http://www.sltrib.com/12052002/utah/utah.htm
Leavitt Halts San Rafael Plan
BY BRENT ISRAELSEN
© 2002, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
The proposed San Rafael National Monument is dead, felled with the stroke of a pen Wednesday by Gov. Mike Leavitt.
In a letter to President Bush, Leavitt ended his own initiative to resolve a sticky public-lands debate over one of Utah's most spectacular regions.
The letter comes a month after citizens in Emery County -- home to the San Rafael Swell -- voted against the national monument idea in a nonbinding ballot referendum.
"Because of my commitment to the local citizens," Leavitt wrote to Bush, "I now respectfully request that you terminate the process."
The White House is expected to honor Leavitt's request and end a monument designation process that Bush put into motion in April at Leavitt's request.
Leavitt was unavailable for comment Wednesday, but his spokeswoman, Natali e Gochnour, said the governor "has been saddened by the whole deal.
"He thought [a national monument] was the right way to proceed. It gave the local people relevancy at the table."
News of Leavitt's letter to Bush was met with mixed reaction in Emery County, where the monument idea was defeated in a 2,151 against, 1,883 in favor vote Nov. 5.
"I'm sorry to hear the governor has written that letter," said Gary Kofford, a Democrat elected to the Emery County Commission last month. Kofford voted in favor of the monument.
Emery County resident Mark Williams -- who rallied off-highway vehicle (OHV) interests to put the monument idea on the ballot and then vote no -- said the governor is right to ask Bush to terminate the monument proposal.
"This is what I set out to accomplish," said Williams, president of the Southeastern Utah OHV Club.
Williams and other monument opponents were incensed when Leavitt announced in his State of the State address in January that he wanted Bush to designate a 621,000-acre national monument in the heart of the San Rafael Swell, a colorfully weathered geologic upheaval covering more than 1 million acres of federal lands in central Utah.
"They should have been talking more about the monument before it was announced," said Williams.
OHV enthusiasts also derided the proposed size of the reserve, saying it was too large to satisfy the intent of the 1906 Antiquities Act that authorizes the president to designate a national monument.
They compared Leavitt's announcement to President Clinton's surprise designation of the 1.9 million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996.
Soon after Leavitt asked Bush to consider creating a San Rafael monument, the anti-monument forces mobilized to put the issue to a local vote, realizing the governor and president are strong advocates of local control of federal lands.
Despite the County Commission's support for the monument, the measure failed.
"A lot of people voted against the concept, but when you look at the alternative," Kofford said, "this was probably the most workable choice."
The monument was the latest of several management options for the San Rafael to fail in recent years as the result of deep divisions between rural interests and environmentalists, who are advocating 1 million acres of wilderness for the region.
"There's wide recognition that the San Rafael is a national treasure," said Heidi McIntosh, attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
"The [region] will be protected eventually. We think wilderness is the best way to do that. Right now, wilderness is the only proposal on the table," she said.
Anti-monument groups say they will continue to push for some other meaningful management regimes that will allow a variety of activities in the monument.
They have organized a meeting in Castle Dale on Saturday. This soon after the monument's defeat, however, it is doubtful the meeting will attract all the stakeholders necessary.
Leavitt Halts San Rafael Plan
BY BRENT ISRAELSEN
© 2002, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
The proposed San Rafael National Monument is dead, felled with the stroke of a pen Wednesday by Gov. Mike Leavitt.
In a letter to President Bush, Leavitt ended his own initiative to resolve a sticky public-lands debate over one of Utah's most spectacular regions.
The letter comes a month after citizens in Emery County -- home to the San Rafael Swell -- voted against the national monument idea in a nonbinding ballot referendum.
"Because of my commitment to the local citizens," Leavitt wrote to Bush, "I now respectfully request that you terminate the process."
The White House is expected to honor Leavitt's request and end a monument designation process that Bush put into motion in April at Leavitt's request.
Leavitt was unavailable for comment Wednesday, but his spokeswoman, Natali e Gochnour, said the governor "has been saddened by the whole deal.
"He thought [a national monument] was the right way to proceed. It gave the local people relevancy at the table."
News of Leavitt's letter to Bush was met with mixed reaction in Emery County, where the monument idea was defeated in a 2,151 against, 1,883 in favor vote Nov. 5.
"I'm sorry to hear the governor has written that letter," said Gary Kofford, a Democrat elected to the Emery County Commission last month. Kofford voted in favor of the monument.
Emery County resident Mark Williams -- who rallied off-highway vehicle (OHV) interests to put the monument idea on the ballot and then vote no -- said the governor is right to ask Bush to terminate the monument proposal.
"This is what I set out to accomplish," said Williams, president of the Southeastern Utah OHV Club.
Williams and other monument opponents were incensed when Leavitt announced in his State of the State address in January that he wanted Bush to designate a 621,000-acre national monument in the heart of the San Rafael Swell, a colorfully weathered geologic upheaval covering more than 1 million acres of federal lands in central Utah.
"They should have been talking more about the monument before it was announced," said Williams.
OHV enthusiasts also derided the proposed size of the reserve, saying it was too large to satisfy the intent of the 1906 Antiquities Act that authorizes the president to designate a national monument.
They compared Leavitt's announcement to President Clinton's surprise designation of the 1.9 million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996.
Soon after Leavitt asked Bush to consider creating a San Rafael monument, the anti-monument forces mobilized to put the issue to a local vote, realizing the governor and president are strong advocates of local control of federal lands.
Despite the County Commission's support for the monument, the measure failed.
"A lot of people voted against the concept, but when you look at the alternative," Kofford said, "this was probably the most workable choice."
The monument was the latest of several management options for the San Rafael to fail in recent years as the result of deep divisions between rural interests and environmentalists, who are advocating 1 million acres of wilderness for the region.
"There's wide recognition that the San Rafael is a national treasure," said Heidi McIntosh, attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
"The [region] will be protected eventually. We think wilderness is the best way to do that. Right now, wilderness is the only proposal on the table," she said.
Anti-monument groups say they will continue to push for some other meaningful management regimes that will allow a variety of activities in the monument.
They have organized a meeting in Castle Dale on Saturday. This soon after the monument's defeat, however, it is doubtful the meeting will attract all the stakeholders necessary.
