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Show Ourcaucrafic bungling The wildfire on the east side of the Mineral Min-eral Mountain last week is a perfect example ex-ample of bureaucratic inefficiency. Had any rancher, farmer, hunter or other individual set off even a controlled burn, without an adequate fire line in the windy conditions prevalent, they would have been cited, even if the had permits. Even a cub scout knows better than to set a match to tinder dry June grass and sage brush with winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour. We're not so mad about the burn itself because we have seen the results of chaining and burning and then reseeding. And if done properly, the result is much better forage and therefore more productive produc-tive range land for both livestock and wildlife. wild-life. However, state regulations require a burning permit. They require that a fire line be bulldozed double wide around the burn area. BLM did not comply with state regulations. They ignored forecasts of high winds (43-50 miles per hour) and instead of dozing a fireline proceeded to burn the fire line. They did not even accomplish the goal of burning the thousand acres they had set out to burn. Only about 300 acres of the proposed burn area was included in the over 3,000 acres burned. The reason for such bungling inefficiency is obvious. Bureaucratic agencies cannot make spur of the moment decisions. If a date is set and conditions are not right they go ahead anyway. No one has the authority to stop whatever is planned plan-ned without a committee meeting. BLM did not comply with state regulations. regu-lations. They proceeded on their own seemingly immune to state law. They should be cited and brought to account for their contempt for the state of Utah. With two -thirds of the state of Utah under federal control, it's high time the state began to force federal agencies to abide by state laws. Public lands belong to the state of Utah not the federal government. State laws are as much in effect on public lands as private. pri-vate. Federal agencies are not exempt from obeying state laws. It 's t im e Utah stopped bureauc ratio, bun gl -ing by federal agencies, and take over control con-trol of all public lands within the state for Utah. Federal regulations are rapidly closing public lands to Utahns, and all others, oth-ers, for private enterprise such as mining and grazing, and recreational uses. Utah, and other public land states, unless un-less they boot out the federal agencies and take control of their own destiny, will soon become small islands in a vast sea of federally controlled public lands. We can no longer tolerate bureaucratic bungling by federal agencies who show only contempt for state laws. "Red" |