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Show 12A Emery County Progress Castle Dale, Utah Tuesday April 16, 2002 Lands Council Continued from PAGE 1A. source iiiiimigHwiit plan as the forest sen ice meets and goes through the plan. fielder from the land exchange committee spoke next. Me said, "Mike Dmitrich had submitted legislation to increase the current rate of allocations for mineral lease money hum 2!) W to :i!t.r. Not much has ixvn done on the land exchaufje. T he peo)le at the state are taka ing broader based approach to lands (jemf? exchang'd. That's what wed like to lx)k at and coordinate w ith MLM with lands for exchange. In speaking with tivities that could affect ac- wi- ceim-plei- the other It will take three to five months tei formulate the alternatives. Also mutes in the Price River travel area need to bo designated, said Johnson. tei e. from the forest service gave the forest ser-vi- Canyon. Hydroseedingwill take place and the sheep will lx kept out of the area to give it two years to rehabilitate. Controlled burning will also take place on some old sagebrush stands. We are also mov ing ahead on eixiperativ e vv eed management and will be meeting on April IS with local counties and other organizations to get areas established. We am also hitting the mads tmitme-nts- . n, s and to maintain openings for eierr habitat. The cutting will lx done by chainsaw s and hy elrulic . This wink will cutting lx cemtracted out. One project is at Jtx-- Valley and the other near Little Nelsem Mountain up Perron Mountain. The area was de'scrilxd as be'ing up a horse trail and the tiTrf) acres would lx treated with a herbicide'. T he1 fore-s- t :xrvice is committed to the funding but were in hopes they could get some grant money from the mule deer and also the elk foundation to help with the s lderness. The state was concerned that we as a county ras'd to be focused on where were going There is a w indow of opportunity open at this time and we need to act before it closes. The cnvirommcntal community is hmnning more active and intense w ith vv ilderness issue's, he said. Hoy d Johnson was next with theBLM update. He said, In the major land use planning effort we have held scoping meetings. Our consultant is review ing all of these comments to prepare a summary report. We have held an intermd briefing which we invited Yal to so he would know whats going on. Johnson referred to the document to lx prepared as a summary of issues raised. It will be ready in four to six weeks and will be sent to those w ho attended public meetings eir cemime'nted. All of those vv ill re reive this planning hulk-tisaid Johnson. Craig Johansen weindered what the se'hedule for the planning e'ffort weiuld be. Johnson A elraft Environmental Impact Study weiuld be in approximately Dec. of HOOT Emin August to October we will formulate a series eif alternatives. Weve heed comments preiwilele-rnes- A tar weed treatment w ill also lx done at the head of Reeder she-ars- the state they said that emiromental groups have information on all ments of pinyon and juniper in seiert areas. This w ill be1 done er update. Plans are in the weirks for four cutting treat The water flow at Hope Springs em ( ientry Mountain has bern diminished. Work will be done- - in the area sued as cutting old spruce trees out of one of the and redoing the head pex Ixix. These hopefully will establish a lxtter water supply for w ildlife and eeiws in the area. Another project includes fenc-ing- a pond on a wet meadow to ke-t- s increase brexxlingopxrtunitics for the sagi gmuse hens and ehicks in the area. A pipeline preijeet will supply water to the eattle in the area. The feirest serviee reeently lost a lawsuit txvause they didnt have adequate information that dead trees didn't provide habitat for blue grouse. The law suit was with the Utah Environmental Congress. Cara Staab explained that the forest service wanted to harvest the dead trees but due to the loss of the lawsuit they will be unable to harvest. She pointed out one area on Perron Mountain will be harvested. She also explained the work they do with the wildlife regarding the elk herds. The wildlife resources do pellet counts and the forest service does browse counts. This data is recorded on grafts so positions of herds, trend data and other information can be maintained. She mentioned the wildlife resources is managing their elk herd with approximately 1 2,000 animals which is at their objective. Sandy Kaminski told of some other projects in the works. On Horn Mountain new ponds will be built to pull the cows back off of Barb Wire Pond so it can -- analysis hard at the district. Level 1, 2, .1 and motorized trails. We are starting at the Muddy Eerron drainage and working our way north. Each road has to la evaluated individually and 70 questions have to lx answ ered to rate each mad. We will continue taking comments through the summer and put the proposal together after that, she said. Paul Conover mentioned w ork some would lx done in Bill Broadbears department w ith the Trail Cat on w atershed and drainage both on the Emery County side and the Sanpete side. Work is also planned for the Lake Canyon area to lessen impacts in the area. Additional camping spots and play areas for ATV use will be added as well as kiddie loops. Plans are also in the works to reclassify the trail from Skyline Drive to Mammoth Lake. Jeff Durrant from the Geography Department of Brigham Young University w as next on the agenda. Durrant said he usually presents the findings of his research far from the area in which he has done the work and was pleased to have the opportunity to present information locally. Durrant has done a lot of research in the Swell area and spent a lot of time talking to lo- cal cattleman. Durrant said, "We sent out a survery which consisted of six pages. We w ere trying to get a feel for their attitude toward the environment and wilderness study areas and also basic characteristics. The survey was sent randomly to six counties. We found there had been little research done in the western United States regardingwil-dernes- s issues. So we wanted to include lxal communities in the process and review what they told us. This survey took place before the monument issue. We sent out 2, IKK) surveys to randomly selected households. We received WXJ of those back for a pointed out that sometimes they do some things that dont make sense financially or are only marginally successful financially to further the mission of percent response rate, said