Utah Wilderness Bills
This is an archive of most of the Utah wilderness and wilderness-related bills that have been introduced in Congress and not passed.
109th Congress (2005-2006)
The Utah Test and Training Range Protection Act, re-introduced by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), contains provisions to codify Air Force overflight and air access rights to BLM wilderness and wilderness study areas in the West Desert region, to prevent any right of way being granted so that nuclear waste can be transported to the Skull Valley Goshute reservation, and to designate a Cedar Mountains Wilderness of approximately 100,000 acres.
108th Congress (2003-2004)
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2003, introduced by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and a large number of co-sponsors. This bill incorporated the Utah Wilderness Coalition's 9.1 million acre statewide BLM wilderness proposal.
The Utah Test and Training Range Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), sought to block rights of way across federal land for a proposed nuclear waste facility, to codify Air Force overflight rights above BLM wilderness study areas in the West Desert, and to designate a Cedar Mountains Wilderness of approximately 100,000 acres.
Senate version of America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2003, introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and co-sponsored by a number of other senators.
107th Congress (2001-2002)
This bill, introduced by Rep. Jim Hansen (R-UT), proposed to designate a 23,000-acre wilderness on the Pilot Range in the West Desert. The bill also contains special provisions on Air Force overflights and federal reserved water rights. It was attached to the Defense appropriations bill but later removed.
San Rafael Western Frontier National Heritage Area Act, introduced by Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT). The bill envisioned a new designation, national heritage area, to be applied to all of Emery County. Planning for the area's natural, cultural and historic resources would be delegated to the county level.
106th Congress (1999-2000)
America's Wilderness Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Jim Hansen (R-UT) and 17 other Republican House members. This provided a ten-year time limit for release of all BLM WSAs. The co-sponsors obtained the same bill number previously used for the Utah Wilderness Coalition proposal.
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 1999, introduced by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and a large number of co-sponsors. This bill incorporated the Utah Wilderness Coalition's revised statewide BLM wilderness proposal for 9.1 million acres.
Utah National Parks and Public Lands Wilderness Act, introduced by Rep. Jim Hansen (R-UT). This was a regional bill for the West Desert and Zion regions that proposed BLM wilderness designations for 30 areas totaling a little over 1 million acres. The proposal was the result of confidential negotiations between the Utah governor's office and the Department of Interior. H.R. 3035 also incorporated long-standing National Park Service wilderness proposals amounting to 1.3 million acres, for all five Utah national parks plus Cedar Breaks and Dinosaur National Monuments and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Despite public support from Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, national environmental groups managed to stop the bill.
San Rafael Western Legacy District and National Conservation Act, introduced by Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT). This was the second attempt to interest Congress in alternative designations for the San Rafael region. The bill would have established a 947,000-acre NCA and postponed any designation of wilderness on the San Rafael Swell.
Senate version of America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 1999, introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and co-sponsored by a number of other Democrats.
Senate version of the San Rafael Western Legacy District and National Conservation Act, introduced by Senators Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett (R-UT).
105th Congress (1997-1998)
San Rafael Swell National Heritage and Conservation Act, introduced by Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT). This bill proposed a 630,000 acre national conservation area for the San Rafael region, with four wilderness areas inside the NCA: Crack Canyon, Mexican Mountain, Muddy Creek, and San Rafael Reef. Sids Mountain was not included in the wilderness proposal, but it would have been designated a bighorn sheep management area. The proposed wilderness areas totaled 140,456 acres, approximately 53,000 acres less than the 1995 statewide bill included for the San Rafael. H.R. 4570 was defeated by a 302-123 vote in the House. This was the first congressional floor vote on Utah wilderness designation since 1984.
104th Congress (1995-1996)
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 1995, introduced by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and a large number of co-sponsors. This bill incorporated the Utah Wilderness Coalition statewide 5.7 million acre BLM wilderness proposal.
Utah Public Lands Management Act of 1995, introduced by Reps. Jim Hansen (R-UT) and Enid Waldholtz (R-UT). The bill proposed 1.8 million acres of BLM wilderness statewide, close to what the BLM proposed in 1991 as a result of its wilderness study. H.R. 1745 failed in December 1995 after a scheduled floor vote was cancelled at the last minute.
This was the Senate version of the Utah Public Lands Management Act of 1995. The amended version added wilderness acreage, bringing the proposed total to 2.1 million statewide It was defeated in March 1996 by a filibuster led by Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ).