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Show Page Two - The Pyramid - December 31, 1997 Public land used as buffer zone Dear Editor: One of the dirty little secrets Commentary behind the wilderness debate is that it is not just about locking up millions of acres as designated wilderness. We are also proposing, without realizing it, that many millions of additional acres be locked up outside that designated wilderness as buffer zones to "protect" the wilderness. Citizens should understand the SALT LAKE CIT- Y- Even though tar and nicotine levels in magnitude of the deception that is being foisted upon them by envicigarettes have dropped substanronmental extremists. A graphic tially since 1955, smoking is said to be more dangerous than ever, example is playing out in the forests of Idaho and Montana. because, on average, American The Rocky Mountain Division smokers, especially women, now smoke more cigarettes, inhale of the Lewis and Clark National more deeply, and take up the Forest in Montana is a 777,537 acre tract that lies adjacent to habit at earlier ages. Thus smokthree major designated wilderness ing mortality rates are much higher today than 40 years ago, areas including the Bob Marshall, the Great Bear and a wilderness according to a Utah Blue Cross called Scapegoat. Blue Shield press release. Of the three quarter million , acres in the Rocky Mountain The hardest thing is writing a Division, only 341,266 acres are recommendation for someone we available for exploration for oil know. and gas according to the forest Kim Hubbard plan. But forest supervisor, Gloria Flora, has decided that she Seldom any splendid story is will not allow leasing anywhere in the forest regardless of what wholly true. -- Samuel Johnson the forest plan says. Smoking appears Merrill Ogden more dangerous Welcome New Year . Weve made it through another year. 1997 is history. 1998 lies ahead as a blank slate for us to write upon. Its a time to set goals, make plans, and to try once again to make our resolutions last more than a few days. Many of us set ourselves up for disappointment year after year. Many resolve to lose weight. Many resolve to quit smoking. Some try to quit swearing. There are all kinds of resolutions made each year which are soon forgotten. Perhaps its time that we changed our approach to new years resolutions. We need to resolve to do some things which are easy enough to stick with and which will make us feel Heres accomplished. some possibilities for Sanpeters to try this year. 1998 Sanpete New Years Resolutions 1. I will get out of bed before 12:00 Noon on Jan. 1st. (Then after using the bathroom Ill not stay in bed for more than an additional two hours). 2. I will not worry about what I eat in 1998. 3. I will not weigh myself more than once per month, at which time I am allowed to worry for 30 seconds about what the numbers reveal. 4. I will go fishing with my kidsgrandkidsor friends. 5. I will visit the Fairview Museum and Central Utah Art Gallery at least once in 1998. 6. I will remember and acknowledge someones birthday this year who I normally dont acknowledge. 7. 1 will give local government officials at least one compliment for every three complaints I make in conversation with fellow Sanpeters. 8. I will go to tihe movies at least quarterly with at least one visit to the drive-i9. 1 will get into the mountains for a picnic and a hike. 10. Ill walk my dog (and myself) twice a week. Youll have to decide if any of these resolutions are relevant to you. I do believe that ". If youll they are keep these suggested resolutions, I think that youll have enjoyable 1998. Happy, Safe, Prosperous New Year to You and Yours... Merrill -- Gauging alcohol impairment n. Dear Editor: "do-able- Happiness is a journey It has been our pleasure to preside over the Mount Pleasant Utah Stake for the last nine months. We want to take a few minutes at the beginning of the new year to thank the good people of this area for their goodness and cooperation. During the Christmas TV programming we had the opportunity to watch Jimmy Stewart in "Its a Wonderful Life". The trials of life brought Jimmy to the point of suicide. His guardian angel gave him the experience of seeing what his town would be like if he had never been born. His attitude completely changed when he realized the effect that he had upon his family, business and the community. In this new year each of us should stop and realize the influence that our example plays in the lives of our family, our community and our nation. We should be aware that happiness is not a destination but the journey. Today we might say or do something that will have an eternal consequence for those around us. As a Stake Presidency we pray for the strength of each