Letter: S. Utah officials ignore or don't know facts on lands

Once again, county officials from southern Utah are demanding that federal land in Utah be turned over to the state to exploit. ("Southern Utah officials call for state control of federal lands," Tribune, Nov. 7) This is not a new demand, but the officials from southern Utah counties rationale was completely idiotic.

The cited example after example of losses to their economy due to the recent federal government shutdown, but they blithely ignored the fact that it was Utah Republicans in Washington who led and supported this Republican act of blackmail. Do these local officials live in a news vacuum?

They consistently ignore the fact that Utah cannot sufficiently take care of our state parks, let alone the federal parks. I wonder, if the national parks had been opened without supervision, wouldn't those Boy Scout leaders from Highland have had a great time rolling rocks down Bryce Canyon?

Western politicians haven't changed in years since their attitude was described by the historian Bernard DeVoto: "Get out, and give us more money."

Ron Swenson

St. George