Carbon County Commissioners decided Wednesday to join a protested initiated by Uintah County against designating Desolation Canyon as a National Conservation or Wilderness Area.
Commissioners said the current designation was Wilderness Study Area (WSA).
Uintah County officials originally wrote a letter to United States Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar that opposed the Desolation Canyon status change as well as refuted claims that local officials backed the federal changes.
“Why do we need new designations?” said Carbon County Commissioner John Jones. “All public land use bills should be started from the ground up. I support sending the letter.”
Commissioner Mike Milovich said he was concerned the letter conflicted with a prior agreement to set aside local land as WSA.
Commissioners ultimately decided to amend the Uintah County letter with an overview of Carbon County’s stance on wilderness land use. The letter would be sent to Uintah County officials for approval before being sent to Salazar.