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