Road to Understanding: Good relationship with federal land administrators is critical for Emery County success


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CASTLE DALE, Emery County — Eight percent. That’s all the private land for the entire 3 million acres of Emery County.

The federal government manages 80 percent and the state manages 12 percent.

Even where land is available, existing regulations limit its use and the ways in which it can be developed.

These limits affect many aspects of life in Emery County, from expansion and employment to recreation and tourism. They also require a cooperation between the parties that manage it.

“The intent is to work together. We figure we have no choice. We need to work with them, not against them,” said Ray Petersen, Emery County public lands director. “We need to work with the agencies, resolve the problems that come up with the stakeholders, whether it’s livestock grazing, mining issues, recreation, hunting and fishing, stuff like that.”

Petersen doesn’t mind the imbalance in land ownership so long as the county can make use of the natural resources on federal land.

“We always say if we can just keep Washington and Salt Lake City out of our hair, we can get along with the local agencies and work things out on a local level here,” he said.

Economic impact

Back in 2016, the Obama administration placed a moratorium on coal leases on federal land. That decision directly impacted jobs for many people in Emery and Carbon counties who rely on mining for work. According to Carbon County Commissioner Jae Potter, eight in 10 jobs in the county come from mining and power plants.

Utah's energy economy, which is largely derived from oil, natural gas and coal, generates $653 million in state and local revenues, according to energy.utah.gov. And the Utah Governor's Office of Energy Development reports that renewable energy is on the rise.

This may not bode well for the county, which used to have at least eight active coal mines, and is now down to two.

“It’s always had cycles. It’s always had its ups and downs, but this is one of the deepest, longest we’ve had in awhile,” said Joe Brinton, a geologist for Castle Valley Mining. “So, we’re concerned.”

Coal, gypsum, uranium, oil, coal bed methane and natural gas are some of the biggest natural resources that the county extracts. Most of those resources are located on public lands.

“A few years ago, our mine itself was ranked number 11 in terms of overall production, and now we’re ranked number 3,” Brinton said. “And it’s not that we got any bigger. The other mining companies have gone away, basically.”

The decrease in the demand for coal worries many in the mining business, as they depend on coal for work. County officials depend on it as an economic boost.

“We wonder if it will ever turn around,” Brinton said.

It is unclear how long the county will continue burning coal for power plants, but Keith Brady, a county commissioner in Emery, hopes to continue mining it for other purposes.

“We do hope that we can reopen some mines here and either sell it internationally or use coal as a raw material for a byproduct,” Brady said.

Public lands

Emery County has beautiful red rock canyons that are a popular attraction for rock climbing and bouldering. In the middle of the county, the San Rafael Swell encompasses 2,000 square miles of deep canyons and wide-open land, much of which is in pristine condition. There are also a number of Native American drawings on portions of the cliff face within the Swell. The county is also home to the popular Goblin Valley State Park with its unique hoodoos and landscape.

The county can still use the land that is owned publicly, but there are regulations on how that land can be used. If the county wanted to build bike trails, camping areas, oil wells or mines, they would need to jump through a few hoops to obtain permission from the Bureau of Land Management. And even then, it may not be granted.

Petersen says the county has enough private land that if officials want to bring in another factory or power plant, they could. The county currently has two coal-burning power plants: the Hunter and the Huntington. Its access to the natural resources on public lands that can cause problems for the county. He says the county’s relationship with federal regulators is going well right now but he fears what changes could come in the future.

For instance, President Donald Trump or a future president could designate certain areas of land as a monument, as former President Barack Obama did for the Bears Ears National Monument. Or Congress could designate large areas of land as wilderness, which would prohibit any kind of mining operations. Or, federal agencies could place certain species on the endangered species list, restricting operations in that species’ habitat.

For now, the coal industry in the county seems to be heading for a recovery period, with changes under the current administration that may bode well for the immediate future of the county. Newly-confirmed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has approved a $22 million coal lease in Sevier and Sanpete counties just last week. The move unlocks 56 million tons of recoverable coal.

Nathaniel Shoaff, an attorney with the Sierra Club, a national environmental organization, blasted the decision.

"Despite low demand in the U.S. and international markets for the coal Utah is already mining, Zinke has now placed over 6,000 acres of public land in jeopardy," he said.

But Petersen’s goal isn’t simply to drill and mine everywhere in the county, he said. For years, county officials have studied and worked on a plan to best manage the land, including protecting large areas of land. Petersen believes there is a way to both use the land for its natural resources and still maintain and protect the land and various animal habitats.

County officials are working with the state and the Bureau of Land Management to expand the boundaries of Goblin Valley State Park to help manage an increase in visitation to the park and surrounding slot canyons and to help maintain a lot of the land to preserve it for future generations. That can only be accomplished through a functional partnership between the local, state and federal governments, Peterson said.

“That’s what the challenge is. The best management for the land benefits everybody.”

Contributing: Alex Cabrero, Marc Giauque, Amy Joi O'Donoghue

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