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[Page S5571]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EMERY COUNTY PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT ACT
Mr. ROMNEY. Mr. President, I rise today regarding the Emery County
Public Land Management Act, that was included in S. 47, the John D.
Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. This became
Public Law 116-9 on March 12th, 2019.
Throughout 2018 and early 2019, Senator Hatch, Congressman Curtis,
and I engaged with the Emery County Commissioners and Emery County
Public Lands Council on this important piece of legislation. After
Senator Hatch's retirement, I was honored to help carry the ball across
the finish line.
This law is the result of over 25 years of deliberation, and I find
it important to highlight some areas of congressional intent to
maintain the integrity of the process. While congressional intent
should be evident in the legislative text and corresponding map, the
historical context of how we arrived at some of these decisions may be
of benefit to the Department of the Interior, future members of the
Utah delegation, and those in Utah. The residents of Emery County, the
Utah delegation, and I look forward to the implementation of this new
law.
Fundamental to this process was the effort to avoid any action that
would end a current ongoing use. For example, it was important to not
close a road, trail, airstrip, or prohibit other existing use in the
legislative text or corresponding map with a wilderness designation.
Further, to avoid applying more restrictive designations, such as
wilderness, to areas it would limit ongoing activity, such as grazing
or recreation. Designation boundaries were drawn along geographic and
physical features or just outside cherry-stemmed roads to ensure
management made sense for the area.
Any designation boundary that does not follow this approach,
particularly any designation that puts at risk an existing use due to a
poorly drawn boundary, was a clerical error and should be resolved
under the authority clearly provided in Sec. 1221. Given the scale of
this bill and legislative map, this authority is a vital tool to
resolve such errors.
I would also highlight the clear intent within Sec. 1232, section
(e), which clearly states that non-wilderness activities or uses that
can be seen or heard from areas within wilderness are to be left
uninterrupted by this legislation. The clear intention of the bill was
to avoid any type of a buffer zone management plan.
On the topic of roads, stakeholders worked closely with BLM to ensure
all roads in the 2008 Resource Management Plan were ``cherry-stemmed,''
meaning they were not included in a wilderness designation. Our intent
was to maintain these roads and for those designated as ``open'' to
stay open. These cherry-stems are of various sizes and were intended to
ensure an adequate corridor exists to facilitate necessary maintenance.
In the Recreation Area, Sec. 1222 includes language to ensure the
necessary maintenance to existing routes may continue and allow
rerouting of roads or trails to protect the resources of the Recreation
Area.
The driving force for this compromise bill was the desire for
countywide land use certainty and thus preventing the designation of a
national monument under the authority granted to the President under
the Antiquities Act. As so many know, in my home State of Utah national
monument designations under the Antiquities Act have been the source of
extreme controversy and deep division in our communities. In my own
view, land management is most effective when it is driven by local
voices and well-reasoned planning. Sweeping designations via
Presidential proclamation are often politically motivated, lead to poor
management of the lands they intend to protect, and erode trust between
the Federal Government and local residents. With the passage of the
Emery County legislation, the need for a national monument is obsolete
because a clear plan has been laid out for the long-term management of
the San Rafael Swell. To be clear, this is a view that was shared by
the many parties, including locally elected officials,
conservationists, recreationists, and others that were intimately
involved in the forging of this compromise legislation. Any advocacy of
a future national monument designation under the Antiquities Act or
other large-scale land use designation in Emery County would be a
violation of the good-faith agreement that was shared among those that
negotiated during this bill's process.
I believe this bill is a victory for all stakeholders, and I look
forward to watching this quarter-century journey for Emery County
finally come to fruition.
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