Show Wednesday October 6 2004 Sanpete A13 Valley Edition Messenger-Gunniso- n Drought forces farmers to work with conservation agencies By Sean Hales Sfaff writer LOA — For as long as anyone can remember ranchers and government conservation agencies have been divided over the proper use of rangeland Landowners have aigued that they have the right to use their land as they see fit while conservation agencies have accused agriculture of encroaching on and damaging wildlife habitat But in the Parker Mountain area of Garfield Piute and Wayne private land in the Parker Mountain area During the event Sen Bob Bennett chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee along with Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jim Moseley complimented landowners and conservationists on their cooperative achievements “Working together you are going to get things done” Mosley said NRCS assistant chief Sara Braasch added “My hat is really off to all of you You have made grouse or grazed by livestock sagebrush should make up about percent of the ground cover according to Tom Jarman NCRS district conservationist But it now accounts for as much as percent of the plant life “The whole project is about striking a balance between what is and what should be" said Francis Sagebrush reduction methods researched by PARM include the “Dixie harrow” spike and the Lawson aerator The Dixie harrow treatment involves dragging a steel counties Utah’s drought has caused enough harm to both wildlife habitat and the livestock industry to bring the contend- JWqxkmg together you are ing parties together going to get things Over the past few years 18 government agencies and agricultural organizations have created the Parker Mountain Adaptive Resource Management (PARM) group to work on mutually beneficial land management solutions Both PARM’s cooperative structure and research accomplishments are attracting attention throughout the West The effort got another boost when the USDA’s Wednesday Natural Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS) announced to a gathering in Loa that it would provide a $350000 grant under UDSA’s Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) to improve habitat on 104000 acres of state and done-- the Parker Mountain range that reduced sagebrush in some areas and increased it in others Where there should be grasses used by the sage grouse and livestock sagebrush “noxious weeds and other invasive species” have taken hold Francis said In areas inhabited by sage ” treatment that kills sagebrush The Lawson aerator true to its name is an aerator except on a grand scale It’s a huge drum with spikes that rolls over the ground The spikes chop up the sagebrush and turn the soil treatment ways than just improved grazing Bagley related that in the 1990s concern over declining numbers of the spotted owl in the Northwest created a firestorm of by one from conservation groups and logging companies over whether the bird needed to be put on the endangered species list When the dust settled logging operations in Oregon and with spikes welded to it behind a tractor The harrow tears out the sagebrush and breaks up the soil making the ground suitable for productive plant life Spike is an aerial herbicide After three treatments are showing good promise” Wayne County Extension Agent Vem Bagley also said that improving the habitat of the sage grouse benefits ranchers in more rhetoric — Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jim Moseley it work in this area” Ronald Francis public affairs specialist for NRCS said that the drought has created an imbalance in the ecosystem in these methods the land is reseeded to grow plants that can maintain wildlife populations and feed livestock “It took a while for the treatments to hike effect” said Jarman le added that good snow pack and rain this year have helped “All of Washington State were severely reduced In April the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced a yearlong review to determine whether sage grouse should be added to the threatened or endangered species list Ranchers are concerned that such a designation would destroy agriculture in Parker Mountain And as Bagley pointed out “In Wayne our biggest amount of earned income comes from agriculture” Jarman hopes the fish and wildlife service will look at man- - Tom Jarman servationist treatment a be replanted agenient efforts and give them a chance to woik before designating the sage grouse “I Iopefully they won’t put it on the list” said Jarman PARM administrative assistant and professor with the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Utah State University Dr Terry Messmer said the research completed through PARM projects be published a similar project has started in San Juan County and that scxrn eight more projects would be underway would John Hales Staff writer EPHRAIM — Ephraim City has lost $158000 due to the failure of the Bank of Ephraim Nonetheless city officials feel lucky Through liquidation of securities that were backing some of the city’s funds and through Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) coverage the city has recovered $154 million or 92 percent of the $187 million it had on deposit when the bank closed on June 25 The Bank of Ephraim voluntarily pledged funds to guarantee public monies deposited in the bank explains Jim Thomas supervisor of banks with the Utah State Department of Financial Institutions The funds were held in se- curities with the Utah State Treasurer’s Office Ephraim’s share in those securities was $ 34 million Further says Thomas Ephraim City had three separate accounts with the bank Two of those were each insured up to $100000 by the FDIC That left $330000 of uninsured city funds On Sept 8 the city recouped about 52 percent of those funds in a dividend payment from the FDIC the organization supervising the bank’s closeout or “receivership” Original estimates indicated that depositors could expect to lose about 40 percent of uninsured de- - day” grown decadent stands” To: SanpcteMcssengercom Subject: Thanks for putting paper I am loving the website I was born and raised in Manti and now live in Salt Lake Whenever I come home to visit my mom I want to read all of her old Messenger’s to see what has been going on Now I can get on the Internet each week and keep up on all the latest county e news Thank you for putting the paper NOT IN OUR BANK! Thomas is unable to pinpoint the reason for the delay but speculates that the could be occurring simply because so many parties are involved or because other financial institutions are waiting for Far West Bank — which took over the Bank of Ephraim’s accounts — to take the lead If the consortium falls through the city’s total loss will not be known until the FDIC terminates its receivership of the Bank of Ephraim according to David Barr an FDIC spokesman in Washington DC Barr says that receiverships cannot be closed until all issues volving the bank — such as lawsuits and the sale of assets — are resolved “Some institutions have more housekeeping to do than others” he says “and it is not uncommon for a receivership to last three to five years" You'll be in and out before you know it! got the “run down” on g action the all We’ve hard-hittin- Call Sanpete ) Messenger The voice or Sanpete County since 1693 the project Prompt courteous friendly service awaits you at Gunnison Valley Bank ( sagebrush “I believe it can woik Jaiman said about y'lfll'fi&liF) posits Although Ephraim City’s loss is higher than that at about 48 percent Mayor Morris Casperson says the city conceivably could get all of its money back Thomas agrees explaining that shortly after the bank’s failure the Utah Bankers Association discussed the possibility of forming a consortium to entirely pay for lost public monies Initially Thomas says it appeared that the consortium was highly likely However as time passes “it gets less likely every throughout the state In a separate interview Jarman said that management and used organizational techniques by PARM could woik throughout the West including Sanpete County Sanpete has both and Great Basin shrub ecosystems and Sanpete has similar conditions with "over- From: Candice Richardson Ephraim loss in hank failure is $158000 By Natural Resource Conservation Service conbased in Richfield discusses Dixie Harrow method of reducing sagebrush so land can with Parker Mountain rancher 'muu'vMimfi-tii- m It 528-722- 1 |