[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 150 (Wednesday, September 18, 2019)]
[Senate]
[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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