New documentary highlights UT wilderness debate
"Whether it's between riders of
off-highway vehicles and hikers, preservationists and oil drillers or ranchers
and wolf lovers, the debate over how best to manage Utah's wilderness is
always intense." Read more – Salt Lake Tribune

Nevada water grab stopped…for now
“A top water official moved
too slowly on a 1989 Las Vegas request for certain water rights, the
Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday — a finding that could delay or
even kill a $3.5 billion proposal to pipe water 300 miles from Snake
Valley to Sin City.” Read more – Salt Lake Tribune

…which nobody in Utah wanted anyway
“Anyway you slice the
numbers in a new poll, most Utahns say a proposed Snake Valley
water-sharing agreement with Nevada is a bad idea.About 60 percent or more of all men, women, Democrats, Republicans,
independents, Mormons and non-Mormons oppose the deal, which appeared
all but done before a Nevada Supreme Court ruling Thursday smashed into
it.” Read more – Salt Lake Tribune

Sen. Bennett: Grand Staircase not 'particularly special'
"We've
not had very many visitors to the Grand Staircase Monument, and those
who have come look at it, and kind of look around and say, "This is a
national monument? Wait a minute. Why is this designated as something
particularly special?" because, quite frankly, it's not. It's not the
kind of thing that visitors to America, or visitors from other parts of
America coming to Utah, expect to see in either a national monument or
a national park." Read full interview – KUED

Salazar shakes up Interior
"With the words “there’s a new sheriff in
town,” the Colorado rancher turned politician took the helm with a
reform agenda. Like his boss, though, Salazar has caught heat from both
sides." Read more – New West

SL Trib to Gov: State energy plan must protect wild places
"When the governor referred,
in his announcement of the Utah Energy Initiative, to continued access
to low-cost energy resources, we hope that he did not mean sacrificing
wilderness-quality lands to fossil fuel production." Read more – Salt Lake Tribune

State caves to motorized special interests and resumes roads lawsuit in San
Rafael Swell
"Apparently the Utah State Attorney General's Office has had a change of
heart in regards to seven roads in Emery County. The court case is back
on again." Read more – Emery County Progress

Another harebrained idea from the UT legislature
"A bill to use eminent domain on the federal government for
ownership of land in Utah will shortly be unleashed…The bill would let the state seize the land at fair market
value, then sell it off to private businesses that would then tap
it for those resources." Read more – Daily Herald

SL Tribune pans Green River pipeline
"A guy named Million wants to spend billions to pipe part of Wyoming's Green River 400 miles to Denver and beyond. But as global warming
threatens the flows in the Green, it would be foolhardy to suck great
gulps of water from the stream. To sustain both wildlife and humans,
the waters should be left alone." Read more – Salt Lake Tribune