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Show 6A Emery County Progress Castle Dale, Utah Tuesday February 19, 2002 Commentary !PiripssiD is a By JEFFREY 0. DURRANT, PhD Tin recent proposal to ereute a national monument In the San Rafael Swell was a hold move by the Kmcry u ( 'ountv Public Lands Council nunc termed "risky" even hy some supporters of the idea. Many locals are no doubt w ondering w hy the lands council is even considering u national monument and perhaps even more baffled as to w hy the lands council would be the actual initiators of such a proposal. During the last fourycars have had the opportunity to spend much of my limeronduetinf' research on the San Rafael Swell, research that includes attending most of the Kmcry ( ounty Public Lands Council I monthly meetings in Castle Dale. have also sensed the anxiety over the pending threat of losing even more control over an area many people feel connected to through history and experience. I have observed numerous efforts and subsequent frustraland-us- e d tions of sent to were which created, proposals ( '(ingress and then defeated, largely due to theovcrwhelmingpolitiral muscle of environmental organizations who repeatedly dismissed the opinions and experiences of local residents (on the rare occasions they listen), and continually promote caricatures of locals as ignorant and environmentally destructive. The "risky national monument proposal is the climax of these years of frustration. An idea that would never have been considered by local and state leaders a few years ago is now promoted as perhaps the last chance to assure local input for the designation and management of the San Rafael Swell. While I firmly believe a central and involved role for local communities is vital to successful land useplanningand management, at the same time I believe the creation of a San Rafael National Monument w ill introduce more negatives than positives for Emery 1 locally-generate- County. Local community frustration over a diminishing role or voice in the management of public lands is certainly not unique to Emery County. Throughout the Western United Stales and across the globe rural communities in and around protected areas are increasingly marginalized in the processes of environmental policy and land use designations. Protected areas such as Wilderness, ( lame Reserves, Conservation Areas, National Parks and Monuments are growing in number and vastness. In the World Conservation Union listed more than 21, 0K) protected areas covering more than 1 1.5 million square kilometers (more than 2. HI billion acres) worldwide and the trend shows no sign of slowing down. This trend is being driven by increasing concern over protecting the earth's ecological heritage. Rut the grow ing popularity of this "fences and fines approach has not emerged without accompuiiying criticism of its shortcomings. There is an increasing concern over the failure to involve local communities in the design and management of these areas. There are two substantial areas of concern: first, traditional community access and use is often lost as powerful outside organizations become involved; and second, the majority of these areas cannot be successfully managed without substantial involvement and support of the local community and true power-sharin- g arrangements. (The primary goal of protected areas is conserving biological diversity while limiting environmental degradation.) Unfortunately, serious efforts to engage local communities in these processes are rare and often the results are only the lip service of initial slogans or mission statements rather than lasting and meaningful partnerships. The big risk of a San Rafael Swell National Monument extends beyond just the blind faith that the locally initiated proposal will come back from Washington exhibiting some semblance to the original proposal. The real risk is that even a locally-aceeptab- le presidential proclamation (a situation of heavy and undoubtedly disturbing irony for many Southern Utah citizens) will radically and permanently change the landscape of Emery County. The desperate need of the public lands council to react somehow comes from the fact that things are changing. This is the inherently dynamic nature of places change may be slow or fast, acceptable or painful, but it is occurring in Emery County and elsewhere. My students and have had the pleasure of spending many hours in Emery County discussing public lands with, amongother groups, the ranchers runningcattle out on the San Rafael. While there is certainly a diversity of opinion among individual ranchers on various topics, there is a general consensus that the establishment of 1 RftoiraiiflifinieinitiaD Wilderness Study Areas and the involvement of environmental groups and other interested voices has increasingly focused pressure on cattle operations. And concern extends far beyond these ranchers grazing cattle on public land. Initial results of a random survey of citizens in Emery County and five other southeastern Utah counties loudly and clearly demonstrate that there is considerable concern and even agony over the loss of local involvement in