The Department of the Interior is in the initial stages of work that will lead to public scoping meetings on the San Rafael Swell National Monument. Although no meetings are yet scheduled, county commissioners said that the meetings will begin as soon as possible, realizing that people are understandably anxious about how the proposal will read.
At the core of the proposal will be the legislation that the county sent forward in 1998 as part of its San Rafael bill. That original legislation will be the framework from which the Department of Interior will, through the Bureau of Land Management, work to solicit comments during its scoping meetings.
While public meetings will be held on the monument proposal throughout the state, Emery County leadership and the public lands council are planning to hold their own public information meetings.
According to Randy Johnson, county commissioner, the county meetings will be packaged to coincide with the Bureau of Land Management meetings.
A poll which ran on the Emery County Progress online edition for the past two weeks sought responses to the question “are you in favor of a San Rafael Swell National Monument?” As of Monday the unofficial poll indicated that with 337 total votes, 78 percent voted no, 16 percent voted yes and 6 pecent were unsure. According to Johnson, comments he had received have been overwhelmingly in favor of the monument proposal.
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