County takes stand against El Paso/WWP
Grazing rights won’t be going down without a fight, at least not in Box Elder County.
By Ellen Cook, Tremonton Leader, August 4, 2010 [here]
Commissioners Tuesday presented a strong front as they voiced their opposition to the recent agreement between El Paso Corporation (Ruby Pipeline) and an environmental group based in Idaho called the Western Watersheds Project.
The agreement, in part, gives WWP access to $15 million of the $20 million paid out by El Paso to avoid threatened litigation from the group. The group, in turn, plans to use that money to buy up grazing rights and retire them, in an effort to eliminate private grazing on public land.
To further support the county’s stand, Commissioner Jay Hardy was appointed to serve on the Nine County Ruby Pipeline Corridor Coalition, which will meet in Salt Lake City on August 12. Members of that coalition represent the nine counties the pipeline passes through as it runs from Wyoming to Oregon. All are affected by the WWP/El Paso agreement.
While the commissioners had planned to pass their own resolution contesting the partnership between the pipeline company and WWP, they decided to take their concerns to the coalition meeting and get a stronger consensus on a plan of action to fight the threat to local ranchers.
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