For immediate release
10/22/2014
Contact: Dave Glenn (307) 349-1158, dglenn@tu.org
Charles Card (307) 710-7067, ccard@tu.org
Public Land Agreement to Protect Hunting and Fishing in Daggett County
Plan would maintain the Green River as one of the top destinations for anglers
Salt Lake City — Stakeholders in Utahs Public Lands Initiative announced today they had reached an agreement that will help settle issues over public land management in Daggett County and protect fish and wildlife habitat prized by sportsmen, including a popular stretch of the Green River.
In a press conference in Salt Lake City today, Trout Unlimited, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Governor Gary Herbert, Congressman Rob Bishop, School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, and other stakeholders presented their plan to the public.
The announcement came from a plan submitted in August by Daggett County to Congressman Bishop requesting federal land management changes. Since then, the county, Bishop and several conservation organizations have worked to finalize the plan and find consensus.
The new plan would help protect some of the best fishing in the country and provide Daggett County more economic security by initiating a series of transfers and designations, giving the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) more capacity to meet its goal of raising revenue while raising the protection status of highly valued public lands for sportsmen and women.
Charles Card, Northeast Utah Backcountry Coordinator, said managing the Green River for fish, recreation and wildlife would maintain the high quality of fishing that anglers and Daggett County residents have known for years.
If we get these protections locked in, current river users can rest easy, knowing that future generations will have similar experiences on the Green through A and B sections, he said. We value the collaboration and are appreciative of the work that has gone into this plan from all parties involved. Its encouraging to see this kind of progress and feel there have been great strides in protecting this fishery and native cutthroat streams in the Uintas.
Of note to hunters and anglers, the plan will:
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Establish more than 80,000 acres of new wilderness on BLM and Forest Service Lands in Daggett County protecting important headwater streams for sensitive Colorado Cutthroat Trout populations.
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Establish a 30,000-acre conservation area.
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Designate about 14 miles of the Green River (one half mile downstream from the dam to the Indian Crossing boat ramp) as Wild and Scenic River. About 14 miles downstream from Indian Crossing will be released from Wild and Scenic River status.
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Allow an equal value land trade between the Federal Government and SITLA that would give federal lands managers higher quality conservation valued lands and SITLA lands with higher potential for revenue.
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Trout Unlimited is the nations oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North Americas trout and salmon and their watersheds. Follow TU on Facebook and Twitter, and visit us online at tu.org