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ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- Sen. Bob Bennett and Rep. Jim Matheson have rolled out a new version of their Washington County lands bill that environmental groups say is little different from their original draft.
Bennett introduced the bill on Tuesday and the Republican senator and Democratic representative said it strikes a "successful balance between conservation and responsible growth initiatives."
Changes in the new bill include removing a proposed dam site in an environmentally sensitive area in the Beaver Dam Wash area and postponing for further study the designation of a specific highway route through a protected reserve for desert tortoises.
Environmental groups have been particularly opposed to language directing the sale of federal lands, potentially for development to accommodate the county's population boom.
"There's simply no demonstrated need to sell off the heritage of our public lands," said Lawson LeGate, a public lands specialist with the Utah chapter of the Sierra Club.
The bill calls for selling about 25,000 acres of "non-environmentally sensitive public land," Bennett said.
Bennett and Matheson said discussions are continuing regarding the addition of more wilderness and greater protection of an area of critical environmental concern in the southwest corner of the county.
The bill would protect 219,725 acres as wilderness, including 123,743 acres in Zion National Park.
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance contends the measure protects too little wilderness.
"This bill is net loss for the land, for communities and for quality of life in Washington County, and that is why a broad array of residents throughout the state have asked for a slower, more thoughtful approach to this important legislation," said Chaitna Sinha, southwest field attorney for SUWA.
Sinha said the bill threatens wilderness by leaving the "vast majority" of wilderness-quality lands unprotected.
Jim Eardley, chairman of the Washington County Commission, said the bill provides for growth and he is optimistic it will pass.
"We think that it's an important piece of legislation for Washington County," he said. "We need it to plan for the future."
Bennett said the legislation will be the subject of committee hearings and could undergo further revision.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
