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H.C.R. 11

             1     

RESOLUTION URGING FEDERAL FUNDING

             2     
TO FIGHT GRASSHOPPER AND CRICKET

             3     
INFESTATIONS

             4     
2001 GENERAL SESSION

             5     
STATE OF UTAH

             6     
Sponsor: Darin G. Peterson

             7      This concurrent resolution of the Legislature and the Governor urges the United States
             8      Congress to appropriate the funds necessary to fight cricket and grasshopper infestation in
             9      the state of Utah.
             10      Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
             11          WHEREAS, 1.25 million acres of land in the state of Utah is infested with crickets and
             12      grasshoppers;
             13          WHEREAS, $22.5 million in crop losses have occurred in Box Elder and Tooele counties
             14      alone, with an additional $5 million in damages in 16 other counties resulting from the infestation;
             15          WHEREAS, crickets and grasshoppers have migrated from federal land, where no
             16      insecticides were sprayed, to surrounding private lands;
             17          WHEREAS, on March 15, 2000, Governor Leavitt issued a declaration of agricultural
             18      emergency, sought federal disaster relief, and issued a letter to the United States Department of
             19      Agriculture seeking federal commodity credit corporation funds for the relief of affected Utah
             20      farmers;
             21          WHEREAS, during 1999 and 2000, available state funds and limited federal assistance
             22      were used to treat affected lands, but little progress was made because the bulk of the federal
             23      assistance came late in the treatment season;
             24          WHEREAS, the cricket and grasshopper infestation will be larger in 2001, with continued
             25      large economic losses to property owners and agricultural operators;
             26          WHEREAS, available state funds will be insufficient to adequately control the situation;
             27      and


             28          WHEREAS, since the problem originated on federal lands, the federal government should
             29      fund a substantial portion of the effort to eliminate the infestation and assist those whose
             30      livelihood has been devastated:
             31          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
             32      Governor concurring therein, urges the United States Congress to provide funds sufficient to
             33      relieve Utahns of the devastating economic impact of the state's cricket and grasshopper
             34      infestation.
             35          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the President of the
             36      United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the United States
             37      Department of Agriculture, and the members of Utah's congressional delegation.




Legislative Review Note
    as of 2-9-01 9:49 AM


A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


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