Few if any local residents care to support or decry a Forest Service proposal that would protect some local rivers and leave others open to development, if a Provo public hearing held Tuesday is any indication.

Of 840 miles of Utah rivers considered for Wild and Scenic status, a protection given by the U.S. Congress to ensure the river segments are maintained at status quo in perpetuity, the Forest Service has now announced it is recommending protective status for 132 miles.

Local rivers were proposed for protection, though some have been rejected. Declined were a 20-mile section of the Provo River, a 1/3-mile piece of American Fork River near Timpooneke Campground, and 1.3 miles of the Provo River near Theater-in-the-Pines. Proposed for protection is an 8-mile segment of Fifth Water Creek in Spanish Fork Canyon and a 3-mile segment of Provo River at Cascade Springs. These were chosen because they represent the best rivers in Utah "while resulting in the least impact to future planned development in the state while keeping long-term costs of management low," according to the Forest Service.

In an interview, Cathy Kahlow of the Forest Service said it was not immediately clear what the onerous long-term costs would be, except that it may cost the Forest Service more to monitor protected areas if they were close to population centers. In the short-term, the Forest Service would need to pay for the development of a management plan for any rivers given protection.

Local environmental groups, which have cried foul over the proposal, could not drum up local residents to attend.

Two paid staffers of the Utah Rivers Council, whose sole mission is to protect Utah rivers, said they even issued an e-mail "action alert" to their 1,500 statewide members, but none of their local members showed up on Tuesday. The staffers said they are working to influence the issue but called their inability to draw public support "frustrating."

"People are just apathetic," said Amy Defreese of the council. "It's true."

No one from Utah Valley's sole environmental group, the Utah Valley Sierra Forum, showed up at the meeting. Officials from that group said in an interview late Tuesday night that they have been occupied by other environmental work and had meant to send a delegation to the Provo meeting. The group has not discussed the Forest Service proposal at a meeting, said Oliver Smith Callis, who is Utah Lake watershed coordinator for the group, but plans to be active on local water issues and will attend a Salt Lake County meeting on the Forest Service proposal.

Sarah Walker, a BYU senior with plans to work in environmental policy, was the only person at the meeting who was not there for professional reasons.

"I research aquatic insects in American Fork Canyon and my concerns are about the American Fork River in particular," she said.

Officials of both the Forest Service and the Utah Rivers Council called the possibility of permanently protecting Utah rivers "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Mark Danenhauer of the Utah Rivers Council said the Forest Service proposal does not go far enough, and that perhaps not enough people understand what is at stake.

"I would say this is a really incredible opportunity for Utahns to get some of their most outstanding and most beloved rivers protected," he said. "An opportunity like this does not arise often and is not going to happen in the future."

The Forest Service recommendation "includes a lot of very valuable rivers and leaves out others such as the Provo, the Logan, Fish and Gooseberry Creeks," he said. "If people love these rivers, this is really the time for them to take a few minutes out of their day and speak up for those rivers."

Particularly concerning is the 20-mile segment of the Provo River from Trial Lake paralleling the Mirror Lake Highway that will not be protected unless the public demands a change, he said.

"These recommendations are not set in stone," said Dave Myers of the Forest Service. "If you like certain rivers ... or if you are concerned about the effects of a river being protected, you can really influence the process."

The Forest Service proposal is at www.fs.fed.us/r4/rivers.

The public can comment by mailing to Utah NF Wild and Scenic River DEIS, P.O. Box 162969, Sacramento, CA 95816-2969 or by e-mailing to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or by faxing to (916) 456-6724. Comments will be taken until Feb. 15.