ing rental rates on state lands. TLA is conUtah law the nominations for TLA’s board are determined in part by the livestock industry, the Utah Petroleum Association, and the Utah Mining Association: Given the board's composition, it should comes as no surprise the organization expends money on chaining, and drilling all state lands, the Utah State Legislature would compensate for the increase by reducing general education funding. The oil, mining, and livestock industries would profit, Utah schools would receive no additional funding, and Utah's children left with an environmental mess. The current anti-monument rhetoric tracks that heard three decades ago when past monuments were designated in Utah. When Arches, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands National Parks were first protected by executive order, there were com- plaints that valuable minerals had been lost and charges that local communities would become ghost towns. Since then, the Southern Utah mining industry went bust due to global market factors. Moab thrives as a tourist destination in part due to Arches National Park. Rather than becoming a ghost town, Boulder now struggles to cope with rapid growth brought on by newcomers attracted by scenic beauty, not oil industry jobs. Creation of the monuments enhanced, rather than harmed, local economies. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was not established for the purposes of assisting local economies; however, as past monuments have done, it can be use- ful for that purpose if the surrounding towns choose to make tourism a component of their economy. The opportunity will be missed unless Utah's politicians redirect their efforts from whining about the monument towards acquiring the capital and training necessary to prepare communities for a growing tourism industry. Wasting PLEASE RECYLCE THIS NEWSPAPER energy trying to legislate or litigate the monument out of existence will do rural economies and our education system little good in the long run. @ |