Show i mu' WTO"? x!7?4'rl !0? & 2§n IScAt!s951a T0N LT LAbE CITr IJT 'p 101 Jl" '851005 1277 ""‘lUlUUlLJ LJII 7 TgjEnznznzjz Serving Utah's Great Pahvant Valley Single Copy $75 USPS Vol 91 No 20 November 22 2001 Millard County Jail Walker receives media award Kathy Walker Chronicle Progress reporter was selected as one of three members of the media in Utah to receive the Utah School Board Association Media Award The honor encompasses all media and the other winners were a Channel 5 news reporter and a magazine writer in Wash- ington County The award was presented at the Millard Board of Education meeting Thursday Nov 5 Linda Ogden and Richard Stow ell of USB A were in tendance for the presentation The Utah School Board does not bestow the award lightly and encompasses all media throughout Utah The other w inners w ere a Channel 5 new s reporter and a magazine writer in Washington County Ogden said Walker w as nominated for the honor by the Millard Board of Education for her unbiased new s cov erage and positive working relationship with the School District “Kathy not only deserves recognition for her quality reporting on educational issues but also for the positive contribution she makes to the said Supennten- entire community" dent Ray Timothy ?CMf settles federal lawsuit by Knox Huntsman A federal lawsuit was filed July 30 against Millard County because refused to allow inmates to receive the magazine Prisoner s Legal Xett s U S District Court dismissed the lawsuit Nov 9 after the jail agreed to allow the prisoners to receive the magazine and pay Prisoner’s Legal News $300 as w ell as S3800 in court costs and attorney fees Millard County is a member of the Utah Association of Counties Insurwas ance Mutual The association formed to reduce legal costs for the membership Attorney Frank Mylar Salt Lake City was the Defense Attorney for the law suit Sheriff Ed Phillips said the maga Ogden of USB A presents media award Progress reporter Linda to Kathy Walker zine was initially banned from the jail because it was basically trash with no redeeming educational values On evaluation of the legal subsequent definition of a magazine it does meet the requirements of a legitimate news publication Basically the lawsuit gave us a spanking and told us to let the magazine into the jail said Phillips The lawsuit was filed by attorney Brian Barnard on behalf of the Washington-basemagazine Phillips said Barnard makes a living off of nuisance lawsuits Phillips explained the current policy on reading material within a jail cell The inmate can have 10 items in his cell at zines tions tional one time letters books maganew spapers and other publicaWhen the inmate wants addireading material he she must give up an item The jail w ill store that item if the mate requests it to be saved Phillips said the policy is to prev ent a fire hazard within the cell and to reduce to possibility of hiding contraband in a large pile of paper Phillips displayed a magazine that was confiscated from an inmate The inmate tightly rolled a thick glossy magazine and tied it then he put it into a sock If struck in the head with the device it could render an officer unconscious Chronicle Grazing permits challenged rO by environmentalists By Kathy Walker An environmental group has filed a lawsuit challenging the issuance of livestock grazing permits on 13 west desert allotments in Millard and Juab Counties that livestock owners and the Bureau of Land Management want renewed for an additional ten years In August the BLM Fillmore Field Office was in the process of renew ing grazing permits on 13 allotments w hen an appeal and petition of stay w ere filed by Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SL'WA) with the Interior Board of Land Appeals SUWA alleges that the BLM failed to comply with federal regulations requiring site specific environmental assessments before issuing the permits The BLM was following federal regulations said Rex Row ley Fillmore Field Office Manager Site specific environmental assessments may be done in one of three ways The first is a intensive Environmental Impact Study (EIS) The second is a less intensive analysis and requires an Environmental Analysis (EA) The third and lowest level is a Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) wherein the federal agency relies on previously compared analyses NEPA is the National Environmental Policy Act Rather lotment rated 75 and Juab than doing each grazing the BLM sepaseparately grazing allotments in Millard Counties into 30 groups The grazing pattern issues topography and other things on each group are similar An EIS was done in 1987when the land use plan was finalized and the BLM does not feel the issues have changed that much since then The BLM had completed 25 of the 30 planned NEPA documents when SUWA filed the suit Some of the documents completed were Environmental Analysis Others were Determination which were tiered ofNEPAAdequacy to the 1987 Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement “SUWA appealed the last NEPA document of the 25 we had completed The area analyzed in the document covers about 600000 acres of BLM administered land which includes the 13 west desert grazing allotments It includes the most acreage in the 25 documents prepared to date for Millard and Juab Counties” Rowley said The west desert grazing allotments are for the Antelope Blackman Can yon Blind Valley Brow ns Wash ConDome Canyon King ger Springs Painted Potholes Painter Spring Sand Pass Skunk Springs Swasey Knoll and Tatow These allotments encompass all or portions of Wilderness Study Areas in Swasey Mountain Conger Mountain King Top Howell Peak Notch Peak and adjacent