public lands management. Many local residents feel they no longer have an effective voice in public lands policy that directly effects them. This loss of voice is due to the reality that BLM lands are no longer the forgotten lands of decades past. They have been discovered by the masses and more people hiking, camping and viewing the lands means even more people and organizations with an opinion who will want and demand a say in management policy. While the establishment of a San Rafael Swell National Monument may formalize local involvement through an advisory council (the effectiveness of which is long-teralso a serious concern), their involvement will almost certainly be offset by the accelerated pressures m MY CAVE, MY VIEW that will develop as the San Rafael takes on a more visible and symbolically important role to the public masses who support preservation and expect a particular experience from a national monument. In the words of Hollywood, If you build it they will come. If you think that WSAs attract people and opinions, wait until the map shows a national monument. It will not be ignored but will instead be a magnet for vacations and dissatisfied lawsuits. And what will be the impact of a surge in the numbers of tourists and campers complaining that their view or experience was ruined by the sight or unexpected encounter with a lonely cow or two? The masses will demand camping facilities and other amenities; they always do. This will require more money, heavier management and increasingly a more national park-lik- e experience an approach that will most likely lead to less local control and diminishing what the San Rafael now has to offer. The San Rafael will evolve from a relatively lonely getaway (except duringEaster) providinga variety of pursuits, into a land of pavement, toll booths, permits, restrictions and RVs at ever pullout. The environmental impact of such an increase in use is well documented by numerous studies. More people will mean more impacts, not more of a voice for local communities. Taking Care of Dust Bunnies By GARY TORRES have been home sick for a few days and this stayingat home not working is turning out to be a lot of work. I mean you can only not work so long before it becomes work to not work. Rut if there is any man up to the challenge... believe me I have trained for this my entire life. So Turbo (my dog) and I are doing our very best to meet this challenge. He sleeps on the porch. I sleep on my big over stuffed chair. However, to satisfy my need to feel like am doing something, while not actually doing anything I have resorted to making up To Do Lists for my too kind and lovingwife. if you want to test just how stable your marriage is, just give your wife a To Do List when she walks in the door from a long day at work. I dont know if any of you men have tried this as a w ay of getting close to your honey and building a stronger better relationship, but I highly recommend it. It is a great conversation starter. Resides, I don't think they mind if you help them keep track of what they are not gettingdone. When the missus walks in the door merely hand her a list of things that you have noticed need to be done. Shell be grateful I am almost certain. For example, I found that if you move the dryer, there are dust bunnies under it. Now I am not one to spill my guts about personal things, but I have to admit finding dust bunnies under the dryer was really upsetting to me. I mean, come on, what other varmints 1 1 might be runningaround in the house. Number one on the To Do List I made for my wife, Clean dust bunnies from underneath dryer." Well I hadnt sat down in my big over stuffed chair to rest for five minutes, when I thought, You know. If there are dust bunnies underneath the dryer I would bet my last dollar there were some underneath the fridge too." I reluctantly get out of my big over stuffed chair and what do you think I found? Yup. You are absolutely right. Dust bunnies under the fridge. I know w hat you are saying. 1 said the same dang thing. Apparently these bunnies reproduce like real bunnies because I moved the fridge and Ill kiss your foot till you bark like a hound at a coon in a tall oak tree if there w erent dust bunnies underneath the fridge. Where did they come from? I don't know: But they were there. Tons of them. It looked like Dust Bunnyville. Oh my gosh. I couldnt believe it. I knew that my too kind and lovingwife would be so glad I was on to this important matter. Number two on my wife's To Do List, Clean dust bunnies from underneath the fridge. Really, I was getting quite fatigued writing up all these things my too kind and lovingwife needed to do, but sometimes you just need a reason to get better for, something to drive a person. I had settled down for some much needed rest on the bed with several pillows propping me up so I could read but I could sense something wasnt right. My instincts were honed like a razor knife. I knew there were dust bunnies near. Sure enough I jumped down off the bed and looked underneath and there they were. It looked like a lovefest for dust bunnies right underneath my very own bed. I was appalled. I was shocked. I