It’s not a good sign for the Uintah Basin. Rob Bishop, former Congressman for Utah’s 1st District that includes the Uintah Basin, spoke up in frustration at a meeting on Monday as a member of the state redistricting commission before resigning from the committee. According to a KSL report of the incident, Bishop expressed frustration with the process and where things were going with the map recommendations. Bishop emphasized that rural counties have more land owned by the government than urban areas and will lose their voice with several of the maps proposed. Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson said he would not appoint a replacement on the commission and that he shares Bishop’s frustrations of “how the commission has conducted its business.” The commission is tasked with proposing maps to distinguish new district and school board boundaries based on the 2020 census.