their organization. They also create pins, logos and posters describing an area and depicting activities which could be of interest to visitors. The next item of discussion was the series of monument mix tings in progress to receive and provide information so a recommendation can be made to the commissioners. Topics for discussion will include minerals and mining, tourism, water rights and quality. Kirk Johansen suggested one meeting be held in the south end of the county. The discussion on the letter sent by Governor Leavitt to President Bush on April 4 was discussed. Curtis said, To give a little background on the letter, after the public meeting held on Jan. 2t we as a group met and decided to approach Governor Leavitt to ask him to give consideration for a monument. This was done verbally to get the whole thing rolling.The formal written document between the governor and the president mirrors the verbal request to consider creating the San Rafael 31 Durrant. Brad Wallis from the Canyonlands Natural History Association spoke next he described his organization as one that supports education and science. The company has been operating for 3b years in Southeastern Utah w ith their headquarters in Moab. If you proceed w ith the monument then UNHA would like to partner with you. We are a nonprofit organization but we do not ask for donations. We are a business that buys and sells. We provide the materials that are available for sell in visitor centers. We combine our group purchasing power. Our corporate goal is to provide money to the area for education and science. We are not an environmental group. Culture is important to us. Our brochure talks about mining. was born in rural Utah and understand the human aspects. We dont lean one way or the other. We partner to produce professional publications for areas. We had a brochure printed for the Olympics and 70,0(X) copies were distributed describing our area and all the attractions. We believe our degree of professionalism will be helpful to the people here. We have worked with the Blanding cultural museum promoting their cattle lifestyle and Native American culture. I brought along a sample of the books we make available. They cover a w ide variety of subjects including outlaws and Canyonlands books. We also carry locally 1 produced books. We need to balance preservation with human interests and find our commonalities instead of focusing on our differences, said Wallis. Craig Johansen was interested in the cost of creating brochures. Wallis explained it depended on the quality of the brochure. Those printed for the Olympics were on high-quali- ty paper but other smaller brochures can be printed for 7 cents a copy. The CNHA was involved with the printing of the brochure for the scenic loop. Wallis also the same declaration. The governor is keeping in faith. The commission will still be able to say yes or no. Just like the legislation in 2000 that had so many ammendments attached to it, it w as no longer our child so it had to be abandoned, said Roush. Fielder said at one point in time we need to say charge ahead or say no. Conover said that people are confused about whats the best opportunity here. It wnuld help to know what the plan is and how long the process will be. Youll probably hear the same comments in your meeting Thursday that youve already heard about w hat the public wants to happen. People need to know if its a good thing or not, and vote on it. You will either look stupid or be glorified. Worwood said that w eve initiated the project forcing the President and the Department of the Interior to define the process. The letter is a further attempt to say whats going to happen. When does the county not have influence in the process? The county may make a proposal that fits like a glove w hen the Department of the Interior takes the proposal, we are then on uncharted waters. Wedecidewhat we want but what happens to it after it leaves you? If the decision is to move ahead Monument. Craig Johansen was concerned that the public hearings the language and boundaries being held could be more meaningful to the process if done differently. The monument proposal is being tailored after the national conservation area proposal. Very little of the comments received will help create a written document. Bonnie Keele from the audience said if the council listened to w hat people were saying it could be used in the proposal. The people are emphatic about what they want in the proposal. Use some common sense in looking at comments, the people are sending a good message. Payne said that the comments and the legislation would be will be determined in the public process on the proposal. Rowley said, The majority of the county doesnt want wilderness. At least well have a proposal to put up against wil- derness. Conover said the public lands council does a great public service as it is an all volunteer board. Conover talked of the master plan to deal with travel. He suggested everyone make their recommendations to the BLM. He talked of the Arapeen Trail and a system to get from the forest service to the community and onto the desert. He asked for support of this concept of a connector system in comments made to the BLM. He also mentioned the good will rider program which is another way for the community to be part of monitoring and patrolling with the forest service and the BLM on the forest and the meshed together and then they would go back to the public with a final proposal. The public hearingwnuld determine if the language captures what came from the public. Fielder said what he needed to know was if it was a go or a no go? Roush said the monument is under consideration by the governor, commission and the public lands council, it wont be rushed through but looked at to see if its appropriate. The letter from Leavitt to Bush makes desert. The council adjourned into executive session. The next public lands council meeting will be on May 14 at 10 a.m. WeZreigMngaway.greatdealsionZalljiewiandpreownedvehicleslinlstock ThlsZshower. of. amazingZsavmgsZwon t let. up. forTaZwholelmonth Western Advantage $75 1,200 200 1.500 1.500 Add additional lines for just $20 mn Motorola 120c a $1rebate only after CELLULARONE mali-l- n 3 (dbkr Om Iwi Price Roosevelt 192 255 S Hwy 5S 4 N 200 E Price Venal 123 S Hwy 55 HOW 0 4 Venal Main 1851 W Hwy 40 2 New location! COMMUNITY MOTORS 354 So. Hw t 55, Price 5523- 637-19- -' or 637-336- 0, Toll Free Dodge Fjj Different. 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