The Good Neighbor Authority House Resolution 1450 allows states, counties, and tribal governments to enter into a management agreement with the U.S. Forest Service to improve landscape health. Utah has not been a part of the Good Neighbor Authority funding because they have had success with shared stewardship.

Affordable and Workforce housing development in Public Lands counties was discussed. A bill was drafted to allow the BLM to dispose of properties either in municipality boundaries or adjacent to help with affordable housing issues.

The Federal Wildland Fire Commission is made up of 50 members. Bill Cox represents us at the federal level by making recommendations to Congress.

The National Endangered Species Act has not been re-authorized since 1992; there is some work to do there.

BLM Solar caused some heated discussion. Several committee members from Wyoming and Nevada were frustrated with the BLM about their solar plan. It will impact grazing. Greg Chilcott from Montana said that all of these projects before the federal agency has to conduct a complete study on how it changes the view shed, except for BLM Solar. Solar doesn’t look pretty, and it ruins the view shed.

A children's book written by AI was handed out. It is about Counties, and it rhymes. Commissioner Miles thinks it would be good for us to put something together for our County. It is important to educate children on what local government does.

He visited with the Census Bureau, BLM, Forest Service, Housing and Community Development, Veterans Affairs, and others at a luncheon.

The National Center for Public Lands Counties was brought about by the Western Interstate Board two years ago. We received local assistance and tribal consistency funds, which were a part of the American Rescue Plan Act. The idea was to set up a National Center for Public Lands funded by 1% of that money from each revenue-sharing county. If everyone would have opted in, it would have been about 15 million dollars. Not everyone would commit, but all counties in Utah have committed and raised about 5.4 million. This is a great thing that will educate members of Congress, Senators, and new commissioners on the importance of public lands in their county. Utah hopes to have the office in Salt Lake City.

The SRS (Secure Rural Schools) needs to be re-authorized. SRS is the forest payment that was started when the Spotted Owl caused significant issues with the logging industry in the North West. The payments come from timber receipts, and a portion of the money is paid to counties and school districts through the SRS. They are threatening not to re-authorize SRS, which will affect the rural school districts.

An interim resolution was put forward on the public lands to encourage Congress to prioritize funding for required infrastructure and maintenance. Commissioner Miles offered feedback. We have a minor contract with the Forest Service for one LEO to cover the entire Ashley National Forest. Our contract is only $5,000, which is very low and hardly makes an impact. He was able to get them to change the resolution to include prioritizing law enforcement on Federal Lands.

He thanked the other Commissioners for covering, allowing him to attend, and letting our County’s voice be heard.

Commissioner Hansen gave a brief description of the Utah Legislative Sessions. They are wrapping up. The Commission attended the UAC meetings. The new baseball field dominated the conversation on Friday to entice a Major League Baseball Team. They will increase the TRT (Transient Room Tax) to fund the project.

Commissioner Miles expressed his appreciation for our local legislatures. Utah State Representative Christine Watkins, Senator Ronald Winterton, and Utah State Representative Scott Chew. Senator Winterton has been a true champion of our County and his district, and we appreciate him for his hard work. Representative Christine Watkins put in the appropriations for the Duchesne and Myton City funding. The Commissioners appreciate their support.

The County supports the Rural Caucus breakfast. This is where residents go for information and where critical conversations take place.

S.B. 91 was recommended because of a situation in Northern Utah where an executive was given a hefty raise without public engagement. The bill would require counties to go through a public hearing to raise salaries. Transparency is a good thing, but this could cause issues in the hiring process.

H.B. 36 would prevent elected officials from having administrative conversations outside official meetings.