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Show Viewpoints. THE PARK RECORD WED/THURS/FRI, JANUARY 5-7, 2005 A-15 EDITORIAL Stay in touch with your legislators n two weeks, Utah's annual legislative session will start, determining in large part how the state will spend its money and govern itself. Amidst the choir of lawmakers and lobbyists, pundits and policy wonks, make sure that your voice - the Utah citizenry - gets heard. In representative democracy, communication between constituents and lawmakers is a critical part of the equation. Summit County has two representatives - Dave Ure (R) and Ross Romero (D) - and one state senator, Beverly Evans (R). If you've got an opinion on an issue, let your legislators know. Their contact information is readily available on the Legislature's website (www.le.state.ut.us), which a magnificent resource for tracking lawmakers and bills. Ure represents district 53, which covers most of Summit County. He can be contacted by phone at (435) 783-4650 (home) or email at dure@utah.gov. Romero represents district 25, which includes western Summit County (including Pinebrook and Thaynes Canyon). He can be contacted by phone at (801) 364-2451 or email at rossromero@utah.gov. Evans represents not only Summit County, but also Daggett, Duchesne, Uintah, and Wasatch. She can be contacted by phone at (435) 454-3719 or email at bevevans@ubtanet.com. Evans has the potential to significantly influ- I ence legislators, as she's the assistant majority whip and has been at Capitol for 18 years. Ore is also a highly influential representative and almost became the speaker of the house this year. Both are Republicans, and Romero is a Democrat, so Park City has representation on both sides of the aisle. As is frequently the case, education is a hotbutton issue this year. Utah schools are historically among the least funded in the United States. Several issues on Capitol Hill this year will address education funding. These issues include giving parents a tax refund of $500 for keeping their children home from kindergarten. That might save the state some money in the short term, but catching those students up would prove very costly in the long term. Another issue is giving parents a tax refund for sending their children to private school, which educators say only takes money away from an already strapped public school system. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has also proposed that Utah withdraw from the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind plan. He doesn't like federal regulations that tie teachers' hands, neither do teachers, but NCLB also comes with $107 million in federal funds. Utah schools need that money. Contact your legislators about these issues. Let them know how you feel about them. JOHN KILBOURN/PARKRECORD LETTERS TO THE EDITOR year-old boy put a smile on his grandIn the spirit mother's face Christmas morning. Tom's generosity and willingness to of Christmas help throughout the seasons and the ' Editor: As I left for work on Christmas Eve morning I gave my husband and son a few errands to do. One of those was to ' pick up a charm from Tommy Knockers for Grandma. When I got home just before 6 p.m. that evening, ready to wrap last-minute gifts, they realized that was one errand they had forgotten to do. I quickly called Tommy Knockers on the off chance that they were still open. Tom answered the phone and said that he had just closed. As I pondered my options, he quietly asked what I needed and where I was. In the true spirit of the season, Tom . temporarily delayed his own Christmas Eve celebrations in order to help a 14- years is a living example, in a time of far too few, of the Christmas spirit, day in and day out. Thank you Tom and may the New Year bring happiness and prosperity to you and yours. The Turklngtons Park City Cost of new parking garage Editor: Considering that Park City taxpayers are planning to spend $11,000,000 to build a new parking garage and plaza, George W. Bush's initial offer of $15,000,000 to rebuild south Asia seems SUMMIT COUNTY OFFICES Animal Control Assessor Attorney Clerk Commission District Court Data Processing Engineer Facilities Fair Health Admin. Health Clinics Historical Justice Court 336-3985 615-3985 336-3235 615-3235 336-3206 615-3828 336-3204 615-3204 336-3220 615-3220 336-3205 615-4300 336-3242 615-3242 336-3250 615-3250 336-3299 615-3299 336-3221 615-3221 336-3222 615-3222 336-3234 615-3910 783-4321 336-3015 615-3015 336-3800 615-3800 Library 336-3900 615-3900 783-4350 336-3296 615-3940 336-3265 615-3265 336-3124 615-3124 336-3122 615-3122 336-3970 615-3970 336-3238 615-3238 Motor Vehicle Personnel Planning Building Permits Public Works Recorder Senior Citizen Coordinator 336-3025 615-3025 Sheriff Administration 336-3500 615-3500 Jail Administration 336-3700 615-3700 Treasurer 336-3268 615-3268 336-3217 USU Extension 615-3217 (615 numbers are local Park City calls and do not require 435 area code.) