Richard WarnickWashington County Growth & Conservation Bill: Still A Developer’s Dream?
Bruce Wilson argues that the new, improved Washington County Growth & Conservation Bill (PDF), co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Matheson and Senator Bob Bennett, is a triumph of grass roots activism. On the other hand, the executive director of Citizens for Dixie’s Future, Paul Van Dam, thinks the bill falls short of what the Vision Dixie process called for. I think we need to know more about this proposed legislation.
Wilderness advocates appear to be divided as well. The Nature Conservancy has endorsed the bill. Bill Meadows of The Wilderness Society gave it qualified support in yesterday’s Senate subcommittee hearing. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the Sierra Club, and the Wasatch Mountain Club reject the current version of the bill.
It’s easy to be confused about a 60-page draft that appears to be based on hidden agendas. The most objected-to items from the 2006 bill seem to have been dropped, but it is hard to believe developers’ dreams like the Lake Powell pipeline are really gone forever. One thing that’s clear is that it’s a bad idea to sell off federal public lands for the benefit of local developers and a bad idea to give the proceeds to local governments. Such a proposal would never pass Congress in a stand-alone bill. Hence the wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers, to provide green camouflage. The designation of 124,000 acres of wilderness inside Zion National Park is unnecessary.
I was involved in the passage of the Utah Wilderness Act of 1984. Unlike the Washington County Growth & Conservation Bill, our grassroots legislation dealt with a single subject– wilderness. It had the word “wilderness” in the title. All parties made compromises along the way, but there were no hidden agendas.
More information:
Summary of Washington County Growth and Conservation Act of 2008 (PDF)
Vision Dixie: Making a Better Washington County
Previous One Utah post:
Developers Dream Bill for Washington County? (November 13, 2006)
