RURAL UTAHNS DEMAND PUBLIC HEARINGS ON PROPOSED NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA

The U.S. Congress now considers designating the land and settlements along 300 miles of roads (including U.S. Highway 89 and the Boulder Loop) a National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area. The legislation would make the Heritage Highway 89 Alliance the managing bureaucracy of the Area, subject to the approval of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and the guidance of the National Park Service.

The Alliance would receive $10 million in matching federal funds under the new legislation to spend on preservation, tourism promotion, and “heritage” businesses.

Rural Utahns For Local Solutions (RUFLS) a group of concerned citizens in the proposed Area, is sponsoring a petition drive to demand public hearings on the impacts of the proposed National Heritage Area. We propose local alternatives for economic development and resource conservation.

This a multi-partisan issue. Concerns of petition signers include: lack of public involvement in the designation; control of local legislation and property by elites through grants; increased bureaucracy, federal control, and dependency; special privileges to tourism; high cost of living, low wages, and increased resource use in publicly-subsidized tourism economies.

Let’s not gut our Western heritage of independence in the name of heritage! The situation is urgent, act now!

RUFLS Coordinators:

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