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Show 3A Emery County Progress Castle Dale, Utah Tuesday November 19, 2002 OMMENTAEY ite, A ir--r ic Rq united with permission jrom the Salt Lake Tribune at the request of Citizens fin Finery County's Future, Tracy Jeffs, Bevan Wilson and Kent Petersen. An innowitiw approach to increasing public in ol ement in federal land management decisions appears to have been scuttled at the starting gate by 2,131 voters in timer) County. Though the vote against creating a national monument out of the San Rafael was nonbinding, Gov. Mike U'avitt, the Hush administration and Kntery Count) leaders announced in October they would not continue to push for the monument if the county voters did not approve. If they hold to that, and they would be right not to, the rest of the Utah public and residents of the 49 other states w ill be left w ith no say on the future of a spectacular public land mass as a d national treasure. That result would tie a sadly predictable victory for the special interests w ho w ant to control the lands debate. The initial idea was touted as a model for public land-us- e decisions. The Hureau of hand Management better-manage- would conduct surveys with questions framed, in part, by disparate interest environmentalists to groups-frooffroa- m (OKV) d-vehicle groups. Sample groupings from Utah and at least one other state would be surveyed and any other interested person across the nation could have logged on to the BLMs Web site and participated. Hut OKV groups inundated Emery with ads and literature. When the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance supported the monument proposal, some painted it as a cynical move to kill what support remained. The theory was that SUWA is so disliked in Emery that anything it supports dies, leaving SUWA free to continue fighting for wilderness designation for the San Rafael. The cavalcade of special interest groups clearly wanted to derail the proposal before their voices could be joined by others with broader agendas. Emery County Commissioner Randy Johnson, among the plans most ardent champions, was sent packing by voters. One ORV groups president, Mark declared following Tuesdays vote, People were just fed Williams, up with the way this was done. They wanted to be involved. Clearly they did become involved, because they didnt w'ant anyone else to join the debate. They wanted the interests of the millions of federal taxpayers who have a stake in the land to be canceled out by a mere 2,151 of their number. Federal, state and local officials should move the monument question to a broader stage, one less easily manipulated. Emery County voters have had their say. Millions of others deserve the same opportunity. PUBLIC LAND FOCUS LETTERS Come lip with A Better Plan for the Swell Dear Editor, After the election results indicated clearly that the Emery County residents did not want the San Rafael locked up as a national monument, so be it, but the local residents of Emery County had better step forward now w ith their idea of a plan and what they want, then push for it. Or they are going to end up sucking the hind tit. Any time vou have the environmental groups standingon the side line watching, this brouhaha, be prepared to get hammered. As see it the San Rafael had only one of three possibilities. State monument, national monument of wilderness. Conservation area? Yes, you had that chance in the beginning and you nixed it. If the four wheelers, dirt bikers, or anyone else believe they are going to keep it open for their personal playground, wake up and smell the roses. You ure not. You only have two choices left. You shot one of the potentials down last Tuesday. At the present time all the active enviro-group- s here in Utah are, as I w rite, collectingdata on the San Rafael and w hen they get all their ducks lined up in a row, they are going to push for putting the entire San Rafael into wilderness or endangered species habitat. You gave them that possibility in this past election. If those hard liners of Emery County do not have a plan, )ou had better get one and get it started in motion NOW!! lav ing fought the enviros since October 19(il with my first letter to the editor, I Know what I am writingabout. I have been there, seen it, done it. As I suspect the direction the enviros will take, is to take a specific area, pick an endangered species and then plan the environment around it. They do this all the time and it has proven to be nearly 00 percent successful for them. Once an area has been designated as an endangered species area, it will be closed and locked up to only hikers and in some areas they might allow a horse. When write of endangered species, it does not ulways have to be an animal, it can be a plant, an insect or a bug. You name it. They will use every ploy to pull off the Endangered Species Act and lock the San Rafael up tighter than it would be under the Wilderness Act. They do not necessarily have to have the upproval of your commissioners just a camouflaged possibility. Nor are they required to get congressional or presidential approval. 