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION 1 Year inside Summit County, $37, outside Summit County, $70 6 Months inside Summit County, $20, outside Summit County $39 Mastercard or Visa No._ Name _____ Mailing Address Exp. Date: Mail to: The Park Record, P.O. Box 3688, Park City, Utah 84060 Park Record e-mail addresses Andy Bemhard Nan Chalat-Noaker Valerie Deming Jay Hamburger Patrick Parkinson Jared Whitley Matt James Adia Waldburger Anna Bloom Scott Sine Grayson West Kat James Mike Duffy Matt Gordon Chris Gill Inkarna Black Joe Lair • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • GOObLUCK AND GOOb SLEDDING SHAUNA! ab@parkrecord.com editor@parkrecord.com ads @ parkrecord.com citynews@parkrecord.com countynews @ parkrecord.com education@parkrecord.com arts@parkrecord.com sports@parkrecord.com business@parkrecord.com photo@parkrecord.com photo @ parkrecord.com kat@parkrecord.com circulation @ parkrecord.com production @ parkrecord.com realestate @ parkrecord.com classifieds @ parkrecord.com Scoreboard @ parkrecord.com like really "fuzzy math." Sincerely, Beverly Hurwitz, M.D. Park City Fire Department to the rescue Editor: I would like to publicly thank the Park City Fire District, Station 35. When my father was suffering from lack of oxygen on Christmas Eve night, they responded quickly and professionally. If Continental Airlines hadn't lost his luggage 48 hours earlier, with all his meds, this emergency call may not have been necessary. It is such a relief to know that our community is so well served by the men and women of Station 35. My father, as well as my entire family, is breathing easier because of you. Thank you for all you do and Happy New Year! Sincerely, Holly Epp Pine Ridge Thank you to Delta Airlines Editor: There's been so much in the media lately about problems airlines and their GUEST EDITORIAL Gommunity^based conservation By JON CHRISTENSEN passengers have been facing that I want to acknowledge a very good experience we had recently. Two days before Christmas we were scheduled to fly home on Comair/Delta from New England to Utah. As I attempted to confirm flight details early that morning, I was getting a busy signal at Delta's 800 number. However, by 8 a.m. we received a call from a warm and cheerful, but very sympathetic, Delta representative saying: •The plane that was to come and take us to Boston was grounded in a snowstorm in Cincinnati, so our flight had been cancelled. •All flights from the three airports we might depart from were booked for the next three days. •They were trying to let passengers know, in case they could find a ride to Boston in time for the 4:15 p.m. connecting flight. Thanks to Delta's early call, we were -able to-locate a-rental--€a**that-we could leave in Boston, and to arrive there in time for our flight to Salt Lake City. Although the check-in and security lines in Boston were shoulder-to-shoulder and long, Delta and airport personnel were cheerful, cordial, and helpful, as were the airplane staff serving a full flight of passengers of all ages. We were very grateful. their migratory round, from the dry uplands to the nearby creeks and streams Way out on the sagebrush sea of the where they raise their young in the sumAmerican West, people are embarking on mer, then back to the shelter of the sagean uncharted new journey called commu- brush for the winter. nity-based conservation. Their flagship is There is no reason communities in the the greater sage grouse, a bird that has West cannot ensure that sage grouse surnarrowly avoided being added to the vive, but there are plenty of reasons why endangered species list because of the they might not. A sage grouse lek that sits cooperative efforts of people around the over a valuable natural gas deposit is soon Mary Hanscom region. surrounded by wells and roads. New Park City The decision not to list the sage grouse power lines cut through sage grouse terrisignals the beginning of a bold new exper- tory. Cattle graze on tender plants that iment. For many years, people in commu- provide food for young sage grouse and The Park Record nities around the West have been arguing grasses that shelter the birds the rest of the Staff that they are the best stewards of their year. Subdivisions sprawl into the sagelocal public lands, resources and wildlife. brush on the edge of a Western town. Now, locals are being given the chance to PUBLISHER Andy Bernhard Any one of these is no big deal. It could prove it. Editor Nan Chalat-Noaker be argued ~ indeed it is argued all the time Staff writers Jay Hamburger The Interior Department's Bureau of ~ that any given sage grouse habitat is Pat Parkinson Land Management, which controls about marginal. In many cases, it i* true. But Joe Lair half of the 258,000 square miles of existing often, marginal habitat is all that is left. Jared Whitley sage grouse habitat in 11 Western states, is That is why the sage grouse was a candiAdia Waldburger working closely with state wildlife agen- date for the endangered species list. Half Matt James cies, and