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Show PAGE 15 THE ZEPHYRJUNE 1993 projects from the current regulations, the kind of exchange of information which was possible in the early stages of this project may not happen again. The local BLM office staff have been very professional in their management of this project Animal Damage Control gets Taken" Animal Damage Control, the branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that destroys wildlife to protect domestic livestock grazing on public land, has been stopped from operating on most BLM land in Utah. In response to an appeal filed by the Humane Society and in a memo dated April 6, the Director of Bureau of Land Management ordered all BLM offices with inadequate environmental studies to shut down ADC activities on public lands until new environmental studies are prepared. This Includes the Moab District of the BLM. Die Utah Farm Bureau, probably the greatest organized nemesis erf wildlife in Utah, quickly sent out press releases condemning the action. Cougars, bears and coyotes interested in survival probably feel differently, but were unavailable for comment. The Moab District will now have to write an new EA before it can allow ADC to start killing again in fills area. You can write District Manager Roger Zortman, PO box 970, Moab, Utah 84532 and ask to be put on the mailing list for the future EA if you wish to held decide whether ADC should be allowed to return to killing wildlife in order to protect domestic livestock grazing on public lands around Moab. Command's plan to launch missiles from Green River, Utah, and drop booster rockets from the missile on Hatch Point (AKA BLM's Canyon Rims Recreation Area) some 20 miles south of Moab was heavily criticized at a Moab hearing on May 11. Army personnel at the press briefing held prior to the hearing stated that the project would bring no regular jobs to southern Utah, despite claims of 50 jobs asserted by Green River's mayor (the Army tried to throw me out erf the press conference but were stymied by my full color Zephyr press pass). Comments about the projects or requests to receive copies of the EIS may be directed to Mr. David Hasley, US. Army, Attn: CSSD-EN-P.0 Box 1500, Huntsville, V, 35807-380- 1. Under file Rockets Red Glare, put II. Threats to the airstrip in Spanish Valley and the frequent helicopter flights are raising much Moab grumbling. Those complaints should be directed to the federal agencies managing the land where you are buzzed (Canyonlands NPS- - Tony Shetzle, Arches NPS- - Jim re-ope- n 259-716- 4; 1 1 ; USES- 1 The new Grand Zor Webster, Jerry County Council members should also hear your concerns. Communities around Zion National Park are also facing helicopter problems, and complaints directed to the federal agencies may provide base information for new legislation giving the feds the necessary and now absent authority to control overflights. Complaints to the county council members may be useful as they are faced with future county land use decisions. 259-816- 1; BLM-Rog- Shaw-259-7155- tman-259-6- er Oil and Gas It appears that Columbia Gas has again hit production levels of oil on its fifth well in the Island in Sky plateau area. This was the very visible well drilled along 313 near the junction erf roads to Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands National Park. As this is written, it also appears that Columbia will move a drill rig over to a drill site previously approved near the north edge erf Canyonlands. This will be the 10th well, the limit imposed by previous planning documents and BLM must now prepare an EIS. Columbia has also made a request to the State of Utah to be allowed to continue to flare natural gas from the its 27-- 1 and 19-- 1 wells on the Island in the Sky plateau. According to a notice sent by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, flaring at the wells will annually emit two hundred pounds each of particulates, PM10, and sulphur dioxide, 2,800 pounds of nitrogen oxides, 12,800 pounds of carbon monoxide, and 8400 pounds of volatile organic compounds. The state does not believe these emissions cause adverse air quality impacts, and intends approve Columbia's request. Written comments on Columbia's proposal will be accepted by the Utah Division of Air Quality, PO Box 144820, SLC, A Screaming Comes Across the Sky, Part II The U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Alabama Anasazi Kivas v. Toilets: and the winner is. , . The Moab District BLM office previously requested that the State BLM office allow $30,000 destined for archeological protection to be routed instead towards drilling a water well to determine whether, among other things, flush toilets were feasible for a new Cedar Mesa visitor station. Word is file district office lost, and the money will be used for archeological protection after all. ). 84114-482- 0 until June 5. One Grazing Remedy May be in Sight. The BLM has continued to use Grazing Advisory Boards, with membership limited to public land grazers, to help decide how public lands will be managed although the legislative authority for these boards expired years ago. On February 10, 1993, President Clinton signed an executive order which instructed each agency to terminate by the end of 1993 at least one third of all advisory boards operating without statutory mandate. The Natural Resources Defense Council, with SUWA, has petitioned Secretary of the Interior Babbitt to abolish BLM's 40 grazing advisory boards and to transfer their functions to BLM's existing multiple use District Advisory Boards which ostensibly have a more balanced membership. Wild Billy Does it Again Grand County's US. Congressional Representative, Bill Orton, has pitched in to help the mining industry fight off efforts to reform the Mining Law of 1872. Under the 1872 law the mining industry has taken minerals from public lands without paying a cent in royalties to the American public, often doing great environmental damage in the process. Secretary of the Interior Babbitt has proposed a 12.5 royalty on minerals taken from public land, similar to that paid now by the oil and gas industry. According to a Deseret News article, Mr. Orton is supporting a 2 royalty which the Congressional Budget Office projects would actually bring in no new federal revenue by 1998. The CBO projects that just a 5 royalty would bring in 380 million in new revenue by 1998. Me Firsters! in Action Met Johnson, the Utah State Representative from New I larmony who has garnered much ink with his views, fold a reporter that new Secretary erf the Interior Bruce Babbitt had informed the State of Utah that the new administration will not consider less than 5 million acres of BLM wilderness. The Utah BLM has proposed less than 2 million acres. U5. Representative Maurice Hinchey has reintroduced H.R. 1500 which would designate 5.7 million acres of BLM wilderness in Utah. A staffer for Utah Representative Jim Hansen was quoted in the same article saying Hansen recommended that groups push for roads across these wilderness lands by asserting county road right erf ways under RS 2477, a 100 plus year old statute that was repealed in 1976. Scott Groene runs the Moab office of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. anti-wildern- WATERING DOESNT HAVE TO BE A DRAG Simplify your irrigation system with drippers & mlnl-sprinlde- rs CALL KEN, and let him design your irrigation system. Eagles The good news is that a third pair of bald eagles is nesting in Utah this year at a central Utah location. The bad news is that the other two pairs, found along the Colorado River, have not nested at this writing. There has been speculation that a gravel pit operation near the Westwater put-i- n may have disturbed one of the nests, although other factors may have also played a role. Grazing Games Secretary Babbitt was in Grand Junction in May to hear testimony about overgrazing in the western United States. Ranchers heavily outnumbered environmentalists at the meeting, although in a rough count it appeared there were more green folk than ranchers from the Moab area. The livestock industry in San Juan County has taken steps to improve its image, probably as a response to hard feelings caused when the Utah Farm Bureau and certain ranchers pushed for reduced elk herds in the Aba jo Mountains in order to ensure the grass went to cows. A full page ad ran in the May 12 San Juan Record discussing the importance of "grass and stating that "grass is the foundation for the open spaces that provide habitat and food for wildlife." According to 1991 figures the BLM allocates about 85 of all grass to domestic livestock, not wildlife. The ad was presented by the San Juan County Livestock Association and La Sal Livestock. La Sal Livestock is the ninth largest public lands ranching operation in Utah, according to National Wildlife Federation figures. Where High-Te- c and Common Sense Meet. Friendly Bushes Happy Trees Castle Canyon Nursery 1 CALL 259-827- 4 ANYTIME Irrigation timers, pop up sprinklers. Licensed professional installation NOW FEATURING SPIFFY. 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