Uintah County has a great track record of being involved in managing public lands and caring for its environment, while ensuring economic prosperity for its families, and industries dependent on access to the land, like agriculture, energy, and outdoor recreation.

As Uintah County’s population grows, acreage that contains critical minerals and energy sources will need to be responsibly and safely tapped; and finally, others will need to be preserved for fishing, hunting, camping, OHV use, and other outdoor sports that bring families together and are simply a way of life in the basin, I support multi-use on our Federal Lands and will fight to keep our Federal lands open to public use.

I believe the federal government should not pick winners and losers in the energy sector or agriculture sector. The free market and the demands of the public will result in the most efficient use of funds, a reliable supply of energy to fuel the country, enough food to feed our population, and innovative solutions to keep our environment clean and food supply safe. Responsible and reliable access to the land is necessary to accomplish this.

I was a member of the Uintah County Commissioners Public Lands Advisory Committee for many years. While in that role, we were instrumental in getting the commissioners to pass ordinances that forced the federal agencies into cooperating with the county in their implementation of their Resource Management Plans (RMP). The Ashley National Forest is in the process of revising its Forest Management Plan now. It is crucial that the county be involved and not allow our position to be compromised in access, recreation, industry, grazing, and wilderness designation.