Former BLM Director calls for end to "No More Wilderness" settlement

"The Salt Lake Tribune’s recent editorial 'More wilderness' hit the nail right on the head. The time has certainly arrived for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to openly repudiate one of the last administration’s most odious policies — the so-called 'no more wilderness' agreement between then Interior Secretary Gale Norton and then Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt."  Opinion – The Salt Lake Tribune

Utah lawmakers seek to add "petroleum literacy" to the classroom

"A committee in the Utah state legislature is pushing the Mineral and Petroleum Literacy Act, which seeks to 'educate' children about mining and petroleum drilling. The funds for the program would come out of surplus mining profits.

Rep. Jack Draxler (R) sponsored the act, which the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee recommended Wednesday.

Draxler told Brandon Loomis of the Salt Lake Tribune that most Utah kids don't know that oil, gas and coal contribute to their education, and to the state's economy. 'Most of them,' he said, 'don't know their iPods, their toothbrushes, their homes and their roads are all products of this kind of natural resource development.'"  Read more – Talking Points Memo

Interior Secretary: Protecting public lands can help grow and diversify Western rural economies

"In remote Kane County, Utah, where the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is located, nearly three-fourths of the net growth in personal income in the last 30 years has been from retirement funds, money from past investments, and other “non-labor‟ sources.

Another study of the economic impact of National Landscape Conservation System lands on county economies found that real personal income grew at a rapid pace in the majority of counties adjacent to these units."  Read more – The Colorado Independent

Also: BLM's conservation areas provide multiple uses and should be supported.  Editorial – Las Vegas Sun