Area agencies are continuing their work on the development of Resource Management Plans for local counties. Legislation passed last year requires counties to develop and include the Resource Management Plan in their general plans “to be used as a basis for communicating and coordinating with the federal government on land and resource management issues.” The Uintah Basin Association of Governments helped develop a database and reference library by gathering data on land use from property owners in order to provide the most accurate information possible in the management plans. Duchesne County Commissioner Ron Winterton says area officials are focused and working on the plans to hopefully protect county interests in the future. “State legislature is having counties redo their plans to tighten them up and if the federal government comes in they have to adhere to the local management plans,” shares Winterton. “When a federal agency comes in with a study, they are supposed to see how the project stacks up against the county’s plans.”
