Short answer: the LDS church.
I'm a transplant from Florida. Moved out here in 2007. Love it. However, there is no separation between church and state which leads me to my (not too absurd) conspiracy theory that the church is somehow positioned to profit greatly from all this. Get the taxpayers to foot the bill for the fight and get a sweet deal on land, and associated resources, from the Utah legislature.
I've been poking around the web and haven't been able to find any major hunting associated groups organizing a fight against this atrocity. Does anyone know of any? If so, please post links. I feel that Utah is the first domino and we need to do everything we can to keep this from happening. For me, the biggest issue (aside from the lands not being federal/public) is that there has been no mention of what will be done with them; no mention of a plan or agreement. If there was a reasonable, responsible use plan put forth, I would be happy to have a discussion. Not saying I'd agree but at least it would be something. Right now we've been given nothing, aside from generating revenue which we assume (rightfully) means more fossil fuel extraction.
I don't see this as a liberal vs republican and/or hunter vs non-hunter issue. This is an issue for all of the citizens, those that use the land regularly and especially those that haven't yet had a chance to see these wonderful public areas some of us are grateful to call home. We need to put our differences aside and fight this.
Ok, sorry, rant over.
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