LAND-USE Utah: The 33% State
By Brian Hawthorne, USA-ALL

Utah is known as the 33% State. That' s because the federal government manages
over 66% of the lands within the Utah borders.

It wasn' t supposed to be. When Congress created Utah, they had no intention of reserving authority of 2/3 of it. Well, things change, I guess.

In the mid 1970 ' s, Congress and the American Public was in the process of changing it ' s policy on those lands remaining in West that had not been sold or transferred to the states. We know them as " public lands" .

The policy had been to " dispose" of these lands, that is; to sell them or to transfer them to the states for beneficial use. When Congress considered changing the policy from "disposal" to " retention and management" ,
citizens in Western states had some serious concerns.

Primarily, those concerns centered around expanding federal control over access to and management of those lands. Additionally, since most Western public lands states rely on water sources that originate on public lands water rights was a big issue.

In response to these concerns, Congress made a ' bargain' with us Westerners. Essentially, we agreed to the change in policy (from disposal to retention and management) and Congress agreed to 4 " pillars" of public
land management policy:

1)    The lands are to be managed under the Multiple Use/Sustained Yield paradigm

2)    Federal land managers will have 10 years, and no more, to identify lands suitable for Wilderness

3)    Valid Existing Rights, (including those granted pursuant to R.S. 2477) will be ' grandfathered ' and protected

4)    Federal land managers are to make their Land Use    Plans as consistent as possible to the plans of state and    local communities.

What has happened is that the worst fears Westerners had when negotiating this " bargain" are now being realized. The Federal Government has reneged on their part of the bargain. They now refuse to recognize Valid Existing Rights, they claim ownership of water rights, and they long ago abandoned the concept of Multiple Use/Sustained Yield management.

Today, 66% of Utah is a Federal Territory managed by an appointed bureaucrat and influenced by whatever political wind that happens to be blowing in Washington D.C.

Naturally, those living closest to those lands are starting to feel the effects. The unique and valuable culture that exists is beginning to break. And when they try and do something about it, the Salt Lake Tribune can be counted on to defend
our appointed Federal Territorial masters at every turn.

The Tribune, in yet another opinion totally lacking understanding of basic public land management issues, apparently believes that people in New Jersey, Florida and