At least four individuals said “second!” all at once.

The clerk didn’t have a dearth of options for the minutes.

The Millard County Planning Commission heartily sent a recommendation Wednesday to the Millard County Commission. It approves a “petition” that “covers exclusively the roadless rule” of national-forest prohibitions, according to a Utah governor’s office consultant who presented before the 7-0 vote.

“The locals should have a say on all this,” Planning Commissioner Tom Nielson said.

The roadless rule, officially known as the Roadless Area Conservation rule, “places about one-third of the national forests (in the United States) off limits to virtually all road building, logging and development,” according to PBS. It was put into place in 2001, in “the last days” of the Bill Clinton presidential administration. The United States Forest Service runs it, PBS reported.

Redge Johnson, a consultant for Utah's public lands policy coordinating office, claimed to the commission that Utah Gov. Gary Herbert sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue “requesting a Utah-specific roadless rule petition.” PLPCO Director Kathleen Clarke at least signed the February letter, per Clarke's signature on the letter.

The plea is called the Utah Roadless Rule Petition, according to the planning commission meeting agenda. The USDA’s Forest Service has administered the roadless rule.

Idaho and Colorado adopted their own petitions in the early 2000s, and Alaska is about a month ahead of Utah in getting their own, Johnson said.

Planning Commissioner Greg Greathouse made a motion to recommend to the elected commissioners adopt and amend “sections pertaining to … specifically lands managed under the federal roadless rule,” “with a recommendation to try to maximize the active-management areas and grazing,” Greathouse told the Chronicle Progress.

Grazing rights go to folks who own cattle.

The public can comment in county commission meetings, as always. The commission will vote on the matter in its Sept. 18 meeting.

Written by Rhett Wilkinson, staff reporter