PUBLIC LANDS: Bishop nears release of 'framework' for sweeping Utah package
Phil Taylor, E&E reporter
Published: Friday, May 9, 2014
Utah Rep. Rob Bishop yesterday said he plans to release a "legislative framework" by late summer for a bill that would designate new wilderness and recreation areas, open new lands to drilling and swap federal and state lands in eastern Utah.
The Republican chairman of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation said he remains optimistic that conservationists, ATV and bicycle riders, energy companies, Utah, its counties and the Navajo Nation can agree on how to settle protracted land disputes in the region.
"It surprises me that they're still optimistic and positive and willing to talk," Bishop said in an interview yesterday with E&E Daily. "I actually still think we're on the path to get something amazing accomplished."
Bishop for more than a year has been working with Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Chris Stewart (R-Utah) and numerous Utah and national stakeholders on a public lands package some have called a "grand bargain" (Greenwire, Oct. 22, 2013).
On Wednesday, the congressmen sent stakeholders a letter promising a legislative framework to "expand local management, promote economic growth, and enhance Utah's recreational and conservation assets."
"While some may disagree with certain provisions that will be included (or not included), most understand the need for balance and compromise as part of the process," they wrote. "We are confident that a deal can be reached and that Utah's land management paradigm can be greatly enhanced and local economies boosted through this process."
For stakeholders, the letter was tantalizingly short on details. But it did list a few dozen "key provisions" that are still under discussion.
They include: a handful of land conveyances and areas that could be co-managed by the state and local governments; the largest exchange of federal and state trust lands in Utah history; reliance on a "locally crafted" Bureau of Land Management master leasing plan for mineral development in Grand County; "transportation options" for Utah counties; and more than a dozen wilderness, conservation and recreation, and wild and scenic river designations.
Bishop said he expects to release a map at some point this year, though an official bill text seems unlikely before the end of the congressional session.
But the bill will contain some restrictions on the president's use of the Antiquities Act in eastern Utah, a provision he said is crucial to assure stakeholders' work cannot be altered by executive decree.
And while the bill will be sweeping in scope, in some counties early discussions will focus only on Interior Department lands, Bishop said. While Emery and Daggett counties have signaled interest in protecting Forest Service lands, Grand County elected officials, for example, want to postpone those discussions. Bishop said additional Forest Service provisions could be added to the bill later.
Groups like the Grand Canyon Trust are adamant that protections for high-elevation watersheds, known as "sky islands," gain protection in the bill.
"If the goal is to resolve the wilderness issue in Utah, then Forest Service lands need to be a part of the package," said Tim Peterson, the group's Utah wildlands program manager.
Bishop yesterday also said proposals his office receives that have been vetted and approved by county commissions will be given "added weight."
"It won't be automatic" that they'll be included in the bill, he said, "but it will be the basis for which we are looking at things."
Grand County, a recreational mecca that includes Arches and Canyonlands national parks and is the site of significant oil and gas and potash demand, is expected to vote next month on a legislative recommendation to Congress, according to the Moab Sun News.
The county's range of alternatives has drawn criticism from the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which has called even the most protective choice short on wilderness and too conciliatory toward oil and gas, tar sands and road development.
It's a sign of the many challenges ahead.
"I'm sure there will be many hard conversations," said Paul Spitler of the Wilderness Society, who has been engaged in the Bishop lands process for more than a year. On balance, though, he said he's encouraged by the continued progress.
"This letter shows real progress in that the congressmen and the counties are taking this effort seriously," he said. "Obviously there are a lot of specifics yet to be worked out, and those details will matter a lot."
