Grand County Residents: Make Your Voice Heard!
This may be a once in a generation opportunity to protect wilderness in Grand County.
Can you take 15 minutes right now to write and mail a letter to the Grand County Council encouraging them to protect proposed wilderness areas in Grand County as part of Rep. Rob Bishop’s proposed Public Lands Bill for Southeastern Utah?
Letters must be received at the Grand County Courthouse by Thursday, January 30, 2014.
Please, take part today!
Background:
Congressman Bishop’s public lands bill proposal would create national legislation to define and create an array of public land management designations, including wilderness designation, for several counties in southeastern Utah, including Grand County.
As part of Grand County’s role in the “Bishop process,” in November 2013 the Grand County Council appointed a three-member Council study group (consisting of Council Members Lynn Jackson, Jim Nyland and Rory Paxman) to develop a range of alternatives regarding long term designations for public lands in Grand County.
That study group is now accepting written comments from Grand County residents. From the Grand County press release:
The local public is invited to provide written comments by letter (no e-mail comments will be accepted), maps, suggestions, and other relevant information related to long-term land management and potential designations in Grand County to the Grand County Council through Thursday, January 30, 2014.
Submissions must be focused on Grand County and may include recommended designations for a specific geographical area, land management prescriptions, concerns, and general suggestions for the future of public lands in our county relative to the Congressman’s proposed legislation.
What Your Letter Should Say:
Letters that mention specific areas in Grand County that are proposed as wilderness in America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act will have the most impact. A list and map of proposed wilderness areas in Grand County can be found at the bottom of this page.
In your letter:
- Identify yourself as a Grand County resident
- State that you support protecting a large amount of wilderness in Grand County
- Mention specific wilderness areas, and how often you visit them, or why you value them. Tell your story. For example, “I hike every week in the Mill Creek Wilderness area and want to see this area protected from development” or “Every morning, I look out at the Dome Plateau wilderness from my house in Castle Valley and want to see these areas protected from development.”
- Where possible, emphasize wilderness areas that are under particular threat, including the canyons in the Labyrinth Canyon area (Spring, Hellroaring, Mineral), Goldbar Canyon, and wilderness areas in the Book Cliffs region.
- Make any other point you wish to make about public land use in Grand County!
- Include maps or photographs, if you wish.
Where to Send Your Letter:
Send your letter (or hand deliver it) so that it arrives by Thursday, January 30, 2014 to:
Grand County Council
Attn: Public Lands Bill
125 E Center Street
Moab, UT 84532
For added impact, also send a copy of your letter to:
Fred Ferguson
Legislative Director, Rep. Rob Bishop
123 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Finally, email us the text of your letter by clicking here so we may keep track of letters submitted to the council.
Proposed Wilderness in Grand County:
The proposed wilderness areas in Grand County are: Desolation Canyon, Eastern Book Cliffs, Survey Point, Mexico Point, Hideout Canyon, Sweetwater Canyon, Bitter Creek, Hells Hole, Westwater Canyon, Big Triangle, Renegade Point, Granite Creek, Beaver Creek, Fisher Towers, Mary Jane Canyon, Porcupine Rim, Morning Glory, Mill Creek, Behind the Rocks, Hunter Canyon, Goldbar Canyon, Arches Adjacent, Yellow Bird, Dome Plateau, Duma Point, Labyrinth Canyon (includes Spring, Hellroaring, Mineral), Horsethief Point, and Dead Horse Cliffs.
