Central Utah Project Litigation Documents

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1865 Herbert Avenue Salt Lake City, Utah 8410? March 12, 1974 Honorable Wayne Owens House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Wayne: I am writing this letter to you after considerable contemplation and conversation with others who know you well and share many of my concerns. After a long period of evaluation, I find myself in the position of being unable to actively work for your election to the United States Senate. My reasons for arriving at that conclu­sion are explained below. At the time of your candidacy for the House of Representatives, you made many statements to the effect that you would be a strong advocate for the environment, both nationally and in Utah. It was on the strength of that commitment and your previous record in Washington, as well as youroutstanding personal character, that I and many others in the environmental community worked hard for your election to the House. In fact, the environmental issues played a significant role in the defeat of Sherman Lloyd, and I was quite deeply Involved in those battles. Also, I did what I could to help you to acquire the support of the League of Conservation Voters. I believe that without my help, you would not have received the high priority for funding which they made available to you. I also worked to raise funds for you through the Kennedy dinner and the Sundance party. Since the time of your election to the House, we have had numerous contacts re­garding environmental issues. During the last six months I, as well as others, have become increasingly concerned that you have not only failed to fulfill your promises with regard to environmental protection in Utah, but you seem to be responding with actions which are totally political and antithetical to those concerns. In order to discuss those issues with you, I promoted the meeting which you had with Marga, Ruth Frear, June Viavant, Alexis Kelner, and Driest December. As you know, that meeting lasted about three hours, and we made our concerns quite clear and specific. At that time, we asked you to at least commit yourself to the preservation of claanddir in Utah. So far we have seen nothing which would indicate any such commitment on your part. I fear that you are moving toward a position of endorsement of many undesirable coal-fired power plants. The final blow came with your introduction of H.R. 12745 to expedite the judicial proceedings! on the Central Utah Project. You made no friends, even among the water users^on that one. However, you dealt a very serious blow to my respect for you, both as a Representative and as a friend. You did not even do me the courtesy of informing me of your Intent to introduce that legislation. More greviously, you joined the "rednecks" of Utah political demagoguery by stating "The four groups who filed the suit are based in other states-California, Michigan, and New York. As a resident/orutan? ran deeply concerned about our scarce water supplies, and I recognize the area's need for water development," (Congressional Record, 7 Feb.74) That statement implies that the plaintiffs in the CUP suit have no legitimate con­cerns, are not residents of Utah, and are opposed to improvement of the general welfare of the state of Utah. I know that you cannot possibly believe that. In fact, your actions have been motivated by political considerations and bear no re­lation to the merits of the case. Frankly, I am appalled. That was totally un­called for and represents a brand of politics which I thought was beneath you.