Local Government Cautious – Greens Outraged

BY: GERRY MINICK

Utah has apparently gotten the attention of the Obama Administration with what is being termed “message legislation.”

Like several other states, including Wyoming, Utah lawmakers feel that the federal government is over-reaching. They passed a law in March allowing the state to use eminent domain to take federal land and secure state access to coal and other resources.

The legislative effort was spurred on by the leaked “Monument Memo,” which detailed plans by the administration to bypass local input and designate additional monuments in the Beehive State.

The Department of Interior quickly issued a statement, saying the memo was nothing more than “brainstorming.”    

Governor Gary Herbert quickly signed the bill into law, prompting typical cries of outrage among environmentalists.

Meanwhile, Herbert had been urging Secretary Salazar for months to visit the state to discuss collaboration on land use issues.

Herbert and a slate of local governments have worked for months to resolve hostilities generated at the local level by Interior’s decision to rollback oil and gas leases issued during the Bush administration.       

Salazar said he “got the message” and will work to open dialogue about access. And he promised to listen to Utahns “on the ground” before designating more national monuments; that he is willing to collaborate and find a way forward on the question of whether Utah counties or the feds have jurisdiction over roads on public lands.

Current law requires local government to prove right-of-way claims in court.  

For his part, Salazar adopted a conciliatory tone, and the response from most attendees was cautious, but hopeful, though the public comment portion of the meeting was cut short.     

Mike McKee, a Uintah County Commissioner, has had an ongoing dialogue with Interior since the decision to rescind the Utah leases. Locals say the decision has had a disastrous effect on the economy in Eastern Utah.  

He attended the meeting and news gathering on Monday and said that he is encouraged to know there is an open dialogue with regard to the ongoing problem surrounding 77 Utah energy leases suspended in early 2009.