mineral and various renewable resources from public lands;
(B) support valid existing transportation, mineral, and grazing privileges at the highestreasonably sustainable levels;
(C) support the specific plans, programs, processes, and policies of state agencies andlocal governments;
(D) are designed to produce and provide the desired vegetation for the watersheds,timber, food, fiber, livestock forage, and wildlife forage, and minerals that are necessary to meetpresent needs and future economic growth and community expansion without permanentimpairment of the productivity of the land;
(E) meet the recreational needs and the personal and business-related transportationneeds of the citizens of the state by providing access throughout the state;
(F) meet the recreational needs of the citizens of the state;
(G) meet the needs of wildlife;
(H) provide for the preservation of cultural resources, both historical and archaeological;
(I) meet the needs of economic development;
(J) meet the needs of community development; and
(K) provide for the protection of water rights;
(b) managing public lands for "wilderness characteristics" circumvents the statutorywilderness process and is inconsistent with the multiple-use and sustained-yield managementstandard that applies to all Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands that arenot wilderness areas or wilderness study areas;
(c) all waters of the state are:
(i) owned exclusively by the state in trust for its citizens;
(ii) are subject to appropriation for beneficial use; and
(iii) are essential to the future prosperity of the state and the quality of life within thestate;
(d) the state has the right to develop and use its entitlement to interstate rivers;
(e) all water rights desired by the federal government must be obtained through the statewater appropriation system;
(f) land management and resource-use decisions which affect federal lands should givepriority to and support the purposes of the compact between the state and the United Statesrelated to school and institutional trust lands;
(g) development of the solid, fluid, and gaseous mineral resources of the state is animportant part of the economy of the state, and of local regions within the state;
(h) the state should foster and support industries that take advantage of the state'soutstanding opportunities for outdoor recreation;
(i) wildlife constitutes an important resource and provides recreational and economicopportunities for the state's citizens;
(j) proper stewardship of the land and natural resources is necessary to ensure the healthof the watersheds, timber, forage, and wildlife resources to provide for a continuous supply ofresources for the people of the state and the people of the local communities who depend onthese resources for a sustainable economy;
(k) forests, rangelands, timber, and other vegetative resources:
(i) provide forage for livestock;
(ii) provide forage and habitat for wildlife;
forage for grazing and wildlife in conjunction with state wildlife management plans andprograms in order to provide maximum available forage for all uses; and
(ix) in established grazing districts, animal unit months that have been reduced due torangeland health concerns should be restored to livestock when rangeland conditions improve,and should not be converted to wildlife use.
(7) The state planning coordinator shall recognize and promote the following findings inthe preparation of any policies, plans, programs, processes, or desired outcomes relating tofederal lands and natural resources on federal lands under this section:
(a) as a coholder of R.S. 2477 rights-of-way with the counties, the state supports itsrecognition by the federal government and the public use of R.S. 2477 rights-of-way and urgesthe federal government to fully recognize the rights-of-way and their use by the public asexpeditiously as possible;
(b) it is the policy of the state to use reasonable administrative and legal measures toprotect and preserve valid existing rights-of-way granted by Congress under R.S. 2477, and tosupport and work in conjunction with counties to redress cases where R.S. 2477 rights-of-wayare not recognized or are impaired; and
(c) transportation and access routes to and across federal lands, including allrights-of-way vested under R.S. 2477, are vital to the state's economy and to the quality of life inthe state, and must provide, at a minimum, a network of roads throughout the resource planningarea that provides for:
(i) movement of people, goods, and services across public lands;
(ii) reasonable access to a broad range of resources and opportunities throughout theresource planning area, including:
(A) livestock operations and improvements;
(B) solid, fluid, and gaseous mineral operations;
(C) recreational opportunities and operations, including motorized and nonmotorizedrecreation;
(D) search and rescue needs;
(E) public safety needs; and
(F) access for transportation of wood products to market;
(iii) access to federal lands for people with disabilities and the elderly; and
(iv) access to state lands and school and institutional trust lands to accomplish thepurposes of those lands.
