OCR Text |
Show THE SAN JUAN RECORD Wednesday September 6, 1995 - Page 2 Letters To The Editor Out On A Limb The Record welcomes letters from its readers on any subject of public interest. Letters must be no more than 300 words in length. The publishers reserve the right to edit, condense or reject any contributions. Letters must be signed and include an address and telephone Thank you. number. My Turn by James M. Parker if In times of war, the first casualty is often truth. In the Utah wilderness war, truth seems to be both the first and the most frequent casualty. Statements made by a group of wilderness lobby- ists in Washington, D.C., at a press conference, just prior to a recent congressional hearing on wilderness, confirm this. The press conference, designed to divert attention from what was going on in the. hearing room, was another ploy in a long-runnin- dis- g information campaign signed to prolong the de- con- troversy over wilderness in Utah. The smoke-scree- n tactic All worked. of obviously the local press accounts gave more coverage to the diversion than to the actual event. For example, a Deseret News story devoted 75 percent of its story to the diversion, 10 percent to the hearing, and 15 percent to background material. Public discussion of the wilderness issue has been almost completely taken over by special interests. This is unfortunate since the public ends up being exposed only to the extremes, the biases and the advocacy positions. The result is that the real facts are seldom discussed or understood. the public a chance to see balanced, proposals, based on substantive information. This bipartisan effort has suddenly moved the discussion from the disingenuous g rhetoric of and special interest groups to what will hopefully be a serious dialogue concerning which areas meet the criteria for inclusion in the Nawell-thought-o- ut self-servin- tional Wilderness Preservation System, and just as important, which ones do not. Fear of this kind of public discussion is apparently why the smoke-scree- n tactic is used by the wilderness lobby. The press conference was sponsored by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). SUWA markets itself as the ultimate prowilderness power ranger, fighting evil county commissioners and federal and state bureaucrats; greedy ranchers, miners, movie makers and, of course bikers, hikers, hunters, offroad vehicles enthusiasts and almost anyone who tries to use public lands. SUWA has built a national constituency by creating and promoting conflicts and controversies. Its are spokespeople adept at conjuring up and using meaningless sound bites, such as rape of the wilderness, designed to grab headlines and sway emotions. Why would an orga- (please turn to page 5) Dear Editor: On August 2, you published an open letter from Gail Johnson to Enid Waldholtz. Johnson expressed her disappointment with Rep. Waldholtz for playing politics at the expense of residents outside of her district. I certainly empathize with her since I feel that Reps. Orton and Hansen have done exactly the same. And Rep. Waldholtz played poli- tics at the expense of her own constituents. Since she publicly stated she would continue to support Rep. Hansens bill whether or not her amendments become attached to the bill, Rep. Waldholtz surrendered any power she may have had to alter the bill. Her ploy is a feeble attempt to appease her constituents. The entire process for developing a Utah wilderness bill was playing politics, a scam perpetrated on all Utahns. The game played out like this: Our governor and Congressional delegation told the county commissioners to develop wilderness proposals for their by Bill Boyle I have been in shock since the dedication of the Verdure Monument by the PiDaughters of the Utah oneers. At the dedication, Judy Barton showed a bill of sale signed by my great grandfather, George A. Adams. Dated July 1, 1905, the bill sold the beautiful Verdure valley to the Barton family, along with 300 head of cattle, for $5,000. Seasonal a fBenchmarks in Monticello By appointment only 801-587-30- 01 wis- dom, to propose a reasonable and balanced wilderness bill, revealing themselves COMPUTER INSTALLATION & TECHNICAL SUPPORT For Home or Office as the protectors of nature. The only truly surprising element of the game was the stinginess of the official players. Back in February when the game began, a lot (please turn to page 5) Stars Mel Gibson Call for information on shows playing Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday Adults $3.50 Children $2 IBM Compatible Novell Netware Apple Macintosh Internet IBM AS400 IBM Mainframe Cisco Routers Accounting Systems Multimedia Wide Area Network Local Area Network Call for an appointment 801-587-22- 78 ANTHONY TORRES f SAmOUANlTHEATER 7:30 MON FAMILY NITE $10 above San Juan Pharmacy yokels. Our govand ernor delegation could then come forward, with They are providing leadership to the issue and giving Braveheart (R) foresiiafl 148 South Main 8 est groups didnt want. 7 Blanding Four Corners Frame Co. is alive & well at bill, the Utah congressional delegation has done something that the special inter- )0$30 Monticello Monticello 696 E. Central By introducing and urging passage of a wilderness Thursday, September Weather ISeeIitTOHElMOyjESl!lEl8TOOTpiTil self-servin-g e calendars: OPERATION DUMBO DROP them look like provincial, statesman-lik- Mark your The Utah State Legislature will visit San Juan County September 21. Groups will meet throughout the county. LSeptembeiI8Jl?J no o Commissioners would propose an absurdly small wilderness bill, making their and keeping the cattle sounds like a good deal to me. I am sure that the other descendants of George and Evelyn Adams will agree. season. cent of Utahns, got to play). g, them keep the cattle. Doubling your investment There is no more definite sign of the approach of fall than Lyle Andersons jeep with the firewood wagon attached. Like the first robin old of spring, the beat-u- p wagon behind Andersons Willeys is an undeniable sign of the change of the counties (actually only about half the counties, representing about 13 per- nature-destroyin- In the past 90 years, I am sure that the Barton family has gotten their $5,000 worth. As a result, I am willing to buy the land back for $10,000. Knowing that the Bartons love the land as much as the original owners do, I am willing to let SAN JUAN BUILDING SUPPLY 377 West 300 South Blanding Deal with the people who know the building industry Give us a call - 801-678-21- 40 QUALITY BUILDING MATERIALS the Annual Subscription Rates San Juan Record ISSN 0894-327- San Juan County Outside County - USA $11.00 $12.00 $12.00 30c APO or FPO address Newsstand Senior Citizen $10.50 3 $11.50 Published weekly at 49 South Main, Monticello, Utah. Second class postage paid at Monticello, Utah 84535 (ISSN Postmaster: Send all address changes to P.O. Box 879, Monticello, Utah 84535. The San Juan Record is a member of the Utah Press Association and National Newspaper Association. 0894-3273- ). An Award Winning Community Newspaper Publisher Editor Bill Boyle Office Manager ............. Pat Richardson Ad Layout Pat Richardson Richardson ................. Jennie Typesetter ....... Daniel Francom Rewrite - Paste-u- p Proofreader ......................... Dawn Boyle PHONE 801-587-22- 77 and FAX |