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Utah lawmakers continue to fall prey to businessmen selling unscientific environmental projects, costing the state millions, writes the Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board.
Just last year, the Utah legislature allocated $5 million of taxpayers' money to a software millionaire who claimed that bulldozing trees on his 1200-acre property would allow water to flow to places where its in short supply, specifically the shrinking Great Salt Lake.
The legislature funded the millionaire's idea despite research clearly stating that forest thinning would not help restore the Great Salt Lake. In fact, in dry environments like Utah, thinning can make the problem worse. Fewer trees can mean more rapid snow melts and more debris and mud flowing downstream, fouling natural waterways and municipal water systems.
"After-the-fact analysis is always good. But a lot more skepticism in viewing plans from people who evidence little knowledge about the natural world, and a lot more listening to the experts already on the payroll in state agencies and our universities, is what Utah needs," the editorial board writes.
Last month, Utah announced a lawsuit demanding ownership of 18 million acres of national public land. The state legislature did this despite agreeing to give up any claim to these lands when it became a state 130 years ago, and despite the U.S. constitution stating that only Congress has authority over the use and transfer of national public lands. If the lawsuit moves forward, it could cost Utah taxpayers millions of dollars.
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