of you as you strive to keep your lives in harmony with your Heavenly Father. Mt. Pleasant Stake Reader upset by user fee As of Dec. 23, the facts as confirmed in a phone call to the Price office (National Forest Service) with Bill. Users will be charged to recreate m the area from roughly Joes Valley Reservoir on the south to Fairview Canyon Road on the north, Skyline Drive on the west to an irregular boundary Sanpat' Landing Nawspapar THE pyRRmm (USPS 365-58- 0) Published Weekly at Mt. Pleasant Utah, 84647 49 West Main Street Telephone: FAX: 462-21- 462-245- 34 9 Publisher Craig Conover Penny Hamilton Managing Editor Cheryl Brewer Andrea Office Manager Lloyd Staff Writer Deanna Pate Mkt.Photog rapher SUBSCRIPTION RATES (In Advance) $20 per year-5- on the east, to include a chunk of Emery County. The fee will be for toilets and other improvements. The proposed fee schedule is three dollars a day, $10 for long weekends or $25 for a year. And yes, hunters and anglers must pay. The habitat stamp raised your fees for deer to have a place to live in the off season. This new users fee is, so I dont step on a structurally imperfect, just squeezed yesterday, imported from California, almost frozen turd, right next to the spring I was going to drink from. All in all, I figure the forest service means well. Seeing what I have of Utah and the nation as a whole I would feel more confident if this whole scheme were under control of the Ephraim Forest District, as their management policies are more in harmony with the general attitude of North Sanpete. The last public meeting on the issue will be on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Castledale Courthouse. Its a good thing I have photos of the area as now Im getting nickeled and dimed out of everywhere. Its a good idea, but done elsewhere, where it will be appreciated. r: CORRESPONDENTS Monti, Bruce Jennings Fairview, Sabrino Haycock Moroni, Barbara Gordon Ftn. Green, Jessie Oldroyd 835-382- 4 427-350- 6 436-876- 0 445-342- 445-332- has she been granted such authority from Congress. She flaunts the court decision. But there is no legal consequence for her to be concerned about as there would be for mere citizens if they were to do the same. She basks in governmental immunity. If and when she is overturned, several years down the road, she will not have lost one paycheck, In fact, with the plaudits she has received from her boss, she will likely be rewarded with a promotion. There are several lessons here that the public must heed. First and foremost, federal wilderness is costly in itself in terms of lost economic opportunity. But designating wilderness is only the beginning and not the end of a process. As Flora has demonstrated, many more millions of acres are destined to be locked up outside designated wilderness at the hands of agency and environmental activists. Second, federal public servants, each of whom have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States, are not above caving to special interest factions and becoming petty tyrants in their own right. Wayne Hunt The oil and gas industry is challenging Ms. Floras decision but the process is long and costly. However the industry challenged is decided, extremists will environmental have won. If the industry should ultimately prevail and cause the leasable portion of the forest to be reopened, they will have spent many millions of dollars. Time will be lost and the price of exploration will have escalated. Companies will become discouraged and leave for less hos- - She shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us Winston Churchill -- T1? The Snow College Jazz Band recently per- - , formed a concert Price Greenwood Center. Snow College Evening School Division of Continuing Education Winter Quarter 1998 II Merit Badge Classes pdqTJcoies GraphiclDesigri Full Color Publishing 6 POSTMASTER: UT and additional mailing offices Flora has neither requested ry The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington D.C. in 1922. II 2 Send change of address to The Pyramid, 49 West Main Street, Mt Pleasant, UT 84647 Periodical postage paid at Mt. Pleasant, gress. a PRINTING North Sanpete, Leah Freeman Snow College Dean O'Driscoll Reporter, Ray Truitt tile environs. Other forest managers will pick up the gambit and apply it in their areas if for no other reason than to win favor with their boss. Similar tactics are subtly and sometimes not so subtly manipulating the rules and even their own plans to discourage exploration on lands near wilderness and on lands proposed for wilderness designation by environmentalists. If special interest manipulation of land management plans and agency complicity in such manipulation is not enough to incense the public then consider