The eyes of officials in western states are trained on Washington County, Utah, where Congress is considering a sell-off of land to pay for development in the area around Zion National Park, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The plan would open up land for development, pay for water infrastructure and offer some environmental benefits such as a desert tortoise habitiat. (That should sound familiar to anyone old enough to remember the development battles of the early 1990s in Southern Nevada.)

But the defenders of wilderness are not happy because much of the land that is slated to be sold, is already managed as wilderness and creating developable land will only increase population pressure on the National Park, they say. And increasing the aggravation, a few folks who own parcels of land the government wants for the tortoise habitat are going to get a big paydayl selling their land to the government.

The model is reminsicent of the law that authorizes the BLM to sell land in an orderly manner in Clark County and use the proceeds for infrastructure. The difference is, though, that Southern Nevada was generally thought of as nondescript with occasional features like Sloan Canyon and Red Rock that were worth preserving. Washington County has a national treasure that is in a county that has suddenly become a popular retirement spot.

This is an old issue in the West. Locals have always pushed for more development and the feds have usually wanted less development so they could preserve the wilderness or the resources on public lands.