THE CANYON COUNTRY WATCHDOG By Scott Croene. Herb McHary 6 Liz Thomas Court Ordcn Salt Creek Closed. On June 19, the US. District Court ruled in favor of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance that jeep use in Salt Creek Canyon in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park was devastating the riparian ecosystem. The National Park Service 1995 management vehicle use despite biological studies commissioned plan left the canyon open to by NPS which showed ORV use was polluting the stream, degrading wildlife habitat and ruining stream side vegetation. Less than 1 of Park visitors bashed their way up the canyon in vehicles, and yet the small number were causing significant damage. NPS has closed the canyon to ORV use in response to the court's decision. off-ro- ad Conoco: It's Baack! Conoco Inc., the oil company owned by Dupont, is mucking around in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, again. Seven months ago, Conoco abandoned drilling efforts on an oil well located on Utah State land within the GSENM. Because of poor results from that well, the corporation also allowed a nearby federal lease in the monument to expire, without any drilling activity, although the BLM gave the corporation permission to drill (SUWA lost our appeal against the well). A half year passed, and it was a common understanding that Conoco was no longer interested in drilling in the monument, and was headed home to Texas. Then the Department of the Interior and the State of Utah struck a very positive deal to exchange Utah state lands out of the monument (legislation for the agreement passed the House and awaits action in the Senate), and suddenly Conoco's interest in the Monument was renewed. In June, Conoco notified the BLM that the corporation intends to drill at least two new wells in the Monument in the Circle Cliffs area. Conoco may be planning to fire up the bull dozers in an effort to intimidate the Department of the Interior into providing a buy out of Conoco's leases that already have been proven to be of little value. Conoco may think DOI will respond to protect both the monument and the recent land exchange deal. There should be no new oil development in the Monument, and Conoco should not be allowed to jeopardize the land exchange agreement with threats of development. Conoco should not be allowed to leverage its way to an unexpected payoff, simply because the area has been protected as a monument, and the state of Utah and the United states have resolved die trust lands issue. BLM should show a little backbone this time, and tell Conoco there will be no decision about wells until the monument plan is finalized. Please call Conoco and tell the Corporation to stay the hell out of the monument. You can leave a message at their corporate headquarters, and with Dupont at both numbers to at steer to Operators may try you an automated complaint line-- ask them politely to take down your message. Thank you. Destroy the Swell for Wallboard? The United States Gypsum Company has issued a Notice of Intention to conduct large Rafael Swell in an HR1500 area, and mining operations along the western edge of the San is now in the process of obtaining the permits necessary for access and to commence and topsoil mining. The company would strip the area of microbiotic crusts, vegetation, with a bulldozer and backhoes, and then drill and blast the gypsum from the rock while trucks would haul the "Overburden' would be piled in berms visible from gypsum off the site on routes the company would improve or construct Portland cement rock may also be mechanically crushed and screened at the site. These operations could last for over 30 years. This is the second round in this gypsum mining saga. As you may recall, an environmental assessment (EA) was completed for a similar mining project last year. However, because of massive public outcry, a decision record for die EA was never signed. Instead, an environmental impact statement (which is a more comprehensive document that must address all of the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the mining operations in the area) is currently being prepared. Hopefully, strong public opposition will again squelch this insane mining proposition. 1-- i SUWA Appeals BLM's Decision to Chain: On June 25, the Richfield BLM approved the use of chaining (dragging a anchor chain between two bulldozers) for fire rehabilitation. The practice threatens archeological sites, leaves an ugly mess, and demonstrates why the BLM should be replaced with a new agency. BLM claims the practice is necessary to control weeds. However, the bureaucracy refuses to consider less violent proactive alternatives such as controlling off-rovehicle use or livestock grazing, both of which spread exotic species. We've appealed the decision. LUCAS TURNER 1975 ad right-of-wa- off-ro- ad ere Build Illegal TraiL vehicle crowd now presents perhaps the greatest threat to Utah wilderness. The The latest acts of aggression include the unauthorized construction of ORV trails. This spring the Forest Service discovered ORV advocates had illegally constructed two miles of ORV trail in the Shay Mountain roadless area in the Aba jo Mountains. The agency says the trail has caused considerable damage and would like any information about the incident Please call Gene Lowin, USES law enforcement, Off-Roa- d off-ro-ad 435-587-20- 41. b J 1998 of a manJThe heart is three bowls always full and d one empty. The heart is a bird as it lifts and unfolds. Though its body may depart us. the heart is found in the leaking bucket of the ribs, in the four-winge- distant hills, the lover's body. The heart, it lives forever. in From his friends at SUWA ys right-of-wa- -- The heart is a white mountain left of center in the world The heart is snowbound broken rock in the locked ribs BLM Tries to Give Away Wilderness. In June, the Richfield BLM issued a decision to categorize lands in the Bullfrog Creek proposed wilderness area as suitable for transfer to the State of Utah. We called BLM and asked why they hadn't bothered to analyze the impact of giving wilderness to the development crazy State, and said we would appeal. BLM admitted it screwed up, but rather than dropping the wilderness parcels, simply stuck in a couple of lines of CYA "analysis", into the environmental assessment and reissued the derision. We'll file an appeal this week. The BLM's Biggest Waste of Money-Thi-s Month. The BLM is considering issuing road to Wayne County under Title 5 of the Federal Land Policy Management Act, a step which places the road issue under modem laws so that wildlife habitat and wilderness are taken into account. Offering Title 5's, based on environmental considerations, as a substitute for the counties' hobgoblin ROW 2477 claims, could be a positive step, if BLM limits the action to real roads and limits the scope y of the to existing disturbance. Big surprise: BLM is already butchering the project. Instead limiting analysis to real roads, the Richfield BLM is wasting public money conducting archeological clearances for county RS 2477 claims. According to work contracts, the clearances will cover a 90 foot swath along over 230 miles of "class D roads." "Class D" is code for unmaintained paths that may cross proposed wilderness areas, and are often little more than vehicle routes or livestock trails. This field work serves no purpose other than legitimizing these bogus claims. State Director BLM Lamb refused our request to halt the work on the Class D roads. The BLM intends to issue a programmatic EA on the project next week. Utah Wilderness Alliance of the Southern Most Endangered Wilderness. The Wilderness Society has recently named the Lockhart Basin as one of the most endangered wilderness areas. The Basin lies to the east of Canyonlands National Park, is within the citizen's wilderness boundaries, and is internationally recognized for its spectacular scenery and desert bighorn sheep habitat Unfortunately, the area is also for oil and targeted gas drilling, and one company already has an approved permit to drill. See the past Zephyr issues and the article below for more information, or contact SUWA at (435) 259-544- 0. The "Bureau of Livestock and Mining? (or BLM) Seeks Advice From ORV Group Grazing Permittees and Oil & Gas Companies for the Lockhart Basin Wash Plans. predicted in the last Zephyr issue, the BLM has spinelessly solicited the "recommendation" of local extractive interests for the Lockhart Basin and Comb Wash Plans. A subcommittee of the Resource Advisory Council met on June 18 and 19 for a whirl-win- d tour of the planning areas. The RAC's subcommittee is chaired by Hardy Redd, whose son holds grazing permits in the area. Hardy selected the committee members the majority of which are advocates for vehicle (ORV) use, grazing, oil and gas, and other evefopment driven agendas. This committee may have the effect of preempting the broader ijm - off-ro- ad public's interest and subverting environmental laws.