H.C.R. 11 Enrolled

RESOLUTION URGING FEDERAL FUNDING
TO FIGHT GRASSHOPPER AND CRICKET INFESTATIONS
2001 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Sponsor: Darin G. Peterson
This concurrent resolution of the Legislature and the Governor urges the United States
Congress to appropriate the funds necessary to fight cricket and grasshopper infestation in
the state of Utah.
Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
WHEREAS, 1.25 million acres of land in the state of Utah is infested with crickets and
grasshoppers;
WHEREAS, $22.5 million in crop losses have occurred in Box Elder and Tooele counties
alone, with an additional $5 million in damages in 16 other counties resulting from the infestation;
WHEREAS, crickets and grasshoppers have migrated from federal land, where no
insecticides were sprayed, to surrounding private lands;
WHEREAS, on March 15, 2000, Governor Leavitt issued a declaration of agricultural
emergency, sought federal disaster relief, and issued a letter to the United States Department of
Agriculture seeking federal commodity credit corporation funds for the relief of affected Utah
farmers;
WHEREAS, during 1999 and 2000, available state funds and limited federal assistance
were used to treat affected lands, but little progress was made because the bulk of the federal
assistance came late in the treatment season;
WHEREAS, the cricket and grasshopper infestation will be larger in 2001, with continued
large economic losses to property owners and agricultural operators;
WHEREAS, available state funds will be insufficient to adequately control the situation;
and
WHEREAS, since the problem originated on federal lands, the federal government should
fund a substantial portion of the effort to eliminate the infestation and assist those whose
livelihood has been devastated:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
Governor concurring therein, urges the United States Congress to provide funds sufficient to relieve
Utahns of the devastating economic impact of the state's cricket and grasshopper infestation.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the President of the
United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the United States
Department of Agriculture, and the members of Utah's congressional delegation.

- 2 -