**Testimony of William H. Meadows**

**President, The Wilderness Society**

**Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee**

**Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests**

**April 22, 2008**

**on S. 2834, The Washington County Growth and Conservation Act of
2008**

**[Introduction]{.underline}**

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I am Bill Meadows, President
of The Wilderness Society, a non-profit conservation organization
dedicated to preserving our nation's public land legacy, and with this
bill I believe we have a real opportunity to do exactly that for the
unique wild lands of southwestern Utah.

Let me start by thanking Senator Bennett and his staff for the hard work
that has gone into this legislation. They have spent countless hours
listening to the concerns and recommendations from all interested
parties, including significant time spent on the ground in Washington
County examining a great many of the proposed wilderness areas.

Let me also thank the members of the Subcommittee and Committee, and
particularly Senators Bingaman and Wyden and their talented staff.
Although the bill has only recently been introduced, the Committee has
already shown a willingness to devote resources, including the time of
the Senators themselves, to work on this important legislation in a
productive way, recognizing the importance of America's public lands
legacy to all Americans.

As you know, S. 2834 is a complex public lands bill built upon years of
effort that addresses a variety of issues in Washington County, Utah.
Although not the bill The Wilderness Society would write, this
legislation addresses a number of competing uses on public lands and is
product of an effort carried out in good faith. Although we have some
concerns as outlined in our testimony, we believe this legislation
represents significant gains for America's public lands.

While I will briefly address several titles of the bill, our most
extensive expertise is on the Wilderness titles of the legislation;
therefore, I will focus the majority of my testimony on that title.

**[Wilderness and Other Protective Designations]{.underline}**

The legislation would designate as Wilderness or as National
Conservation Areas about 380,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), national forest, or national park lands. This is a substantial
amount of protection for a county that has been locked in a stalemate
over wilderness protection for decades. As part of this protection, 94%
of the BLM Wilderness Study Areas (WSA) in Washington County would
become permanent Wilderness; the areas that are released from WSA status
are boundary adjustments in the

Canaan Mountain and Red Mountain areas and one small study area in the
Beaver Dam Wash. We believe this level of protection for WSA's should
set a minimum standard for future wilderness bills in Utah.

As part of this designation, 190,000 of the 300,000 acres contained in
the inventory of BLM wilderness quality lands prepared by the Utah
Wilderness Coalition and the citizens of Utah would receive an enhanced
level of protection. Although this does not protect as much of this
these lands as we would like, it includes about 140,000 acres that would
be designated wilderness and about 52,000 acres that would be National
Conservation Areas as discussed below. Much of this land currently has
little effective protection, so this is a significant gain in protecting
the federal land of Washington County. With this, a stalemate could
finally be broken, bringing lasting protection to some of America's most
wild and spectacular federal public lands.

Some highlights of the areas and resources that would receive Wilderness
protection:

-   Cougar Canyon and Doc's Pass: Situated in the very northwest corner
    of Washington County, this remote and rugged area offers outstanding
    opportunities for hiking, rock climbing, deer hunting, and trout
    fishing. As its name suggests, the area is prime habitat for
    mountain lions. The Wilderness designation would ensure that a
    proposed reservoir and dam for the heart of the area would not be
    developed.

-   Kolob Units: The six units that comprise the Kolob area are logical
    extensions of the Kolob Terrace section of Zion National Park. They
    are part of the integrated watershed, wildlife habitat, and scenic
    terrain of the park, and are among some of the most pristine,
    spectacular, and ecologically significant lands in Utah.

-   Canaan Mountain: Peregrines, desert bighorn sheep, mountain lion,
    coyote, bobcat are among the animals found in this spectacular
    mountain unit. Though often overlooked by visitors to Zion National
    Park, Canaan Mountain offers superb opportunities for day hikes and
    backpack trips through its sandstone plateau.

As noted, in addition to the Wilderness designations the bill also would
protect a total of about 113,000 acres of sensitive tortoise habitat as
National Conservation Areas (NCAs), 52,000 acres of which are in the
citizens' inventory of BLM wilderness quality lands. Of these two NCAs,
the 68,000-acre Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area would protect
the dazzling Joshua Tree forests of the southwest corner of the county.

