Oil Boom Could Be Conservation Boon

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Utah's booming oil, gas and mining industry could be lucrative for conservation groups. KCPW's Julie Rose reports from Capitol Hill:

 

Farmers, ranchers, sportsmen and environmentalists are all backing a plan to guarantee a portion of the money the state collects in taxes on oil, gas and mining be spent on improving the land. Utah's booming natural resource extraction industry netted 65-million dollars in 2005 - a 52-percent jump over the previous year. Lawmakers hope to earmark nine-percent of those severance tax revenues each year to be spent evenly on open land conservation, rangeland improvement and watershed rehabilitation.
Currently the money goes directly into the state's General Fund for use at the Legislature's discretion.

The oil and gas industry worries that creating the fund will backfire when the boom goes bust. They say lawmakers will be more likely to raise severance taxes to fill the expectations of conservation groups relying on the earmarked money. A House committee's approval of the measure was nearly unanimous.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom, Legislative Coverage, and 2007 Legislative Coverage. Copyright 2009 KCPW