By Sara Price
County worker Ray Bradbury and Emery Commissioner Ethan Migliori recently returned from their trip to Washington DC. During their two-day trip, they sat in back-to-back meetings with district representatives in both the House and Senate.
They described their reception as “warm” and were happy to see the support from Capitol Hill. Utah Representative Rob Bishop would like to see a draft of the Public Land Use Bill that Emery County is working on by November if possible. He and others are working hard to gain the attention needed.
The Public Land Use Bill will affect several counties. Those who use the land such as oil and gas interests, ranchers, recreation enthusiasts, environmentalists and more were in attendance at the meeting.
They are also in touch with Pew Trust personnel who are very influential with environmental groups, working to craft a bill that will address concerns from everyone. Though Bradbury joked, “what usually ends up happening is a bill emerges that no one is happy with, and that’s the one that seems to make it through.”
Their trip to Washington was unusual due to their arriving on Sept. 11. All of the congressmen and women stood on the east steps for a 9/11 observance. Although the two county representatives were busy, Migliori’s wife, who paid her own expenses, had the chance to tour Washington DC and had a great time.