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Show Utah Stops Use Of Unlawful Wilderness Handbook Utah and the Department of Interior reached an historic agreement that will halt the way wilderness areas are designated in the state. The settlement dismantles a department handbook that was used to limit more than six million mil-lion acres of federal land plus 442,910 acres of state school trust lands from public use. The state joined the Utah .School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) and the Utah Association of Counties in a lawsuit over the (See HANDBOOK on page 5A) Wilderness Handbook From Front Page Bureau of Land Management's Wilderness Handbook. The suit claimed the handbook was illegal ille-gal because it allowed the BLM to designate wilderness areas and wilderness study areas without with-out authorization from Congress. "I want to congratulate the Department of Interior for recognizing rec-ognizing that only Congress has the authority to designate wilderness areas," says Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. "This is a huge victory victo-ry for all Utahns, particularly the citizens living in rural areas who love the land, protect it and have found multiple ways to make it productive." The Department of Interior and the Justice Department concluded con-cluded that the previous administration admin-istration exceeded the law with the handbook. Federal land managers will still be able to use their data to protect land and develop land use plans. "The state of Utah is among those who support additional wilderness in Utah, but it must be done within the confines' of the law," says Governor Mike Leavitt. "The state is prepared to advance proposals for additional addi-tional wilderness to Congress, and we invite those who share this point of view to join us." The Department of Interior agreed to several key points to settle the dispute, including: Cease conducting wilderness wilder-ness reviews, establishing wilderness study areas or revising revis-ing land use plans without authorization from Congress. Rescind the Wilderness Handbook and all decisions made through the handbook. Stop establishing, managing or treating public lands without Congressional approval. Assistant Attorney General Mark Ward, who specializes in public lands issues, helped negotiate the settlement for Utah. "Only Congress can terminate ter-minate our access to public lands," says Ward. "The previous previ-ous administration took that authority and gave it .away. We're putting it back where it belongs." The agreement should also help school children benefit from additional revenues from school trust lands and give counties more access to natural resources within their jurisdiction. jurisdic-tion. Washington County Commissioner Alan Gardner chairs an ad hoc committee with the National Association of Counties that has been working to abolish the handbook. "Nearly 30 percent of the land in Washington County is already locked up," says Gardner. "The handbook would have allowed for more county land to be closed off. This settlement will make sure the public will be able to still use public lands." Today, s agreement will not have any impact on the 3.2 million mil-lion acres that Congress had already designated as wilderness wilder-ness in Utah. "The Utah Department of Natural Resources finds it refreshing to see that the controversy contro-versy regarding federal land use allocation is resolved," says Bob Morgan, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources. He says the settlement settle-ment will help the state clarify other land issues in a timely manner. |