(8) The state planning coordinator shall recognize and promote the following findings inthe preparation of any plans, policies, programs, processes, or desired outcomes relating tofederal lands and natural resources on federal lands pursuant to this section:
(a) the state's support for the addition of a river segment to the National Wild and ScenicRivers System, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1271 et seq., will be withheld until:
(i) it is clearly demonstrated that water is present and flowing at all times;
(ii) it is clearly demonstrated that the required water-related value is consideredoutstandingly remarkable within a region of comparison consisting of one of the threephysiographic provinces in the state, and that the rationale and justification for the conclusionsare disclosed;
(iii) it is clearly demonstrated that the inclusion of each river segment is consistent withthe plans and policies of the state and the county or counties where the river segment is located as
those plans and policies are developed according to Subsection (3);
(iv) the effects of the addition upon the local and state economies, agricultural andindustrial operations and interests, outdoor recreation, water rights, water quality, water resourceplanning, and access to and across river corridors in both upstream and downstream directionsfrom the proposed river segment have been evaluated in detail by the relevant federal agency;
(v) it is clearly demonstrated that the provisions and terms of the process for review ofpotential additions have been applied in a consistent manner by all federal agencies;
(vi) the rationale and justification for the proposed addition, including a comparison withprotections offered by other management tools, is clearly analyzed within the multiple-usemandate, and the results disclosed;
(vii) it is clearly demonstrated that the federal agency with management authority overthe river segment, and which is proposing the segment for inclusion in the National Wild andScenic River System will not use the actual or proposed designation as a basis to imposemanagement standards outside of the federal land management plan;
(viii) it is clearly demonstrated that the terms and conditions of the federal land andresource management plan containing a recommendation for inclusion in the National Wild andScenic River System:
(A) evaluates all eligible river segments in the resource planning area completely andfully for suitability for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River System;
(B) does not suspend or terminate any studies for inclusion in the National Wild andScenic River System at the eligibility phase;
(C) fully disclaims any interest in water rights for the recommended segment as a resultof the adoption of the plan; and
(D) fully disclaims the use of the recommendation for inclusion in the National Wild andScenic River System as a reason or rationale for an evaluation of impacts by proposals forprojects upstream, downstream, or within the recommended segment;
(ix) it is clearly demonstrated that the agency with management authority over the riversegment commits not to use an actual or proposed designation as a basis to impose VisualResource Management Class I or II management prescriptions that do not comply with theprovisions of Subsection (8)(t); and
(x) it is clearly demonstrated that including the river segment and the terms andconditions for managing the river segment as part of the National Wild and Scenic River Systemwill not prevent, reduce, impair, or otherwise interfere with:
(A) the state and its citizens' enjoyment of complete and exclusive water rights in and tothe rivers of the state as determined by the laws of the state; or
(B) local, state, regional, or interstate water compacts to which the state or any county isa party;
(b) the conclusions of all studies related to potential additions to the National Wild andScenic River System, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1271 et seq., are submitted to the state for review and actionby the Legislature and governor, and the results, in support of or in opposition to, are included inany planning documents or other proposals for addition and are forwarded to the United StatesCongress;
(c) the state's support for designation of an Area of Critical Environmental Concern(ACEC), as defined in 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1702, within federal land management plans will bewithheld until:
not diminished in any manner during valuation, negotiation, or implementation processes;
(f) agricultural and grazing lands should continue to produce the food and fiber neededby the citizens of the state and the nation, and the rural character and open landscape of ruralUtah should be preserved through a healthy and active agricultural and grazing industry,consistent with private property rights and state fiduciary duties;
(g) the resources of the forests and rangelands of the state should be integrated as part ofviable, robust, and sustainable state and local economies, and available forage should beevaluated for the full complement of herbivores the rangelands can support in a sustainablemanner, and forests should contain a diversity of timber species, and disease or insectinfestations in forests should be controlled using logging or other best management practices;
(h) the state opposes any additional evaluation of national forest service lands as"roadless" or "unroaded" beyond the forest service's second roadless area review evaluation andopposes efforts by agencies to specially manage those areas in a way that:
(i) closes or declassifies existing roads unless multiple side by side roads exist running tothe same destination and state and local governments consent to close or declassify the extraroads;
(ii) permanently bars travel on existing roads;
(iii) excludes or diminishes traditional multiple-use activities, including grazing andproper forest harvesting;
(iv) interferes with the enjoyment and use of valid, existing rights, including water rights,local transportation plan rights, R.S. 2477 rights, grazing allotment rights, and mineral leasingrights; or
(v) prohibits development of additional roads reasonably necessary to pursue traditionalmultiple-use activities;
(i) the state's support for any forest plan revision or amendment will be withheld until theappropriate plan revision or plan amendment clearly demonstrates that:
(i) established roads are not referred to as unclassified roads or a similar classification;
(ii) lands in the vicinity of established roads are managed under the multiple-use,sustained-yield management standard; and
