Today, House Natural Resources Ranking Member Doc Hastings joined the entire Utah Congressional delegation in opposing the America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2009 (H.R. 1925) – a bill that would lock up 9.5 million acres of land in Utah and block energy development, job creation and public land access.  Of the 146 cosponsors of the bill, not a single one is from the state of Utah.

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“The communities and districts that will be hit by such legislation would suffer very real economic harm and lost jobs if [this bill] were to become law.” - Ranking Member Doc Hastings (R-WA)

“This particular bill is a relic from the past. It has not been successful since the age of disco and will not be successful now or in the future. And we should not be spending our time on this, we should be spending out time trying to find proper solutions that will pass.”   – National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Rob Bishop (R-UT)

“Utah enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, and if the Red Rock Wilderness bill were to pass, thousands of well paying jobs could be replaced by low paying, seasonal tourism jobs.” – Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)

“To those colleagues who have put their names on this proposal, I say thanks, but no thanks.  I think as a Congressional delegation we have proven that we can handle the question of wilderness in Utah. And we intend to handle it well, and we have in the past.” - Senator Orrin Hatch (R- UT)

“The bill before the committee in my view is a centerpiece of the old paradigm. It carries forward the all-or-nothing approach to wilderness that harms the land rather than enhance its values…Red Rock bill belongs on the shelf along with the rest of Utah Wilderness bills that were never serious proposals.” - Senator Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah)

“Wilderness needs to be homegrown. It cannot be the work of only one group of stakeholders, no matter of extensive or sincere. That is a major reason why I do not support H.R. 1925.  It does not reflect the collective views of the many stakeholders in Utah.” - Representative Jim Matheson (D-UT)

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