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Show Times readers speak their minds ... Dear Sam: An article in March Readers Digest, "Andrus Makes His Stand," tells, like all true stories, 'Some of the Truth, but not all.' In his statements about the wasting of the west he has omitted some pertinent per-tinent facts. Mr. Miller emphasizes the beautiful range conditions condi-tions of the Public Lands before livestock indiscriminately indiscrim-inately ruined the lands by overgrazing, - he says -"It is not really a desert" -But - FACT 1 - Rainfall here is less than 6" per year. So documented by climat-ological climat-ological data - along with geologic and archeologic evidence on canyons eroding erod-ing and filling in repeatedly repeated-ly through the wet and dry cycles recorded on tree rings and in Indian ruins and legends of Pre-his-tory. FACT 2 - The old wagon roads and pack trails of pioneering days thru desert sands over talus slopes and loose shales are still visible and useable though dim and over 150 years old - proving prov-ing erosion isn't fatal thru the dry or wet years. FACT 3 - Small mesa tops - secluded rims and shelves inaccessible to grazing animals, grow exactly ex-actly the same plant species spec-ies and with little or no growth differences than flat grazed areas - re: The test pens built by the CCC boys in the Henry Mountain Moun-tain District. FACT 4 - Early settlers lost precious foundation stock due to feed shortages shortag-es after a hard winter and a following dry summer. This doesn't indicate the perpetual waving seas of grass of Mr. Miller's mention. men-tion. FACT 5 - History records re-cords the sighting of millions mil-lions of Buffalo roaming the ranges "way back when - " herds as far as the eye could see" -Taking weeks to pass a given point. Yet - These animals failed to destroy -ruin - or waste - those waving-grassy ranges -how did our far less numerous livestock do it? Forty head of Buffalo loosed loos-ed on the San Raphael Desert in 1940 have increased in-creased to nearly 400 head in spite of drought, annual hunts and the considerable consider-able roundup losses by aircraft. When trappers and hunters are allowed to keep the cats, cougars and coyotes under control, the deer herds thrive also. Domestic livestock are sadly depleted in this area because of the current drought and the inconsistencies inconsis-tencies of the Bureau of Land Managenent - e.g. One Federal agency making mak-ing livestock feed available avail-able to tide over the ranchers during a drought period - and the BLM attempting to raise grazing graz-ing fees at the same time. This seven years past of drought will end sometime some-time and when it does -you will hear the BLM blowing their horns to point out this feat they have accomplished! "See What We Can Doll" The BLM began as a Grazing Service, had they kept their original agreements agree-ments this service would have been a useful stabilizing stabil-izing agency; but like all government agencies it has evolved into big busi- ness - adding more personnel per-sonnel and more machinery machin-ery more power - taking over and duplicating functions func-tions handled by the States Stat-es and Counties, making laws, codes and regulations regula-tions and so-called laws -without regard to citizens and states rights. These rules and laws so imposed are the very ones railed against by the authors auth-ors of our Declaration of Independence - worded in such a way that it should endure forever - (skeptics, read it!!). Obviously it means little to this Despotic Des-potic Agency! We have Statesmen -Congressmen - and Senators, Sen-ators, who see this gross misuse of power and are doing something about it to stop the menace and these men will be maligned, malign-ed, investigated, threatened, threat-ened, vilified and deserted deser-ted by erstwhile friends -through the diverted power pow-er of this little kingdom. Now is the hour for "ALL" of us within these endangered western states to be actively concerned, con-cerned, to become informed infor-med of the realities and speak out against the dangers dan-gers of ever-growing federalism. fed-eralism. There are many who are willing to give their freedom of choice over to the Federal Government Gov-ernment - refuse their responsibilities - and they will lose their free agency, thereby! It is a fact that pruning in an orchard, a vineyard, or garden results in vigor-our, vigor-our, productive growth. We must apply this principle prin-ciple to our Government Agencies and Bureaus that have become a tangled, tangl-ed, unhealthy growth of professional manipulators. manipulat-ors. If our President and others feel they can hand over the Panama Canal with its multimillion dollar outlay to dictators of another an-other country, then there should be little opposition to the legislation now in process to allow all states to control the land within their borders. There are no Bureau of Land Management offices in Texas or in the other 38 states. Guy Robison Hanksville Sam: Sunday afternoon I took a drive up to the Big Bend to see what the Bureau of Land Management was doing to Moose Park on the river road, highway 128. The desecration I viewed view-ed made me not only sad, but angry as I had been led to believe that it was an effort on the part of the BLm to save the shrubbery shrub-bery and trees from vehicles as well as campers. camp-ers. In my estimation, the harm done by BLM crews with their huge bulldozers would have taken a lifetime of camping by citizens to even partially harm the environment of the park. On the credit side for the BLM, they have planted new trees and shrubs in what was an open, rutted, sandy driveway. drive-way. To protect the young trees, they have placed huge boulders near the highway to exclude vehicles ve-hicles from the area. They also