I grew up in Tennessee and lived in Texas before moving to Utah. In the east and in Texas, issues with federal land management rarely occur since there is not much of the land is owned by the federal government. I had briefly heard about the land battles between western states and the federal government before moving to Utah. Now, it seems that I come across it every day. To get some perspective, imagine if the federal government owned two-thirds of Texas. How do you think Texans would feel about this?

Recently there has been a flurry of activity in Utah’s state government concerning state rights and natural resources. The state has been trying to rebel against the government by passing numerous bills such as requiring state approval before establishing monuments through the Antiquities Act and reducing the abilities of “danger rangers” to protect federal lands. State lawmakers have also sought to leave the Western Climate Initiative as well as claim that climate change is just a ruse to control population. As a recreation resource management graduate student, this has been interesting to watch, especially since my career path leads me to a position where I will be working for the federal government, trying to allow recreational access to our land while at the same time trying to maintain our natural resources. Today, this article was in Los Angeles Times that illustrates some of the current battles that Utah is trying to fight, but will ultimately loose: “In Utah, a move to seize federal land”.

I find this fight interesting since tourism brings in a huge amount of money for the state. When you think of Utah, pictures of the beautiful scenery found in our National Parks such as Arches, Zion, and Canyonlands come to mind. The National Forests provide land for all of the ski resorts in the state and have protected the mountain scenery around our towns. Utah is currently considering closing some of its state parks or selling them to private companies since they cannot afford to manage them. The federal government has been managing two-thirds of the land for the state for free (to the state, not to tax payers), especially at times when it could not afford to do so itself.

This is a wicked problem and illustrates the many challenges and complexities of my career. When you hear that I’m going into recreation resource management, you often think of being a park ranger, hiking for a living, and helping visitors. But dealing with these conflicts is a major part of this job, and something that I look forward to tackling.