Federal officials have approved a new name for a 3,000-acre region in the Deep Creek Mountains: Scotts Basin, named for Scott M. Matheson, the former Utah governor who died in 1990.
The moniker was approved by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, part of the Interior Department's U.S. Geological Survey. The board has the last word on establishing new geographic names in the United States and for adjudicating disputes over names.Matheson, who served as governor from 1977 to 1985, was honored for his conservation work, which included efforts to protect this particular basin.
"Scotts Basin covers the upper three miles of Basin Creek and lies south of the Tooele-Juab county line," said Jay Haymond of Utah Division of State History. Scotts Basin is the upper Basin Creek watershed.
Haymond said Matheson "worked to protect and preserve the natural habitat and traditional land-use patterns of the west desert." He was especially active in working for protection against the proposal to base MX missiles in the area, according to the citation.
In addition, when he was governor, Matheson played a key role in helping the protectionist group, the Nature Conservancy, acquire the Basin Creek property.
Residents of Callao, Juab County, requested the name change. They were led by Cecil Garland, a rancher who lives in that community, which is close to the base of the Deep Creeks.
Others promoting the new name included members of the Utah congressional delegation, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, the Utah Committee for Geographic Names, the Division of State History, the Nature Conservancy and the Utah Wilderness Association.
Earlier, the region was called "Goshute Basin" and "The Basin." A little more than three years ago, the Nature Conservancy purchased the private property, so it could be added to a surrounding Bureau of Land Management wilderness study area.
Dave Livermore, of the conservancy's Salt Lake City office, said the area is among Utah's most significant wildlife regions. It is important to the reintroduction of bighorn sheep.
The purchase almost didn't go through, but an 11th hour interest-free loan by the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, Salt Lake City, helped bring it about.
Matheson, a member of the conservancy's Utah advisory board, wrote to the Eccles Foundation seeking help just as an option to buy the land was about to expire. The Eccles' donation came through in time.