PUBLIC LANDS: Measure to allow military takeover of 626K acres in Utah sparks debate
Phil Taylor, E&E reporter
E&E: Thursday, November 20, 2014
A congressional proposal to transfer roughly 600,000 acres of public lands in Utah's West Desert to military control could improve weapons testing for the Air Force, but it has also sparked concern from some conservationists over potential impacts to recreation and wilderness.
The proposal by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) was filed as an amendment to S. 2410, the 2015 defense authorization bill, which could see floor debate this lame-duck session.
Hatch's amendment would expand the 2.3-million-acre Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) on desert lands west of the Great Salt Lake, which the Air Force uses as a training ground for air combat, bombing practice and other exercises.
Expansion is needed to accommodate new weapons systems, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Long Range Strike Bomber and "hypersonic" weapons, according to Hatch's office.
But the expansion would also abut the 100,000-acre Cedar Mountains Wilderness and would encroach on several areas that conservationists have proposed to protect in the "America's Red Rock Wilderness Act." That bill was sponsored by Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) in the House (H.R. 1630) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in the Senate (S. 769).
Officials at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the red rock bill's main proponent, are watching Hatch's legislation closely.
"This is a complex issue involving multiple agencies and stakeholders, and should not be hurried," said Jen Ujifusa, who leads SUWA's legislative work in Washington, D.C. "The concerns we have with the amendment could probably be addressed with time, and if we can work with Senator Hatch to protect the deserving wilderness around the training range, we're open to that."
Word on Capitol Hill is that the Senate is unlikely to hold an open amendment process on the defense bill, which offers little hope for Hatch's proposal in the 113th Congress.
But Hatch expects to reintroduce the legislation next Congress -- with some urgency given that the first F-35 jet is supposed to arrive at Hill Air Force Base, about 100 miles east of UTTR, by September 2015. Hill is where the F-35 maintenance program will be located.
Hatch's amendment would affect 626,000 acres surrounding the UTTR both north and south of Interstate 80, withdrawing the lands from appropriation under mining and mineral laws. While public access for grazing and recreation would generally be maintained, the Air Force could close trails or roads to protect public safety or national security.
The amendment would also facilitate a major land swap involving tens of thousands of acres of scattered state trust lands within the proposed UTTR expansion and the Cedar Mountains Wilderness for equal-value federal lands outside of those areas.
The federal government could consolidate ownership of UTTR and Cedar Mountains. And Utah's School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) could consolidate lands for geothermal development, mining and grazing that could boost revenue to Utah schools.
"Our approach is about balance: We want to promote the principle of multiple use of our public lands, clear access for recreational users of the land, and to ensure that our airmen at Hill Air Force Base have the resources they need to train and keep America safe," Hatch said in an emailed statement. "While we're still working out the exact details by meeting with state legislators, ranchers, off-road user groups, sportsmen, and as many people as possible, I'm confident we'll have a proposal that Utahns will like."
SITLA-owned parcels in the UTTR expansion area are currently being eyed for wind development, which would be incompatible with air bomber training.
"This solves a problem of the future," said SITLA Associate Director John Andrews. "We're in favor of the bill."
Conservationists are generally supportive of land swaps that get SITLA lands out of federal wilderness areas. By law, SITLA is to maximize long-term revenue of its lands for Utah schoolchildren, but those uses can be incompatible with conservation.
Environmentalists are concerned over how the expansion would affect lands slated for protection in the red rocks bill, including the Newfoundland Mountains, which rise abruptly about 2,000 feet out of west Utah's salt flats.
They're also concerned about possible land closures for bombing activities.
An Air Force official said no missiles or bombs will be dropped on the expanded areas, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
A Hatch aide said land closures are only expected to last a couple of minutes at a time.
UTTR averages approximately 16,000 sorties per year for training, according to a fact sheet on the range.
At a meeting of about 50 people last month in Partoun, Utah, no residents expressed concern with the expansion, according to the Tribune. They're accustomed to having jets fly overhead.
But critics including Steve Erickson, who represents the Great Basin Water Network, are mobilizing opposition, calling the proposal the "mother of all military land grabs."
"On its face, this land grab is unnecessary and unjustified," Erickson said in a press release last month that urged a full environmental review of the proposal. "The Air Force already has nearly unfettered use of the airspace over these lands, so this is not about preserving or even expanding the airspace."
