May 6th, 2010

By Cleon Wall

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz says the Obama administration has been planning for months to designate parts of Utah as wilderness.

Chaffetz says he's asked the Interior Department for documentation on the designations but has been rebuffed in his efforts.

"The worry is that the Obama administration is going to use the Antiquities Act to grab millions of acres in the western United States, including Utah," Chaffetz says.

He says Utahns and members of Congress have a right to know what the administration is working on. He says, "They claim they have nothing to hide, but at the same time they won't give us the documents."

Chaffetz says he is working with Congressman Rob Bishop to sponsor legislation to force the administration to turn over the documents.

"Hopefully we will get them sooner rather than later because we deserve to see what they're looking at," he says.

See ksl.com for more.