A Move to Protect Red-Rock Country in Utah In a move that has heartened some environmental advocates, a state senator has proposed a resolution calling on the federal government to protect 1.5 million acres of red-rock arches, mesas and spires adjacent to Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah. The Canyonlands acreage, the largest roadless tract in the lower 48 states, is currently managed by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Conservationists and the hikers, bikers and backpackers who flock to the southern Utah's five national parks say that recreation is the "highest and best use" for this fragile area. Meanwhile, industries see the potential for a potash mine and tar sands development. After a Utah state Senate committee hearing last week that was packed with conservationists and outdoors enthusiasts, the proposed resolution was referred to an interim committee for study. In conservative Utah, where many believe there is already too much protected land that doesn't generate taxes for the state, the bill could have easily died, according to its author, Jim Dabakis, a Democratic state senator from Salt Lake City. Mr. Dabakis, who won a special election in December, said he planned to propose to the federal government and Congress that 1.5 million acres around Canyonlands be protected from development while an unspecified amount of federal land in eastern Utah was turned over to energy development. "That way, we protect the land but still do right by the people of Utah," he said. "The recreation people aren't going to be happy, the drill-baby-drill crowd isn't going to be happy," he said. But it will be an giant victory with some individual losses. Some Utah officials worry that President Obama may have his eye on the area and could seek federal protection for it at the end of his term as a way to shore up his environmental legacy, taking the matter out of their hands altogether. Environmentalists see a precedent for such presidential actions in the designation of Grand Staircase-Escalante as a national monument by President Clinton in 1996 under the Antiquities Act. That law does not require any further public review or federal study. The otherworldly rock formations around Canyonlands, sculptured over the millennia by sediment deposits and wind erosion, have provided the backdrop for movies including "Thelma and Louise." Shafer Point, where the two fugitives ended their road trip by driving their blue Mustang convertible off a cliff, would be included in the proposed protected area. The move comes at a time of great uncertainty for stewardship of public lands. As the new fiscal cliff of March 1 looms, national parks may be forced to slash $5 million from their budgets, and the five in Utah, including the massive Canyonlands and nearby Arches, would be hard hit. Meanwhile, although the economic benefits of outdoor recreation are considerable, local officials complain that only about 8 percent of the county's land is private and tax-generating. Mr. Dabakis is sympathetic. "The severance tax on an oil well is real cash that marches right into the tax coffers," he noted, whereas the benefits from the flow of environmentally minded people into Moab is less direct. Still, "here is an opportunity to protect over a million acres of roadless land," he said. Do we want potash there, or do we want beauty forever and ever?