1 have seen it in action here in Washington County with the IX'sert Tortoise1 and several other so called prefabricated endangered specie's. And yes, they can lock up more land under the Endangered Species Act than they could have under the Wilderness Act. You have (Mm advised and counseled in advance. Paul Young St. George 1 1 1 1 Keep Dignity and Consideration in Death Dear Editor, I have an issue that I know for a fact is not my own issue, and has and can affect a lot of other individuals: It Is the loss of a loved one and the cost for the funeral and things. Everyone has this to deal with at one time or another in their lives, but it should be a time of grieving and loneliness, not financial disaster. I lost my beloved husband in April of 2001, and w'hen it happened it was a horrible shock to me and my son. Of course we contacted a local funeral home to help with the arrangements and things. At this time, neither one of us had any kind of insurance to help pay for this enormous, unexpected debt. None the less, we arranged to put a simple man to rest, very simply and we thought, inexpensively. It was a time of great confusion, sorrow and shock for us both. After the funeral, we made arrangements to make payments to the funeral home as best we could. At the time, I wras unemployed and had no type of help to cover such a debt. 1 informed the funeral home of this, and made arrangements to make payments as best as I could as soon as I was able to come up with a job. I found a job at a local convenience store and made what payments that I could. I lost this job in November of 2001. Shortly after, I informed the funeral home of this and drew what unemployment I was entitled to until February of this year. I found another job and continued to make payments to the funeral home to the best of my ability. To add insult to injury, I was billed twiee each month and charged interest between $00 and $103 each billing. Despite my continual askingwhy they billed this way and how they could bill people twice a month and charge interest, the only reply that 1 received was that they had people forget them and if the interest was not over 0 percent then it was okay. It is hard enough to lose a loved one, much less forget that they are gone, but to be treated like that by the funeral home is unbelievable and then to have them tell you that you could have gone with a cheaper service, I dont know how that could be, unless they expected us to bury him in a cardboard box and haul him in the back of our truck. Now, since they were not getting the money fast enough, they have sent it to a collection agency. On top of that, they took the original balance, added 35 percent and added $1100 in interest and doubled the original bill. They have not credited anything that 1 have paid. Now I face all of this added debt, possible garnishments of my income, which is not that much, and attachments of things they think are of any value, of which I have none. I have contacted lawyers, the Better Business Bureau and even Channel Twos Get Gephardt. It is inconceivable that a person should be treated like that. High officials in these places have said this to me. It is sad that you have to lose anyone close to you, much less go into immediate debt just to put them at peace, but to be treated like this by 18-2- any business, especially a funeral home! Where is our society going? I know that I am not the only person who has faced this kind of a disaster in life. I know that several people go through it each day. We should at least be treated with dignity and kindness in this time of grief and sorrow, instead of being treated like we are a commodity or a dollar sign in someones eyes. I do not dispute the fact that I owe this debt, nor do I begrudge my husband anything. I think he was worth every cent and always will be, but I am sure he would flip if he had any idea that this was the treatment people were Whats Next for the San Rafael Swell? receiving. hope this brings to light that the simple dignity of dying should not be an instant disaster, nor should it be the automatic bankruptcy of us all. All we ask is to be treated with fairness and kindness at this time and to have a little consideration for peoples different situations. I Debbie Oviatt Huntington Fishing at Joes Valley The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has announced that Joes Valley Reservoir in Emery County will be closed to fishing from November 1 through December 14, explaining that this is necessary to prevent the excessive harvest of large spawning fish. Now, it must be understood that the fish in question are Splake, which are hybrids of lake trout and brook trout. They are sterile, like mules, and although they go through the motions of spawning, they dont actually produce baby fish. The DWR started planting these fish in selected lakes 5 years ago, including at Joes Valley. Joes Valley is not a good fishing lake. It has steep sides and poor soil which produces too little food for the fish. When you catch a fish there, it is usually skinny. In the past few years, some of my friends figured out where the bigger Splake come close to shore to spawn and began catching them, throwing most of 10-1- them back. The word got out and last year many people went to that spot and many caught these trophy fish. That drove the DWR nuts. They dont really have any numbers, but they concluded that the number of spawning season anglers has increased, which has dramatically increased the harvest of the biggest and most valuable segment of the splake population. Valuable for what? The Division says that they need these big fish to eat the chubs which otherwise interfere with trout fishing. So, we cant fish for trout now, because they eat the chubs. Why do we want to get rid of the chubs? Because they interfere with