Letter: Public lands grab is fringe politics

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Wake up, Utah. As the Republican Party moves ever farther to the right, it is becoming less representative of the true political feelings of the vast majority of Utahns. Most residents of Utah are much more centrist-leaning than the dogma of the fringe right. Why do we keep electing such radical representatives? Certainly one reason is because of the low voter turnout and the feeling that one vote really doesn't matter.

An example of one extreme view of our elected officials is this nonsense of turning over the administration of federal lands to the state. Utah has been blessed with such unique beautiful landscapes that people from all over the world come to see them. Remember that without federal lands there would be no national parks.

But there are still additional areas of land in Utah that are so unique in their visual splendor that they should receive wilderness or national park status.

I'm tired of hearing about the oil boom in North Dakota. How many people from around the world have it on their bucket list to visit North Dakota? Yet, for many tourists, Utah is a must see. When will we have a governor that will be proud of our protected lands?

Randy Hopkins

Farmington