was hurt because I hit my head. But that didnt matter. This was important. We had a petting zoo of dust bunnies underneath our bed. What the heck was the matter here? Who is in charge of cleaning up dust bunnies? I looked down our list of chores and there was not one single mention of dust bunnies. It is no wonder this common household pest can easily overpopulate a house. There is no dust bunny police. No agency that monitors the build up of dust bunnies. By heck where is the government when there is a real problem-looki- ng for some other rodent hiding in a cave in Afghanistan? I am aghast, but tired of all this work so I go back to my big over stuffed chair just waiting for my too kind and lovingwife to come home so I can show her the To Do List I made up for her. She is going to be so grateful that I am always trying to help her out. I can almost hear her now. Letters to the editor should focus on public issues rather than private personalities or entities. All submissions must be verified prior to publication. The Emery County Progress reserves the right to edit letters not only to satisfy space constraints, but potential liability concerns. . I understand and sympathize with the reasons the Emery County Public Lands Council has finally proposed in hindsight it the unthinkable even unavoida or natural appears able evolution resulting from the frustration borne from being an increasingly marginalized voice. I believe in environmental protection, but I also strongly believe in local community involvement and see little hope of the first without the last. I have no answer for the loss of local voice in the San Rafael Swell. But I feel the risks of a national monument designation far outweigh any gains especially since the entire conception fails to deal with the real concerns of the public lands council and many other local residents wilderness designation and the variable deserving first consideration, vehicle access (a shortcoming expressed by more than one citizen at the Jan. 26 public meeting) The establishment of a national monument will at least be a moral victory for the Emery County Public Lands Council and moral victories (even if they arent what you really want or need) have been increasingly rare for local communities trying to maintain relevance in the ongoing struggle over the future of public lands in the western United States. (Duirant is with the Department of Geography at Brigham Young University.) ' LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Always Faithful World War II Combat Veterans have been striped of their rights, freedom, dignity and possessions by state and county legal systems. We were prom ised that we would be taken care if we fought to defend our country. Semper Fidelis (always faithful) was our motto. - Don Allred Huntington HOMEMADE Dealing with a State of Tension By PAULA WELLNITZ Many people have been experiencing a great deal of tension since September 1 1. For some it has greatly dissipated, but others continue to be highly disturbed by some form of tension from that day and other things in their lives. A word dentally I acci- wrote down in the above paragraph w hen I wanted to use tension was attention. Actually, that is what tension is about. We are in a state of tension due to some feared threat because we want to pay attention. We w ant to do so in order that what we fear will not happen. This is an extreme of attention. We do not always know we are tense. We may feel frustrated, unhappy, discontented, worried, roiling inside, angry, nervous. Or there might be physical signs such as high blood pressure, ulcers, headaches, etc. We may have these signs and have no idea that it has to do with somethingthat has happened or is happening in our lives. That something could be outside the family, like September 1 1 , or closer, or something right at home. f ! lislk Whatever may be the source, it is well to put positive attention to it. Unless we do, we will not be able to do, what we said above, to make sure the perceived threat doesnt happen. Instead, it can give us more of the physical and emotional signs mentioned above. That begins to effect our relationships, including inside the family. In fact, a person often maintains their accustomed style of human relationships outside the family when under tension. But, without even realizing it, they act oq the expectation that family should understand; put up with their acting ou,t due to tensions not really dealt with. Dealing with doesnt mean saying the threats no longer exist, or never did. Amongother things, it can mean being grateful that your emotions, your body has called your attention to a recognized or perceived a threat. One may be able to directly and appropriately end a threat if known. Working with our feeling of tension can mean talking with family or another trusted person about it. By so doing you release inner pressure in a healthy way and can face the issue. Family members will jdso, by having heard, be better able to understand. There are other things we can do tp use these strong attention getting" signs or reduce their effects. In other weeks, lets find out what more of these ways are. |