Sign the Petition to Overturn the "No More Wilderness" Policy
"It was the dark days of 2003, and environmental groups still hadn't quite grasped the full scope of the Bush administration's outrageous disregard for the planet.
Then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton was in closed-door negotiations to settle a lawsuit with the state of Utah. At stake were 2.6 million acres of wild lands that the department had set aside for a potential wilderness designation, the highest form of land protection the government can give.
The outcome—a twisted and unprecedented legal interpretation known as the "No More Wilderness" policy— was even worse than expected, and seven years later, the repercussions still sting because the Obama administration has kept the policy in place." Read more – Change.org Environment Blog
Uinta Basin Ozone Some of the Worst in the Country
"David Garbett, an attorney with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), said he was 'pretty shocked' by the results from last winter’s ozone monitoring — the first time comprehensive data were gathered in the area.
'This is up there,' he said, 'with the worst ozone pollution problems anywhere in the country.'" Read more – The Salt Lake Tribune
Eminent Domain bill not really about schools
"In fact, according to the U.S. General Services Administration, after Alaska and Nevada, Utah ranks third highest in the percentage of land controlled by the federal government. To the other extreme, on average in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, North Carolina and South Dakota, the federal government controls only 5.3 percent of land, yet these states, according to the U.S. 2008 Census, are in the bottom 10 states in spending per student along with Utah, which consistently ranks last.
Hence, there is no correlation between the amount of land controlled by a state and its public school expenditures. The Land Backers should therefore stop asserting that their quest to control federal land is to better fund education and stop pretending that pairing the word tax with education turns this into a tax with a smiley face." Read more – The Daily Utah Chronicle
