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Show Are these commissioners speaking for you? The Uinta Mountains are up for grabs. On Monday, a series of public hearings will begin on a plan to include the Uintas and several other areas in the state under the protection of the Federal Wilderness Act, to guarantee that for future generations there will be an area "where the earth is untrammeled by man." The plan as proposed by the Utah Congressional delegation calls for 415,000 acres of the Uintas to be declared wilderness. While that may seem like a large amount, it's 100,000 acres less than the U.S. Forest Service has proposed and 200,000 acres less than the Utah Wilderness Wilder-ness Association wants. On the other hand, it's a whole lot more than our Summit County Commissioners favor. They say they would rather not have a wilderness bill at all. But if 415,000 acres is the least our Congressional delegation can come up with, they'll settle for that. . ,V They also told Congressman Howard Nielson that they like the wording in the proposal which Would "permanent- ly" release those lands not included in the bill from ever being considered for wilderness again. The commissioners are supposed to represent their con-' con-' stitutents. But on this issue they are not speaking for those of us who like to camp and hike in the Uintas. They may be speaking for the oil industry, or for the timber tim-ber companies in Kamas, but not for us. ' The Uintas are among the most ' valuable and irreplaceable resources in Summit County. Protecting them should be a top priority. If the commissioners had our interests at heart, they would be asking the Utah Congressional delegation to preserve them. 1 The commissioners should remember that their decisions will affect generations to come. It is simple. If these unique, untouched lands are opened up now, our descendants will never be able to undo the damage. All it takes is one timber sale, one road, one drilling rig, and the ecology is never the same. That is why there is so little wilderness left. If, on the other hand, we decide to set aside as many acres as possible now, our kids will still have all their options open to them. The commissioners say that giving the Uintas protection under the Federal Wilderness Act runs contrary to the principle of multiple use. They either don't know or aren't considering the facts. The wilderness act allows grazing, mining and necessary maintenance of existing facilities. Timbering and motorized access for commercial purposes are the only activites not permitted on wilderness lands. If you consider the issue carefully, it is clear that protected pro-tected wilderness acres can be used in more ways than as an area taken over by an oil rig or a timber sale. We hope the commissioners will agree that the natural beauty found in our state is something to be proud of. And yet Utah is way behind all of the other Western states in protecting those lands from development. Utah has one 29,000-acre designated wilderness area. Wyoming, Idaho and Colorado each have designated over 2.5 million acres as wilderness lands. The baseline proposal for the Utah Wilderness Bill, which includes lands in the Uintas, Dark Canyon, Mt. Olympus, Box-Death Hollow, the Stansbury Mountains, and Pine Valley Mountain, among other areas, adds up to only 612,349 acres. It is not enough. Author Wallace Stegner has written that "the willed preservation of natural areas, which it might be in our short-term interest to exploit, is the best idea to come out of the New World..." and that these lands are still "only the crumbs from the great greedy banquet." We agree. It is time for the Summit County Commissioners to speak ' out for wilderness. If they won't, those of us who love the Uintas will. NC |