Counties developing own plans for federal lands

David DeMille | The Spectrum

Local governments across Utah are drawing up their own sets of plans for federally-owned public lands within their borders.

The Aug. 1 deadline is nearing in a county-by-county effort to give Utah and its local governments more influence over how federal lands in the state are managed, and planners in southwestern Utah are asking for public input as they finalize the documents.

The Utah Legislature ordered every county in the state to create a Resource Management Plan, passing a law in 2015 that backers hoped would give local governments more leverage in the often contentious land use negotiations that go on with their federal counterparts.

Last year they added another law that specified 28 different areas the RMPs need to address, covering everything from agriculture to road access to endangered species protection.

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Federal agencies often take several years to complete their own RMPs, which can be complicated documents that sometimes come with price tags in the millions.

Lawmakers tasked Utah counties to do their plans with $50,000 in state money, although they could also apply for matching funds through a state community impact fund.

Federal agencies control about two-thirds of the lands within Utah’s borders and have their own plans covering issues like livestock grazing, mining, wilderness and outdoor recreation. But federal rules require them to at least consider the interests of local governments, and the lawmakers sponsoring the bill argued that written county-by-county plans would provide much-needed clarity.

Federal management plans, regulated by the rules within each agency, tend to butt up against opposition from local officials worried that regulations or other restrictions might limit access or disrupt economies.

Washington County was a recent example, with representatives from the county and area municipalities fighting to overturn new plans developed by the Bureau of Land Management for a pair of national conservation areas and other lands in the state’s southwest corner.

While the agency spent six years putting the drafts together, local officials raised alarms over details within the plan, especially over the lack of a defined route for a proposed highway across the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.

A county appeal to the Interior Department was dismissed in April, with a panel of administrative judges ruling that it would only have authority to consider appeals of specific agency decisions on rights-of-way and avoidance areas, not broad authority to consider challenges to the RMPs.

But county officials have vowed to take an appeal to court if necessary, while also searching for legislative end-arounds.

Sen. Orrin Hatch filed a bill in May directing the BLM to scrap its plans entirely and start over

The bill, S.1053, was assigned to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee but has yet to receive a hearing.

Future planning efforts could be more easily coordinated if counties have their own plans on the books, plans that federal agencies would be required to consider, said Dean Cox, Washington County Commissioner.

“This is a really bold step forward for Washington County,” Cox said, suggesting past efforts to include local concerns haven’t always been easy with federal planners.

“This is going to give us some really valuable leverage for sitting down with the BLM and actually having a plan for how these lands can benefit the people of Washington County,” he said.

It has been a tumultuous past decade for public lands in Utah.

State leaders are pushing for President Donald Trump’s administration to consider rescinding or shrinking the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, and a broad near-consensus among the state’s heavy Republican majority has been that federal agencies mismanage the land.

The Legislature passed a law in 2012 that demanded the federal government hand over to Utah control of some 31 million federal acres, or about half of the entire area of the state.

Such proposals face steep legal challenges though, and opponents argue a transfer of power to the state would reduce protections and open up pristine wilderness to gas and mineral development. Some researchers have argued it could have negative consequences by limiting public access and lessening public involvement in management practices.

Regardless of what happens in those contests, county planners say they want the local RMPs to be accurate reflections of their home communities.

Celeste Maloy, a deputy county attorney in charge of writing Washington County’s plans, said she is urging residents to visit the county website to review the posted draft plans and to submit comments or call in to share any ideas.

The draft plans were drawn up with input from various organizations and government agencies, including the local office of the BLM, but more participation from local individuals is important, she said.

“The more public comments we get from residents the better,” she said. “We want this to be reflective of the community.”

The draft plans will remain open for public review until the county commission formally approves the final plans, which in Washington County is scheduled for the third Tuesday in July.

Follow David DeMille on Twitter, @SpectrumDeMille, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SpectrumDeMille. Call him at 435-674-6261.