Rep. Enid Waldholtz, R-Utah, has changed the location of her April 12 public meeting on wilderness.
Originally scheduled to be held in the Salt Lake County Commission chambers, the meeting will now take place at a larger facility, the Eastmont Middle School, 10100 S. 1300 East.The pro-wilderness folks are furious.
Say what? Changing the venue to a larger facility, where more people can turn out, would seem to be a good thing, no?
No, according to the environmentalists, who view the change as more evidence that state and congressional leaders are trying to dodge the views of the urban majority.
"We've been working hard to let our people know about the meeting," said Rudy Lukez, chairman of the Utah chapter of the Sierra Club. "Now, all of a sudden at the last minute, (Waldholtz) pulls this stunt. It's indicative of all the underhandedness that's been going on in this sorry book about how our public officials are trying to collect public input."
Waldholtz scoffed at that suggestion, saying her motives were pure.
"How can I be trying to silence them if I'm inviting 10 times more people to be in the room?" she said, noting that the commission chambers holds only 125 people while the middle school holds 1,100.
"There are a lot of things to talk about in this wilderness debate. Going to a bigger room is not one of them. I'm surprised (environmentalists) would choose to make this an issue."
Emotions have been tense since January, when the governor and congressional delegation directed rural county commissioners to recommend by April 1 how much land should be designated as wilderness.
The commissioners held a series of meetings in February and March to gauge public sentiment. They met the April 1 deadline, recommending just under 1 million total acres of wilderness.
Environmentalists complained that the process was giving rural Utah, which holds 20 percent of the state's population, too much power in deciding the fate of public lands that belong to all Americans. They also criticized the fact that none of the pre-April 1 meetings were held along the Wasatch Front.
Under pressure from her constituents, Waldholtz announced last month that she would hold the April 12 meeting. Environmental groups immediately began mailing notices of the meeting and its original location to their members. They fear now that many of their members will not get the news of the location change.
Waldholtz said that situation should be ameliorated by media announcements, an advertisement she is planning and by her posting aides at the commission chambers to tell people of the location change.
In addition to Wasldholtz's meeting, environmentalists are complaining about changes to the schedule of regional meetings that the governor and delegation are holding to gather input about specific wilderness proposals.
The schedule of those meetings has been changed to accommodate an unexpected meeting in Utah of Congress' Base Realignment and Closure Commission. (Please see accompanying story.)
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Additional Information
New dates for regional discussions
The governor and congressional delegation have changed the schedule for five regional meetings on wilderness. Here is the new schedule, which also indicates the county proposals to be discussed:
- Price - April 13, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., city building, 185 E. Main. Carbon Emery, Uintah counties.
- Moab - April 13, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Star Hall, 201 E. Center. Grand, San Juan.
- Cedar City - April 14, 8 a.m. to noon, Haze Hunter Conference Center, 351 W. Center. Garfield, Iron, Kane, Washington.
- Richfield - April 14, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sevier County Courthouse, 250 N. Main. Millard, Wayne, Beaver.
- Salt Lake City - April 15, 8 a.m. to noon, Read Auditorium, Orson Spencer Hall, University of Utah. All counties.
To speak in any of these meetings, call 801-538-9771 to reserve a time slot.