have made a small parking area for anyone wishing to use the picnic tables or what used to be a sandy beach. However, with the heat of summer rapidly approaching, I seriously doubt that people peop-le will park their vehicles in the hot sunshine in order to enjoy the facilities of desolate surroundings. Believing that there are two sides to each discussion, discus-sion, I took S. Gene Day at his word and visited his office. He had asked for citizen input on plans for the river road, but I was told that he was at a meeting and I could talk to someone else. I was treated very courteously by the throe 1 men of the BLM and. was shown a drawing of what they are proposing for the park and if carried out, as I was told, I do not believe that many will object to the so-called improvements. improve-ments. I was told that the barriers for vehicular traffic traf-fic are only a temporary measure to protect the park from vandalism and that they did not wish to stop overnight camping in the area on a permanent basis. Only. time will tell the destiny of the park and I urge everyone who has an interest in the river road to visit the BLM and express their opinions and views, as the Big Bend area is a small portion of what is contemplated for other favorite spots on the scenic highway. I agree with the BLM, as well as do other citizens, that the acts of vandalism on the road must be brought to a halt. The slaughter of birds, eagles or vultures, in their rookery on the cliff walls must cease. The use of firearms and the indiscriminate indis-criminate shooting of wild life along this beautiful, wild, scenic drive only tends to strengthen those who wish to eliminate ownership of guns by the people of this country. W.D. McArthur Dear Sam; A recent discussion with a friend brought up several interesting points concerning Senator Jake Gam's current proposal to convey the ownership of federal lands to the State. There are certainly some legitimate concerns for Mr. Gam's proposal, particularly from a civic's viewpoint. It is central to both our economic stability stabil-ity and form of self government, gov-ernment, now and in the future, that an iridividual has the right to profit from his endeavors. To what extent this right is legally j or morally condoned, though, is another question. ques-tion. As I see it, the concept j of conveying federal lands I to the State presents a I choice equivalent to being I trapped between the ' homs of a great dilemma. In other words, which of the two presents a lesser i evil; or, in this case, a greater threat to our qual- ity of life? I There is no denying that I a pervasive feeling exists among private and special j interest advocates alike that valuable resources are in the process of being j "locked up" and made I unavailable for develop- I ment. In Utah the two largest areas of federal land formally withdrawn i from any locatable min- i eral entry are the vast oil shale tract in northeastern I Utah, and the 1.8 million I acre bombing and gun- ' nery range in the Great Salt Lake Desert. In fact, neither of these were i locked up by advocates of no growth. j It seems that all con- I cemed citizens would de- I sire to see the decisionmaking decision-making power in the hands of those instituting the most expertise for the best use of the land be it I local, State, or Federal. I However, what guarantee ' do we have that the State J could provide any better j expertise than the Feds? j Or for that matter, what i guarantee is there that the State would not sell out to large corporations having I the capital to invest in I large acreages of land? ' Granted, local interests , would certainly be more j persuasive in dealing with the State. But, just as torturous bureaucratic I procedures and obstruc- I tionist tactics so often fail j to understand local prob- J loms and needs, local j interests do not always reflect the wisest use of a j given resource. j Our precious resources I must be objectively eval- I uated on the basis of their potential and merit, whether it involves grazing, gra-zing, minerals, timber, watershed, wildlife, or natural characteristics. If an area warrants development, develop-ment, then it should be developed. However, if an area's wildland values outweigh the marginal benefits of other resources, resour-ces, it would be a tragic injustice not to recognize this fact. With this ever mindful, and based on the State's past performance and apparent willingness to sacrifice significant resource re-source values in favor of a seemingly "growth at any cost" attitude, I find it impossible to support Mr. Gam's proposal. One of the greatest challenges ever confronting confront-ing our society involves striving for an economy where physical affluence and richness of spirit go hand in hand. This will certainly not be an easy task when conflicting goals and values are implicated im-plicated in land management manage-ment issues as they have been recently. Even if all environmental organizations organiza-tions were outlawed we would still be increasingly confronted with environmental environ-mental restraints as a mere matter of survival. As for the Feds, they seem to have always real ' ized an almost unca I fu I J01 Survin " through the worst possibu ' crises, dating back to al founding fathers. Pern that in itself, is the gre est reason I support theii continuing to manage 0u, land. DougTreacW Ron Taylor, manager of Wilkerson Foodtown in Green River presents Librarian Fern Harmon with a $300 check. Mr. Taylor had calendars printed this winter using some of the old pictures of Green River as illustrations. He made them available to the public, but asked that a donation be made to the library for each calendar taken. The $300 will be used in the Green River library for extra books and expenses not covered by regular library funds. |