Mitt Romney met with public officials and state delegates in Duchesne and Uintah County on Thursday as he continues his tour of Utah. Romney is running to represent Utah in the U.S. Senate. Among his many stops, Romney fit a visit to the AM920 studio for an interview on Basin relevant issues such as public lands. “The federal government has too heavy a hand on Utah and we need to find a way to return the power to the people and the states,” shared Romney. “We need to move from a setting where the federal government calls all the shots as it relates to public land to a setting where we have much more local involvement so that we can have multiple use on public lands.” Romney suggested developing pilot projects where the state takes over responsibility of public lands and manages them for the federal government. Doing so, he suggested, would do a better job of responding to needs of localities rather than bureaucrats all the way in Washington calling the shots. Romney also agrees with Interior Secretary Zinke’s idea to take the bureaucrats in Washington and send them to the offices in the areas of the United States that they oversee the public lands. In Romney’s words, “We need local connection with how our lands are being used.” Romney and his team plan to meet with elected officials in Daggett County on Friday.
