Republicans: Utah is a public land state
Utah is a public lands state. It always has been and it always will be. The question then is how these public lands are managed. The Public Lands Initiative takes that premise and builds it to a reality. In the United States, nearly 1 out of every 3 acres is owned and controlled by the federal government. In the Western U.S, 1 out of every 2 acres is owned by the federal government. Probably no one has a deeper knowledge and understanding of this issue than our Congressional Representative, Rob Bishop. Rob Bishop is currently serving as the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee in Congress. To those that may be confused as to how Committees work in the House of Representatives, it is pretty simple. There are 20 committees in total in the House. Each one is made up of a small group of the members of Congress that specialize in each area of focus in our government. Those groups develop legislation and bills that are proposed and brought up for a vote to the entire body of Congress. For the particular focus of Natural Resources, Utah is one of the most largely impacted states. Natural Resources go directly hand in hand with our Public Lands.
It is clear that Utahns value their public lands. We are fortunate to have breathtaking landscape, outdoor recreation, and an abundance of natural resources. As a result, there are multiple uses for these lands. That is exactly where the debate starts. Democrat leaders and citizens alike are not seeing the big picture in this issue. Their one and only focus on this issue is conservation of these lands. No one is arguing that we shouldn’t conserve the natural beauty that Utah has. However, much of these lands are full of natural resources that can be a huge boost to our economy. As I mentioned, most of these lands have multiple uses, and it is very realistic to strike a balance between conserving and developing these lands. This is not an either/or subject. A damaging example of this took place in 1996 when then President Bill Clinton designated 1.88 million acres of the Grand Staircase Escalante Monument in Southern Utah as wilderness area. This massive piece of land included many parcels of land that were designated way back in 1896 by the state to be managed and developed. The revenue of these lands were to support the state school system. Because of that designation, the extremely rich abundance of natural resources cannot be touched.
The Federal Government is looking to expand their power when the individual states are the ones that should have the power when it comes to our public lands. Fortunately, Rob Bishop is seeing a paradigm shift with our local leaders for the first time in decades to a more reasonable and balanced use of public lands in Utah.
— Keaton Smoot