In order to realize true protection from inappropriate motorized use in
this area, we understand that Senator Bennett and the County have agreed
and intend that the citizens' inventoried wilderness areas in the NCA
should be closed to motorized public use except for three roads totaling
about three miles. However, there is no statutory language affording
protection against motorized use in the current version of the bill. We
understand that committee staff is exploring ways in which such
protection could be written into the legislation ensuring that
appropriate protection is made permanent. We believe this protection is
important and should be made a part of the legislation.

Finally, the bill would also protect 165 miles of rivers in the County
as Wild and Scenic Rivers. We are most appreciative of the protections
provided for these areas.

**[Federal Land Disposal]{.underline}**

Title VII of the bill requires the sale of about 4,000 acres of public
land that has been identified by the Bureau of Land Management as
appropriate for disposal in the course of its management planning. It
also provides for the sale of up to 5,000 additional acres of public
land should such land be identified for disposal in accordance with
current law at a later date. We are appreciative of the bill's
recognition that identification of public lands for disposal should not
be made outside of the management planning by the relevant agency and
must be done in accordance with current law.

Of most serious concern are the provisions of S. 2834 that earmark the
disposition of the proceeds from these land sales in a manner
inconsistent with current law. Proceeds from Federal land sales covered
by the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA) currently
remain as federal funds and generally go toward buying other land from
willing sellers and making it part of the portfolio of federal land.
Proceeds from the sale of the 4,000 acres that have been identified by
BLM for disposal would be covered by FLTFA.

The Washington County Growth and Conservation Act would depart from this
equation by diverting 10% of sale revenues to the local government of
Washington County. It further provides that 5% would be available to the
state for the support of schools, in accordance with current law. The
remaining 85% of the proceeds would go toward acquiring high priority
ecological and wilderness lands within Washington County, less an amount
earmarked for the administrative costs to BLM to implement the
legislation (9% or up to \$15 million).

It is the 10% earmarked for the county that is of concern. Use of these
funds is not limited to conservation purposes and could be used for a
variety of local projects, including transportation infrastructure and
water development. We understand and are sympathetic to the fact that
Washington County, like virtually every county and state government, has
spending needs that may not be fully funded. However, we believe
strongly that our federal public lands are the property of all taxpayers
and are a birthright that ensures the preservation and conservation of
our most special places for generations to come. When disposal of those
lands are appropriate, the resulting funds should remain the property of
all Americans.

At the same time, we are supportive of the provision that would commit
85% of the proceeds (less the 9% of primarily administrative costs) to
acquiring ecologically important lands within the county. This is a
significant improvement over previous legislation that did not dedicate
this percentage to land acquisition. Adding high value conservation
lands to the Federal estate is a significant benefit.

**[Other Provisions on Federal Land Management]{.underline}**

We appreciate that this bill no longer mandates that a right-of-way be
granted for a water pipeline from Lake Powell. We do have some concern
about its provision of other rights-of-way because, although we
understand they are unrelated to the pipeline, they are given away in
perpetuity without any compensation to the taxpayers.

S. 2834 requires the BLM to identify one or more options for the
placement of a "northern transportation" corridor in the County. We
understand that Senator Bennett has agreed not to require any study of a
transportation route through sensitive desert tortoise habitat. The
current language needs work in order to more clearly effectuate this
intent.

S. 2834 generally would require the BLM to designate areas, roads, and
trails where off-road vehicle use is permitted. We support the need for
the development of a timely county-wide travel management plan conducted
in accordance with all existing laws, including those that are intended
to protect natural and cultural resources and the interests of all users
of the area. We believe the intent of the drafters is consistent with
our view, but that some refinement in the drafting may be required to
effectuate this purpose. We also have questions about the intent of the
provisions in Titles VII and IX that provide for funds to private
entities for stated purposes. We would like to work with the interested
parties to better understand this intent and ensure that if appropriate,
it is carefully drafted.

Additionally, we have suggestions that we believe would improve the
drafting in a few other areas. We will be providing those suggestions to
the sponsors and the Committee, and would appreciate the opportunity to
continue to work together with the Committee as the bill is further
refined.

**[Conclusion]{.underline}**

The Wilderness Society believes S. 2834 represents a breakthrough in
what has been a long-polarized debate in Utah over land protection.
While not perfect as currently drafted, it presents a real opportunity
to afford real and lasting protection for an important part of
southwestern Utah's public land legacy. We appreciate the opportunity to
testify and look forward to working with the Committee and the sponsors
to fully achieve the promise inherent in this bill.