H.C.R. 6 Enrolled

UTAH WILDERNESS DESIGNATION RESOLUTION
1997 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Sponsor: Bradley T. Johnson
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE LEGISLATURE AND THE GOVERNOR URGING
THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR TO ABIDE BY THE
RESULTS OF THE FIRST INVENTORY OF UTAH LANDS FOR THE PURPOSE OF
WILDERNESS DESIGNATION.
Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
WHEREAS it has been over two years since the Bureau of Land Management issued its
final environmental impact statement and recommended designating approximately 1.9 million
acres of land in Utah as Wilderness;
WHEREAS the process used by the Bureau of Land Management to arrive at the
recommendation of 1.9 million acres involved approximately 13 years, 75 formal hearings, 16,000
comments from concerned individuals and groups, 2,700 man-months of work and an estimated
10 million dollars;
WHEREAS counties in Utah have done studies of proposed wilderness areas and have
come up with comparable findings to the first Bureau of Land Management inventory;
WHEREAS the United States Department of the Interior has decided to invalidate this first
exacting and comprehensive inventory and proceed with a second inventory that will take an
estimated six months and include no public input;
WHEREAS though the courts have halted this action for the moment, the Secretary of the
Interior is still adamant in his position;
WHEREAS this second inventory would be conducted by hand-picked employees, with
no apparent experience with the Utah wilderness issue;
WHEREAS the attempt to reinventory proposed wilderness lands would clearly violate the
spirit of the 1964 Wilderness Act;
WHEREAS this would be an unnecessary waste of time, effort, and taxpayer dollars;
WHEREAS the state of Utah is willing to cooperate with the first Bureau of Land

Management inventory of proposed wilderness areas;
WHEREAS the Bureau of Land Management has designated land in Utah as Wilderness
Study Areas, which are treated as wilderness areas, even though more than one million acres do not
qualify as wilderness as defined in the 1964 Wilderness Act;
WHEREAS designating lands as wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas would harm
communities by permanently eliminating any further development; and
WHEREAS Utah's congressional delegation has worked long and hard to fairly resolve this
issue:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
Governor concurring therein, call upon the Department of the Interior to abide by the results of the
first inventory of Utah lands for the purpose of wilderness designation as was done in other western
states.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call upon congress to
end the wilderness issue through passage of final legislation as quickly as possible.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that any future changes in the designation of federal lands
within the state of Utah include: 1) exact adherence by federal authorities to the spirit and letter of
existing federal laws including the 1964 Wilderness Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act (FLPMA), and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); and 2) public comment and
input, especially from local areas directly affected by redesignation.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor urge Utah's
congressional delegation to continue its work to resolve the issue and express their gratitude and
appreciation for its previous exemplary efforts.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to the Speaker of the
United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and to the
members of Utah's congressional delegation.

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