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Show Garfield County Joins SUPAC; Meet Set For Tuesday In St. George Garfield County Commission Chairman Louise Liston, spoke recently in St. George, saying, "despite all the fears and concerns that arise from the monument designation, we can go forward, united in purpose and achieve something that preserves both the land and the people who live in its shadow." Garfield County recently accepted an invitation to become an active member of the Southwestern Utah Planning Authorities Council (SUPAC). SUPAC is based upon a Memorandum of Cooperation for the Southwest Utah Intergovernmental Intergovern-mental Planning Process drawn up in February 1994. That MOC, before adding Garfield County, included six federal agencies, the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Manage-ment, National Park Service, Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; six Utah agencies or offices, the Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources. Department of Transportation, Department of Community and Economic Development, Devel-opment, Department of Environmental Environ-mental Quality, and the Governor's Office; and five local planning authorities, the Washington County Mayors Association, Washington County, Five County Association of Governments, Iron County, and Kane County; and the Paiute Tribe and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Sub-groups, called Topical Advisory Ad-visory Groups, (TAGS), may be created as needed to advise and assist on specific issues. The council was established by Gov. Mike Leavitt and he serves as its chairman. Rural Economic Development Director Scott Truman, Cedar City, serves as vice-chairman. vice-chairman. The council normally meets quarterly but met in a special emergency meeting in St. George just two week's before last week's general election to discuss anticipated anti-cipated aspects of the planning process of the new Grand Staircase -Escalante National Monument. But Liston also had many questions for her listeners. "How do we educate others that what is happening to Utah may eventually happen to them?," she asked. "How," she continued, "will the monument fit into our . present county land use plans?" The county's plan will have to be completely revised and updated. She asked how the county would deal with traffic congestion on Highway 12, law enforcement, fire protection, search and rescue, solid waste collection, emergency services, ser-vices, already drought-strained water supplies, and the protection of the quality of life in rural communities? com-munities? "How will we solicit and encourage participation in the planning process by citizens who feel harassed, intimidated, threatened and betrayed by a federal government gov-ernment out of control? "More importantly, how do we, as their elected officials, convince them that their input will make a difference when we ourselves are skeptical?" citing the county's wilderness proposal, ignored by the government, as a frustrating and fruitless example." (See Garfield County Joins SUPAC In St. George On Page 3-A) Garfield County Joins SUPAC From Page 1 State BLM Director Bill Lamb and newly appointed Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument Manger Jerry Meredith each spoke and then together fielded questions from the audience. Presenting Utah's perspective on the monument were Brad Barber representing Gov. Mike Leavitt and Ted Stewart, Director of the Department of Natural Resources. The Congressional perspective was outlined by representatives of each Congressional office. Providing information about local concerns, expectations and perceived needs in addition to Commissioner Com-missioner Liston were. Roger Holland and Commissioner Norman Carroll from Kane County. Also present at the meeting were Dave Terry, of the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration; Adminis-tration; Rick Mayfield, Department of Business and Economic Development; Devel-opment; Carey Peterson of the Department of Agriculture and others including Wray Macy, John Harja. Also attending from Garfield County were Commissioners Clare Ramsay, Commissioner Maloy Dodds, Mayor Elaine Baldwin, Panguitch; Council Member Janet Oldham, Panguitch; Elden Frand-sen, Frand-sen, Panguitch and Stan Mecham, Tropic, Soil Conservation SUPAC will meet again next week at the Holiday Inn in St. George on Nov. 19. |
