The Tooele County Planning Commission on Wednesday recommended amending the county’s resource management plan within the general plan to reaffirm a policy in favor of multiple-use management of Bureau of Land Management lands. The policy also states the county is against designating, managing or treating further areas as wilderness.

The move is in response to U.S Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s December order directing the BLM to designate appropriate areas with wilderness characteristics under its jurisdiction as “wild lands” and to manage them to protect their wilderness values. The order also instructs the BLM to maintain an inventory of public lands with wilderness characteristics.

“Americans love the wild places where they hunt, fish, hike and get away from it all, and they expect these lands to be protected wisely on their behalf,” Salazar said, in a December press release. “This policy ensures that the lands of the American public are protected for current and future generations to come.”

Read more: Tooele Transcript Bulletin – Tooele County mobilizes against wild lands policy