trout fishing. But we cant fish for trout, because they keep the chubs down. How about just quit planting the Splake and let us catch all the chubs we want? Allen S. Thorpe Castle Dale ByJEFFDURRANT Emery County has certainly been put through the wTinger in regards to land use proposals for the San Rafael e Swell. Under the shadow of wilderness designation proposals the county attempted a HeritageNational Conservation Area (NCA) bill in 1998 and a revised NCA bill in 2000 only to see them shot down in Congress. And now the countys national monument proposal has been derailed by the recent referendum vote-a- n election that also kicked the monument proposals most ardent supporter out of office. In the wake of the past election a number of people appear to be asking the same question: What, if anything, comes next? The topic was brought up at last weeks Public Lands Council meeting, where, understandably, there wasnt a lot of vigor for the discussion. Victorious opponents of the national monument are also asking themselves what their role and ideas should be in the future.So the question remains, what next? From what I have heard, read, and can imagine, there are several pose sible alternatives lingering but are undoubtedly others, these are the ones currently bobbing at the surlarge-scal- about-ther- face. A National Monument despite the I personally think this option is dead....at least for a few years. But among opponents of the monument proposal (including those who have 1) vote. admitted to seeing black helicopters) there are those w ho think its not quite dead yet. As evidence they point to a recent Salt Lake Tribune editorial encouraging a monument designation despite what 2,500 (actually 2,151) county residents voted. In addition it is pointed out that the BLM monument J! - subnissio' : r vcr:."; The Crr.ory Cou reserves the no rot only toe; I "ip s, u : - i, t r ! - s j I Jr: j i j 1 jphortc" conofra'-'- 5 j -r . , - ; ! ;yc . : . , ; ' ' ! wilderness proposals per- manently changed the dialogue, land designation options, and visibility of the San Rafael Swell. It is a befuddling irony that the ardent promotion of wilderness has contributed to 'diminishing the Swell's large-scal- e ! . We All Need Dormant Winters to Have Productive Springs o ' By PAULA WELLNITZ Whether it is thinking about a new job, getting married, getting out of debe thinking of, all changes include the three process steps I mentioned last time: 1) endings, 2) a lostness or emptyness and 3) new beginnings. j I HOMEMADE tongue or whatever change you might Letters to the e ? tor sheuf-focus on public vu : s rl than privats pc f o."' Cflti '0. things have happened. 2) Revive the NCA concept. An in- teresting thought, especially with a new congressional representative and a changed national political landscape-- , but certainly not an easy task with special interests from all sides ready to pounce. And it isnt readily apparent whether or not there are any potential promoters of such an idea left stand- ing. A lingering irony of the struggle over the San Rafael Swell is that while Emery County pioneered the recent promotion of the NCA concept, they! have never been able to push it through! congress despite almost identical leg--! islation being passed for the Colorado Canyons NCA in western Colorado. 3) Forget it all and let the Swell recede into obscurity. I personally wish this one was possible. It was the area's relative anonymity that initially drew1 u- me to the San Rafael Sw nately those days appear to be over. An assistant of mine recently catalogued more than 300 articles on the San Rafael Swell that have appeared in local, state, national, and international papers during the past several years. Now while the countys high profile proposals have certainly accelerated this notoriety the fact is that value. pression, controlling your quick j process has not ended. In the absence of support by the governor and county commission, the BLM effort is most likely just treadingwater until an offi- cial termination letter arrives from the Bush administration-bu- t stranger When something ends, as w'e noted last time, in a sense we die. The second stage of a transition, lostness, is a kind of neutral zone before a new life begins. It is a sort of land. land When I read of the between the trenches in World War 1 1 always imagined a very barren dark stretch of land. It was pocketed with big holes and a few dead trees or bushes might be there. It was a scary place to cross. no-ma- no-ma- , The period between what I have been or what I have done and what I will be or what I will do, can feel like this nomans land. It feels very However, it is really more like the starkness of winter where the plants and seeds need the dormant time to develop the energy for the new life of spring. For some, even the cold is a ' means of strengthening them to pro- - ! duce blooms, without this time and di-- ! mate they really die. So those looking for a new begin- - ; ning of whatever kind, need to have ; patience with their dormant tune when no change seems to be coming or things dont seem to go well. It can be helpful I to seek a little time out for reflection I and give yourself positive encourage-- 1 ment that this feeling is okay. ! The new life is always a surprise I when it comes, even when it Is the change ; we hoped for. The timing, the feeling it ; , brings contains the mysterious ele- -' ments we could not know until it hap- pen-id- . ! jt 4 ?OOR |