Where I Stand: Bennett, Hansen, Hatch — 0; environment — 1.7 mil. acres

Saturday, Sept. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

MORE THAN A YEAR has passed since I questioned the wisdom of Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah, and his Republican colleagues' battle against a proposed wilderness area in southern Utah. They were doing everything possible to protect a Dutch company's proposal to mine coal in the heart of the beautiful Kaiparowits Plateau. Also, Hansen's bill didn't provide protection for Moquith Mountain, Fish and Owl Creek canyons and the historically invaluable Anasazi Indian cliff dwellings, some dating back to A.D. 500. Kaiparowits is an Indian word meaning "the mountain home of these people."

Hansen has never shown much concern about the environment he will leave behind for our children and grandchildren. Yes, he's the same joker who, a couple of years ago when his party took over Congress, suggested selling Nevada's Great Basin National Park. It's the Silver State's only national park.

All attempts to pacify Hansen, Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, both R-Utah, and find a reasonable solution to protect these areas failed. President Clinton became tired of their nonsense and established the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which will include 1.7 million acres and the Kaiparowits Plateau. I spent the following three days in southern Utah.

The new national monument is best described by the Sierra Club as follows:

"The Grand Staircase, when included with adjacent Grand Canyon National Park, has six major life zones and 6,000 feet of elevation, containing 3 billion years of geologic history.

"The Kaiparowits Plateau is one of the most remote landscapes in the lower 48 states, boasting a variety of wildlife species, including pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, elk, deer, bear and cougar, among others. The Kaiparowits features a climax forest of thousand-year-old pinyon and juniper, and some 300 archaeological sites.

"The Escalante Canyons are known throughout the world for their spectacularly sculpted forms. Some of the finest examples of slot canyons, 100 feet deep and only inches wide, are found here. The Escalante area has been referred to as the 'Thousand-Mile Maze' for its labyrinthine canyon system.

"This area holds the most complete fossil record of land life on Earth. The air is so clear that one's vision of distant objects is limited only by the curvature of the Earth -- 150 miles or more. No wonder an area more than twice this size was proposed for national monument status as early as 1936.

"Land included in the national monument amounts to 3.2 percent of Utah's land area. Existing land uses such as grazing and hunting will not change. Existing revenue from state school trust lands will not change; currently Utah's education budget gets just one-half of 1 percent of its funding from state land leases."

Immediately the kicking and screaming began by many Utah officials. Evidently, they have forgotten that they probably brought this presidential action about because of their own obstinacy. Even Utah editorial writers, upset with Clinton's tough move, were able to recall the games played by their own congressional delegates.

After and before berating the president's action, The Spectrum, southern Utah's most influential daily newspaper, editorialized:

"There was little sincere effort on the part of the delegation to negotiate a compromise with the White House or other opponents. It then should come as little surprise that the president has used his considerable powers to circumvent what he clearly sees as those pesky Utah folks.

"One of the basic rules of both poker and politics is to be prepared to have your bluff called. You must assess your position clearly before climbing out on a limb, and it certainly appears that Hansen and his colleagues both overestimated the strength of their position and underestimated the president."

The Salt Lake City Tribune also strongly disagreed with Clinton's use of power but, in its editorial titled "Clinton Goes 'Wild,'" the editors admitted:

"The intent of his action -- to protect the unique lands in the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau and the Escalante canyons -- was commendable, though hardly his own. Virtually all sides have sought some wilderness protection of these lands, from the 360,000 acres in the Utah congressional delegation's bill, to the 890,000 acres in the original wilderness study areas, to the 1.27 million acres in the environmentalists' 5.7-million-acre proposal.

"The Clinton solution of 1.7 million acres under a less protective designation is excessive from a volume standpoint, but it does not inhibit current uses of these lands. What it really does is stack the deck against mining development under the coal-rich Kaiparowits Plateau, although it doesn't even specifically rule that out."

Not everybody in Utah disagreed with the creation of the national monument. Large numbers of Utahns have been fighting for a good wilderness bill, certainly not the one pushed by Hansen, but many of their own officials, seeking development dollars, have stymied these efforts. Of course, this isn't true in every case, because, just last year, Mayor Phillip K. Bimstein of little Springdale, Utah, gave strong testimony for HR1500, "America's Red Rock Wilderness Act." Springdale is the gateway to Zion National Park.

Visitors driving through Hurricane the Saturday afternoon following Clinton's action witnessed a large group of Utahns expressing their pleasure with his action. They are happy their town will no longer be threatened by huge trucks hauling coal through the town from the proposed Dutch mines.

Could the White House have handled the creation of the national monument with more sensitivity? Yes, and the same results could have been achieved. Several Utahns, who saw the need for the president's actions, told me it wasn't handled in a manner they approved. Some of them were bothered because it was announced on the Arizona side of the Grand Canyon, and others were upset it was done with such secrecy back in Washington.

If true, the Washington, D.C., trip report of Kane County Commissioner Joe Judd in the Deseret News didn't add much to the dignity of the White House staff. It was a rush trip for several local officials, and certainly they couldn't have expected to have immediate access to Leon Panetta. According to Judd, Panetta staffers John Hart and Shelly Fidler met with them. The Deseret News story relates:

"Judd said Fidler greeted him at the nation's executive mansion wearing a 'rag skirt, T-shirt and tennis shoes.' She slumped indignantly in her chair throughout their inverview.

"'We got the message that they couldn't wait for us to leave,' he said."

About the best way the entire battle of Utah can be explained is:

* The Utah congressional delegation picked a fight it deserved to lose.

* President Clinton took needed, decisive action that will be appreciated by future generations.

* The announcement of his action could have been handled in a more appropriate manner and been made in southern Utah.

* Somebody should tell the White House staff that the folks in Utah are good people and will be hospitable when, and if, they come out West.