the these brinkmanship legalistic people are playing with the law. In 1980, a U.S. District Court decision held that neither the BLM nor the Forest Service could withhold land from oil and gas leasing to protect wilderness values without requesting and receiving permission from Con- Matthew Berlin Mt. Pleasant per copy $23 per year outside Sanpete County Public Information, Education Officer on-ro- ad George W. Johansen Earl D. Clark Kenneth W. Palmer Dear Editor: The amount of alcohol in a is measured by the weight of the alcohol in a certain volume of blood. This is Blood Alcohol Concentration "(BAC)". With each drink consumed, a persons BAC increases. Although outward appearances may vary, virtually all drivers and motorcycle operators are substantially impaired at .08 BAC. In the state of Utah, you are presumed to be under the influence if you have a BAC of .08 or higher or if you are incapable of operating a vehicle safely. This means you can be arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) with a BAC lower than .08 if you cannot operate a vehicle safely. reLaboratory and search shows that the vast majority of drinkers, even experienced drinkers, are significantly impaired at .08 with regard to critical driving tasks such as braking, steering, changing lanes, divided attention tasks and judgement. That is why you see Troopers doing field sobriety tests along the road. The tests consist of a person doing divided attention tasks such as taking steps and counting, or one of my favorites, have a person write out the alphabet. I have seen some pretty strange letter combinations and new letters never before seen. With a couple of field sobriety tests and a horizontal gaze nystagmus test a Trooper can get pretty good at estimating a drivers BAC. One of the best services we provide to the motoring public is to take impaired drivers off the road. In Utah, we have one of the toughest laws concerning drug use and driving. If there is any persons body measurable amount of a controlled substance in the blood, the driver can be charged with DUI. In the state of Utah, after midnight, one out of every seven drivers is driving under the influence of alcohol andor drugs. The risk of being in a crash rises gradually with each BAC level but then rises very rapidly after a driver reaches or exceeds .08 BAC compared to drivers with no alcohol in their system. Trooper Terry C. Smith, Utah Highway Patrol Where does Ms. Flora derive her authority to override the forest plan and close the entire forest to leasing? Listen up. According to Public Land News, a publication dealing with public land issues,' "Flora said in her Record of Decision that the public demands no leasing in the Division because the lands provide a huge buffer east of three major wilderness areas." We are told by both Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service representatives that their plans, developed in open public processes, are their "bibles" and that all land decisions are derived from the plans. It is through the planning process, they say that democracy and fairness are engaged and the publics interests are served. But what can be said of a public servant like Gloria Flora? She rejects the dictates of her plan. She then falls in league with strident environmental extremists who not only demand huge wilderness tracts but who also demand huge defacto wilderness tracts outside wilderness to "protect" the wilderness. Ms. Floras decision has zero legitimacy but this does not matter. She enjoys total support from her boss, Forest Service Director and Clinton appointee, Mike Dombeck. According to Public Land News, Dombeck "lauded Floras decision in an Oct. 2 letter to all Forest Service employees." He is quoted as saying, "This is true conservation leadership." Not quite Mr. Dombeck. This is the tyranny of special interest factions that the founders of this country warned us of more than 200 years ago. i Village Press 'll 68 So. Stato Mt. Pleasant Li iiHNmw II II Feb 12, 19 Bki EPHRAIM: for the feilowtog classes are available at the Soow Cellege store. For More infoMotlon about the classes, call Wendy Christensen at e 0 Course Course Title CR Day BCTC13050 CoratractKnMath&EstBnatmg 4 T COMM 10750 OniCartnroctfions M CRJU1G501 Intro To Corrections R ENCH Classic Myths A Folktales W GNST150JQ CnsDecmn I HlSTlTOjO American MBJO11050 BaacMnobaofcgy VK 6 pm D freakwel SCNCE2I5 PHED15250 BodyCondteiwgAgotaa MW 600-73- pm MGeorge TCINDGym ALanbot TCINDGym Gvia&cn Con&cnng Aerobics PH ED Body FHSX10850 Astronomy Instructor Location 630-- 9 p jo R.Wnght HrrecH 103 20pjn 1 Vfctfl HUMAN 122 Staff SOCSC106 00pm 630-83-0 pm JAndoscn HUMAN 122 pm. iPctoscn HUMAN 144 MW T7R W RLndssyStaff pm LLmday SOCSC1G4 SCNCEI27 iJ 1 POORCOPY |