local users of the public lands on of the sagebrush habitat that existed 200 Anna Bloom years ago has been converted into someconservation plans for the sage grouse. Owners of ranches that provide important thing else, and their populations have Contributing writers Tom Clyde Teri Orr habitat are also involved as is the Western declined precipitously everywhere until Jay Meehan Governors' Association, which has made recently. Joan Jacobson sage grouse conservation a top priority. Business as usual is what has driven the Silvia Leavitt Together, they have succeeded in keep- greater sage grouse to its precarious brink. Linda Jager ing the sage grouse off the list. But now The best you can say is that in recent years Courtney Herzinger Editor's assistant comes the tough part: actually learning to their decline has slowed and, in some Inkarna Black Classified advertising live with sage grouse. If Westerners suc- cases, sage grouse populations appear to Sheree Durastanti ceed at that, it will provide compelling evi- have stabilized, while a few have Holly VanDenAmeele Office manager dence that community-based conservation increased. Michael Duffy efforts can manage species and ecosystems Circulation manager That is why I believe the decision not to Kate Fischer without the heavy hand of a listing and all list the sage grouse is not an ending. It is Accounting manager Valerie Deming of the regulation that follows. Advertising director Wendy Halliday just the beginning of something that Advertising sales Anne Anderson But if they fail, it will be on a grand everyone who cares about the future of the West should be watching closely. It scale. Molly Ballard The sage grouse has been called the will take a community to save the sage Cheryn McNicol spotted owl of the inland West and the grouse. Teresa Chavez proverbial canary in the coalmine for the Jon Christensen is a contributor to Lacy Brundy health of the region's sagebrush grass- Writers on the Range, a service of High Chris Gill lands. These are not the most scenic Country News (hcn.org). He spent 12 years Annie Macdonald stretches of the West, though this is the as a journalist in Nevada and is currently Kat James heart and soul of the region. Editorial production Scott Sine on a gramtate fellowship in history at Photographers Grayson West To see these birds dancing at dawn on a Stanford University. He lives in Palo Alto, Matt Gordon cold spring day and to hear their call echo- Calif, but returns east to the real West as Production director Kristi Ruppert ing across a high desert valley - as I have often as possible. Production Scott Schlenker in northern Nevada - is not something Editor's note: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Jason Plawecki that stirs feelings of grandeur. Instead, it Service Director Steve Williams will make Kyle Burress evokes loneliness and vulnerability. a final decision on whether to add the Kim Vance This is a vast, harsh landscape. Few peo- greater sage grouse to the endangered Jon Smedley species list in early January. Staff biologists ple can live out here. And yet, these birds Chris Anderson have made it back to their lek, as their have recommended against adding the Distribution Todd Kendall mating grounds are called, to participate grouse to the list, and Williams is expected John Kilbourn once more in the ancient ritual that begins to ratify the staff recommendation. Cartoonist Visit The Park Record website at zvzvw.parkrecord.com The Park Record welcomes letters to the editor on any subject. We ask that the letters adhere to the following guidelines:They must include the address and telephone number of author. No letter will be published under an assumed name. They must not contain libelous material. Writers are limited to one letter every 28 days. Letters must not be longer than 350 words (guest editorials, 550 words) and should if possible, be typed. We reserve the right to edit letters if they are too long or if they contain statements we consider unnecessarily offensive or obscene. In addition, thank you letters are limited in length with regard to businesses and event sponsors. Send your letter to: editor@parkrecord.com Conicnlsof the The Park Recordarc copyright© 2005, Diversified Suburban Newspapers. All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced in anv form without written consent of the managing editor or publisher. The Park Record (USPS 378-730) (ISSN 07459483) is published twice weekly by Diversified Suburban Newspapers. 1670 Bonanza Dr., Park City. Utah. Periodicals Postage paid at Park City. Utah. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Park Record. Box 3688. Park City, Utah 84060. Entered as second class matter. May 25, 1977 at the post office in Park City, Utah 84060, under the Act of March 3, 1897. Subscription rates are $37 inside Summit County. $70 outside Summit County, Utah. Subscriptions are transferable; $5 cancellation fee. Phone (435) 649-9014 or fax (435) 649-4942. Published every Wednesday and Saturday. |