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MX Missile Records

Jim Kichas
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October 2, 2024
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The MX Missile

The MX Missile was an intercontinental ballistic missile utilized by the United States between 1985 and 2005. Development began on the MX missile (which stood for “Missile Experimental”) in 1971 and in 1979 U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced that 200 MX missiles would be deployed throughout western Utah and eastern Nevada. This proposed basing system was immediately met with protest and controversy which festered in the region until the basing proposal was scrapped by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1982. What began as grassroots protest efforts within Utah and Nevada quickly grew into a large and vocal protest movement. Members of the movement ended up being politically active in attending meetings and discussions across the region, as well as holding events to raise awareness around the issue. In many ways it was a galvanizing moment in Utah, bringing together urban and rural interests, as well as a variety of faith groups who protested the development of a nuclear weapons system as fundamentally immoral. One of the largest anti-MX protest groups to emerge during this time was the MX Information Center whose records you can access at the University of Utah’s Marriott Library Special Collections.

In the years that the MX missile basing system was being considered, multiple Utah government agencies were involved in studying the issue and the potential impacts housing nuclear missiles would have on the state of Utah. The records from these agencies are now in the custody of the Utah State Archives and Records Service, and are outlined below.

Governor Scott Matheson’s Office

Scott M. Matheson was Utah’s twelfth governor since statehood, serving two terms from 1977 to 1985. During his administrations, Matheson dealt with issues including water management, federal and state land exchanges, wilderness designations, and the transfer of “Weteye” nerve gas bombs from Colorado to the Tooele Army Depot. He also contended with problems resulting from severe floods and mudslides that Utah experienced in 1983.

Black and white photograph of protestors against the MX Missile plan, during a meeting with Utah Governor Scott Matheson (the man in front holding a plaque). Found in the MX photograph collection at University of Utah.

One of Governor Matheson’s key interests was energy use and development in Utah, which included dealing with the effects of nuclear testing on southern Utah residents, and the possible basing of the MX missile system in Utah. Federalism and regional development played an important role in Matheson’s policy decisions.

The following record series from the Governor Matheson Administration contain information on the MX missile and its potential basing in Utah.

Series Number:Series Title:Dates:
1646MX Missile Records1976-1983
4455Speeches1976-1984
4466Outgoing Correspondence1977-1984
4532State Agency Correspondence1977-1984
4528Press Releases1976-1984
5418Declarations and Executive Orders1976-1984
22690Photographs1977-1984

The MX Coordination Office

The Utah MX Coordination Office was created on November 6, 1979, by the Four Corners Regional Commission and authorized by Governor Matheson. The Commission had received federal funding to plan for the anticipated impacts that would result from the deployment of the Missile Experimental (MX) system in the Great Basin.

The Utah MX Coordination Office was organized to plan for anticipated economic, social, and environmental impacts that would result from deployment of the missile system in Utah and Nevada, and to coordinate all planning and evaluation activities in conjunction with other local, state, and federal governmental agencies.

The office derived its authority from a MX Task Force, composed of the governors of Utah and Nevada and the secretary of the Four Corners Regional Commission. The Office was administered by a project director, an assistant director, and four other staff members. 

The Office closed on October 2, 1981, when the federal government decided against deploying the MX in Utah and Nevada.

Series Number:Series Title:Dates:
4246Administrative Records1979-1981
4247Governors Correspondence1979-1981
4248MX Subject Files1978-1981
4250MX Impact Files1978-1981
4251MX Environmental Impact Statements1979-1981
4252Federal Aid Subject Files1978-1981
4253Four Corners Fiscal Records1980-1981
4254Draft Environmental Impact Reports1978-1981
6372MX Reports1978-1981
4249MX Missile News Articles1977-1981
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The MX Policy Board

The Utah MX Missile Policy Board was created on February 06, 1980 with the formal drafting of Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws governing the mission and structure of the agency. The Board began as a voluntary cooperative organization between counties that faced the greatest impact from the proposed MX Missile System. The MX weapon system (proposed by the U.S. Air Force) would have spanned a 7,000 mile area of the Great Basin between Utah and Nevada. 

Representatives from the Utah counties of Juab, Millard, Beaver, and Iron formed the Utah MX Missile Policy Board for the purpose of meeting at regular intervals to discuss area-wide problems relating to the development of the MX Missile System. The Board was also tasked with employing personnel and contracts with various companies, individuals, and agencies for the purpose of studying projected impacts of the Missile System development. A final directive of the Board was to assist governmental entities and the citizens of each county in planning for the proposed Missile System development. The MX Missile Policy Board served as the parent organization for all studies and programs that emerged under its auspices.

The office worked closely with local governmental entities as well as the larger Utah MX Coordination Office, the MX Missile Task Force, and the Four Corners Regional Commission. The bylaws stipulated that the policy board be composed of three members from each participating county (with at least one member serving from each local county school board). Policy board members were chosen by County Commissioners. Each member held a vote on the board and any resolution or decision made by the board needed a majority vote of seven to pass. In addition an Executive Committee within the Policy Board was designated and granted legislative and auditing power for the organization.

The bylaws for the MX Missile Policy Board also stipulated that the group designate a Chairman and Vice Chairman. The role of the Chairman was to act as chief executive officer for the group with general supervision authority over Board actions. The Vice Chairman was to serve as de facto Chair if the Chairman was unavailable (with other duties as assigned). Meetings of the Board were determined and set by the Board itself, the Chairman, or a motion of at least seven voting members.

Meeting at the ME Bird Center in Delta, Utah about the MX Missile. Left to right: ?, Brigadier General Guy Hecker, Lt. Colonel Lawrence Molnar, General Forrest McCartney, Lem Lovell. January 31, 1980. Found in the Beckwith Family Collection at Delta City Library.

The MX Missile Policy Board also granted itself the ability and discretion to hire support staff to help plan and administer the various studies, projects, and programs in which the organization was involved. Organizational authority was given to a staff director (hired by the board), who was also tasked with setting meeting agendas. The staff director was similarly authorized to set a budget to submit to the  Policy Board with the Board having the final approval  on funding all projects, programs, studies.

MX Missile meeting in Delta, Utah 1981; Map displays the network of rails and storage facilities planned for the Utah-Nevada desert. Found in the Beckwith Family Collection at Delta City Library.

The Board ceased operations on December 31, 1981, when the federal government decided against deploying the MX in Utah and Nevada.

Series Number:Series Title:Dates:
5643Administrative Records1979-1981
5644MX Missile Siting Maps and Reports1979-1981
5646Living Facilities Planning Reports1979-1981
4251Draft Environmental Impact Reports1979-1981

Other Governmental Entities with MX Records

Given the size and scope of the MX missile basing proposal, several government agencies in Utah had a role in studying the impact that it would have on the state. Records created by these agencies that are now in the custody of the Utah State Archives and Records Service include:

Series Number:Agency:Series Title:Dates:
5650Division of Water RightsMX Administrative Records1977-1983
23603Cedar CityRedevelopment Agency Records1980-
10317Community and Economic DevelopmentCommunity Impact Records1972-1985
17728SITLAMX Missile Project Records1979-1981
11927GOMBMX Technical Issues Briefing Transcript1980