State Looking To Designate Wild and Scenic Rivers

None by Eric Ray

Open House Scheduled for Thursday

(KCPW News) The state of Utah doesn't currently have any rivers in its national forests protected by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. This means they are not protected from dam construction or federally assisted water resource development projects. However that could change over the next year and a half.

The U.S. Forest Service has identified 82 river segments in Utah as being eligible for wild and scenic designation. The next step is to determine if those rivers are suitable for designation. This means a round of political type arguments over the tradeoff between development and protection, and decisions about potential uses of the land and its waters.

The Forest Service is holding an open house to accept public comment and ask questions about Utah's eligible rivers on Thursday at the Salt Lake City Library from 4 to 8pm. A list of the state's eligible river segments is available here.

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