(iii) no roadless or unroaded evaluations or inventories are recognized or upheld beyondthose that were recognized or upheld in the forest service's second roadless area reviewevaluation;
(j) the state's support for any recommendations made under the statutory requirement toexamine the wilderness option during the revision of land and resource management plans by theU.S. Forest Service will be withheld until it is clearly demonstrated that:
(i) the duly adopted transportation plans of the state and county or counties within theplanning area are fully and completely incorporated into the baseline inventory of informationfrom which plan provisions are derived;
(ii) valid state or local roads and rights-of-way are recognized and not impaired in anyway by the recommendations;
(iii) the development of mineral resources by underground mining is not affected by therecommendations;
(iv) the need for additional administrative or public roads necessary for the full use of thevarious multiple-uses, including recreation, mineral exploration and development, forest healthactivities, and grazing operations is not unduly affected by the recommendations;
may exist on the issuance of additional mining patents and oil and gas leases;
(E) that the authorized planning agency analyzed all proposed mineral lease stipulationsand considered adopting the least restrictive necessary to protect against damage to othersignificant resource values;
(F) that the authorized planning agency evaluated mineral lease restrictions to determinewhether to waive, modify, or make exceptions to the restrictions on the basis that they are nolonger necessary or effective;
(G) that the authorized federal agency analyzed all areas proposed for no surfaceoccupancy restrictions, and that the analysis evaluated:
(I) whether directional drilling is economically feasible and ecologically necessary foreach proposed no surface occupancy area;
(II) whether the directional drilling feasibility analysis, or analysis of other managementprescriptions, demonstrates that the proposed no surface occupancy prescription, in effect,sterilizes the mineral and energy resources beneath the area; and
(III) whether, if the minerals are effectively sterilized, the area must be reported aswithdrawn under the provisions of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act; and
(H) that the authorized planning agency has evaluated all directional drillingrequirements in no surface occupancy areas to determine whether directional drilling is feasiblefrom an economic, ecological, and engineering standpoint;
(n) motorized, human, and animal-powered outdoor recreation should be integrated intoa fair and balanced allocation of resources within the historical and cultural framework ofmultiple-uses in rural Utah, and outdoor recreation should be supported as part of a balanced planof state and local economic support and growth;
(o) off-highway vehicles should be used responsibly, the management of off-highwayvehicles should be uniform across all jurisdictions, and laws related to the use of off-highwayvehicles should be uniformly applied across all jurisdictions;
(p) (i) rights-of-way granted and vested under the provisions of R.S. 2477 should bepreserved and acknowledged;
(ii) land use management plans, programs, and initiatives should be consistent with bothstate and county transportation plans developed according to Subsection (3) in order to provide anetwork of roads throughout the planning area that provides for:
(A) movement of people, goods, and services across public lands;
(B) reasonable access to a broad range of resources and opportunities throughout theplanning area, including access to livestock, water, and minerals;
(C) economic and business needs;
(D) public safety;
(E) search and rescue;
(F) access for people with disabilities and the elderly;
(G) access to state lands; and
(H) recreational opportunities;
(q) transportation and access provisions for all other existing routes, roads, and trailsacross federal, state, and school trust lands within the state should be determined and identified,and agreements should be executed and implemented, as necessary to fully authorize anddetermine responsibility for maintenance of all routes, roads, and trails;
(r) the reasonable development of new routes and trails for motorized, human, and
animal-powered recreation should be implemented;
(s) (i) forests, rangelands, and watersheds, in a healthy condition, are necessary andbeneficial for wildlife, livestock grazing, and other multiple-uses;
(ii) management programs and initiatives that are implemented to increase forage for themutual benefit of the agricultural industry, livestock operations, and wildlife species shouldutilize all proven techniques and tools;
(iii) the continued viability of livestock operations and the livestock industry should besupported on the federal lands within the state by management of the lands and forage resources,by the proper optimization of animal unit months for livestock, in accordance with themultiple-use provisions of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, 43 U.S.C.1701 et seq., the provisions of the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934, 43 U.S.C. 315 et seq., and theprovisions of the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978, 43 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.;
(iv) provisions for predator control initiatives or programs under the direction of stateand local authorities should be implemented; and
(v) resource-use and management decisions by federal land management and regulatoryagencies should support state-sponsored initiatives or programs designed to stabilize wildlifepopulations that may be experiencing a scientifically demonstrated decline in those populations;and
(t) management and resource use decisions by federal land management and regulatoryagencies concerning the scenic resources of the state must balance the protection of scenery withthe full management requirements of the other authorized uses of the land under multiple-usemanagement, and should carefully consider using Visual Resource Management Class Iprotection only for areas of inventoried Class A scenery or equivalent.
(9) Nothing contained in this section may be construed to restrict or supersede theplanning powers conferred upon state departments, agencies, instrumentalities, or advisorycouncils of the state or the planning powers conferred upon political subdivisions by any otherexisting law.
(10) Nothing in this section may be construed to affect any lands withdrawn from thepublic domain for military purposes, which are administered by the United States Army, AirForce, or Navy.
Amended by Chapter 121, 2009 General Session