The Week Ahead
It’s a fairly quiet political week. Check out all the activities in the Utah Policy Daily calendar.
Publisher’s Opinion
Washington County Lands: Do it Right
One of the hottest political issues in the hot summer of 2006 is the Washington County lands legislation sponsored by Sen. Bob Bennett and Rep. Jim Matheson. It will be a shame if this legislation doesn’t pass. It will also be a shame if the debate on this issue deteriorates into a typical nasty Utah battle between environmentalists and the state’s political and business establishment.
This legislation, along with the conservation and planning initiatives that will accompany it, is crucial because the perfect political and ecological storm is descending upon Washington County.
Consider that the county is the 5th fastest growing in the country, with thousands of new people moving in each year. The county simply lacks adequate private land and sufficient water resources to accommodate all the growth. The county is also home to numerous threatened and endangered plant and animal species, including the desert tortoise, meaning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a variety of other federal regulators have jurisdiction. The county also has a patchwork of land ownership, including a spectacular national park operated by the National Park Service, a great deal of pristine alpine forest administered by the U.S. Forest Service, desert lands run by the Bureau of Land Management, large chunks of state land and, of course, private holdings, including some large farms and ranches in danger of being divided up into small parcels.
So how does Washington County make sense of all of this? How can the county accommodate growth, while protecting its gorgeous environment? The lands bill sponsored by Bennett and Matheson would help a great deal.
Its intent is quite simple. Washington County desperately needs more private land to deal with growth and economic development. And it needs funding for numerous environmental projects to protect endangered species and protect sensitive lands. Significant acreage needs to be protected as wilderness and farmers and ranchers need help preserving their land against development.
So the legislation would direct the sale of marginal public lands in high-growth areas, with most of the proceeds going to environmental protection. Sounds like a fair trade. In addition, the mother-of-all quality growth planning projects would be undertaken, with help from Envision Utah, The Nature Conservancy, and the Oquirrh Institute, with all of the land agencies and local governments involved, to create an overall vision and master plan for the future of Washington County.
This is all good stuff and it needs to be done responsibly and intelligently. Unfortunately, the legislation had barely been proposed when the more militant environmental groups like the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the Sierra Club began criticizing it as though it mandates the rape and pillage of Washington County.
The more responsible and moderate Nature Conservancy has taken a more reasoned approach, agreeing with the intent and spirit of the legislation, while holding out for significant conservation progress if the land sales go through. It would be a major win for the legislation supporters to get the backing of The Nature Conservancy (TNC). It would allow them to marginalize the Sierra Club and SUWA as unreasonable obstructionists whose harsh rhetoric is designed more to raise money in their direct mail campaigns than to seek good solutions for Washington County.
This initiative, including the quality growth planning effort, desperately needs to move forward if Washington County is to avoid a major train wreck. Further negotiations would certainly make sense to win the support of responsible environmental groups like TNC. I sit on the board of the local Nature Conservancy chapter and, while I don’t speak for them (and this little essay was not authorized or reviewed by them), I know that TNC genuinely wants to see a fair and balanced Washington lands project go forward. They do, however, believe that the current legislation needs some improvements in certain areas.
This is a terrific project that needs to be done. It’s not too late to do it right. Otherwise, it will degenerate into another typical Utah environmental battle with both extremes taking hard and exaggerated positions, refusing to compromise and threatening litigation. Instead of seeking solutions, it will be a long and nasty PR battle. There is a middle ground that works for reasonable folks.
Blog Watch
In response to this Robert Gehrke post at Out of Context, the Senate Site blog asks: "If [Mayor Rocky Anderson] finds the legislature to be cooler toward him next session, will he count that as a victory in his fight against global warming?" (see also here)... The UAC Blog posts a July legislative update... Congressional candidate Christian Burridge says: "A little over ten years ago ... Chris Cannon stated a core belief by championing the so-called 'Contract with America' ... One plank of this conveniently all-but-forgotten promise ... was a solemn vow for term limits. Oh, how times have changed"... Rural Blogging asks: "I wonder how many people along the Wasatch Front really understand the devastation that is occurring in our forests due to the efforts of Utah's environmental community?"... Eric Hamilton's Reality Check says "it's time for Utah to take a stand on medical marijuana"... At One Utah, Emily Hollingshead says: "LDS Democrats have a lot of work to do. We have to stop hiding, we definitely need to stand up for ourselves, and we must become more politically involved. My good friend Steve Olsen has told me that 'Utah Democrats are a little disorganized, mildly discouraged, tremendously underfunded, starved for resources, and breathtakingly misunderstood.' But he also encourages all LDS Democrats to keep the good fight, continue with the energy, and don't give up" (see also here).
-- Compiled by Golden Webb
Washington Watch
The Hatch Report
Book by Deseret Morning News columnist Lee Benson on the plight of survivors of the 1942 Bataan Death March prompts Sen. Orrin Hatch to renew lobbying and legislative efforts to secure compensation for the soldiers' ordeal (The Hill and Air Force Times); Hatch says of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research: "As a senator who believes that being pro-life is helping the living as well as the unborn, I can't see for the life of me how we could justify 7,000-20,000 in vitro fertilized eggs being discarded as hospital waste every year as a justifiable thing ... Why don't we use them for the benefit of mankind, especially for our young children who have these dreaded diseases and have a lifetime ahead of them full of pain, distress and suffering?" (Human Events); conservative columnist criticizes Hatch's stem cell position (Human Events); conservative columnist praises Hatch's stem cell position (The Conservative Voice); editorial praises Hatch's stem cell position (The Capital Times); article says Hatch's home state is an "interesting gauge" of the stem cell debate: "Utah is often considered one of the most conservative states in the nation, with a large population of Mormons who adhere to a strict set of tenets regarding nearly every aspect of their lives. Yet a poll commissioned by the Salt Lake Tribune in 2005 showed that 53 percent of Utah adults back legislation expanding embryonic stem cell research, with about 35 percent disagreeing with the measure" (The Sunday Paper); columnist asks Hatch to lead an effort to change America's drug war policies: "Mr. Hatch, you have demonstrated willingness to act beyond ideology, when a practical approach makes more sense than 'conservative' or 'liberal' purity. You did so recently, for an American victim of draconian drug penalties of the United Arab Emirates. This is an appeal for your leadership to stop the equally devastating American 'War on Drugs'" (Washington Times); Hatch secures funding "for Utah military installations, including $20 million for Hill Air Force Base" (see press release); Hatch hails the Senate approval of Brett Tolman to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah (see press release).
Bennett, Bishop: Change Exhibit
Smithsonian Museum curators change a new gallery exhibit after Sen. Bob Bennett and Rep. Rob Bishop complain that it portrayed Mormon church founders Joseph Smith and Brigham Young in a negative light (Associated Press); Bennett's Senate website posts a photo gallery of his recent trip to New Orleans to inspect damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Matheson: Blue Dogs are Mainstream
Rep. Jim Matheson says he and his fellow Blue Dog Democrats represent the American mainstream: "[Americans] for the most part are in that middle group that we legislate from. I don't think that it is healthy [for Democratic candidates] to lurch left as we head into the midterms and 2008" (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).
Wise Words
"If men of wisdom and knowledge, of moderation and temperance, of patience, fortitude and perseverance, of sobriety and true republican simplicity of manners, of zeal for the honor of the Supreme Being...are chosen to fill the seats of government, we may expect that our affairs will rest on a solid and permanent foundation." —Samuel Adams (Source: The Federalist Patriot)
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