areas identified by BLM in 1999 as having w ildemess character “The grazing levels in the west desert allotments are the same or less than they were when they became WSA in 980” Row ley said The BLM issued only a DNA for the 13 allotments charged SUWA They relied on outdated and generalized cnv ironmental review documents examito replace required nation of the environmental conseThe renewals the of permit quences BLM did not conduct an environmental analysis to determine whether grazing under the permits may signifiThis cantly affect the environment failure to prepare an EA or EIS means the agency has never evaluated the specific impacts of the grazing authorized nor a reasonable range of alternatives nor specific mitigation measures for the effects all of which NEPA requires “The DNA on the allotments are still viable In part SUW A claims we have not adequately prepared NEPA documents” Rowley said “W'e feel we have enough information to issue permit renewals for grazing at the same level for another ten years on all 13 allotments based on 1987 EIS and on allotment evaluations we have completed since then Rangeland specialists have done site specific examinations on the allotments periodically from 1987 to the present Some allotments have required a reduction of grazing Other allotments are fine and should continue at the current level of grazing Painter Springs allotment for example has had three site specific evalua- tions” Criteria used in the evaluation process includes precipitation data actual use utilization and range trend Drought yeais affect the precipitation data The kind of livestock and the number of head and dates livestock are put onto and taken off BLM administered land determines actual use Rangeland specialists evaluate utilization by estimating how much vegetation was remov ed during the graz ing season They determine laige trends by measuring w hether forage and desirable vegetation is increasing or decreasing Specialists look at all four monitoring studies and summarize their findings The results determine whether grazing on allotments should increase decrease or remain as it is Rowley said SUWA is a Utah nonprofit corporation with about 15000 members Members and staff use and enjoy much of the lands included in the protested grazing allotments for hiking recreation educational sight seeing photography and solitude according to their appeal documents Public awareness and appreciation of BLM lands in the west desert have increased since the Resource Management Plans were issued about 13 years ago The public’s demand for remote primitive and quiet places continues to grow and the BLM failed to take a hard look at the environmental consequences before renew ing grazing permits for the 13 allotments SUWA charges BLM attorneys have filed a response with the Interior Board of Land Appeals to SUWA’s petition to have the decision stayed to renew the grazing pemiits A decision on the petition for a stay is expected within the next month If SUWA’ request for a stay is granted livestock may have to be removed from the 13 allotments pending the outcome of an appeal “In my opinion livestock owners have existing grazing permits and should be allowed to continue grazing w hile 1BLA is considering the suit and until a grazing hearing is held Sometimes that can take two or three years to materialize” Rowley said “The earliest any of the grazing permits expire on the 13 allotments is spring 2003 The latest permit doesn't expire until 2010” A large share of Utah's sheep operations nearly 30000 head are permitted on the 13 west desert allotments as well as a number of cattle Ranchers could not survive without this grazing according to local livestock operators Utah Farm Bureau the Millard County Commission and most of the affected livestock operators are among supporters of BLM's decision to renew the existing grazing permits on the 13 allotments They have asked the Interior Board of Land Appeals to become interveners in this case Happy I hanksgiving )or copy! 3 o S? !A I Cuihs and other linemen clear a path for Storm Singleton as he strolls carried 1 7 times in the game for 107 yards Tyrell into the endzone Singleton 3 Delta takes State bad break for Withers as Delta Storms Park City A By Sally GouIJing DBS sounded across the stadium from stands full of Delta football supporters as senior and defensive captain Brad W'ithers made his way to the field He broke both bones in his lower leg in a fluke tackle on Wednesday three days before the biggest game of his life but was given the title of honorary captain of the team “Not having Brad could have set us back but instead it gave the kids a boost” said Coach big emotional Dean Fow lcs Despite the absence of a friend and an important player on the field the Rabbits rose to an outstanding game for the state title Withers was on the field as honorary team captain and his number “4” was on team helmets and cheerleaders' uniforms but of all the condolences Withers received the State Championship trophy coming after was the best dropping Park City The small town Rabbits showed more spirit than the city slicker Miners expected and earned themselves and Delta a State victory shutting down Brandon Rogers’ hope for a state rushing record He was held to 48 yards on 6 carries “All the news talking about how Park City had mad defensive weapons helped us want to step it up It was just extra incentive to win" said nose guard Storm Singleton Delta had a total of 3 2 yards Storm Singleton led in the rushing yards w ith 05 New cl Anderson w as not far behind with 81 and senior Jake Abbott had 61 and a interception that defied grav ity The longest run for the Rabbits was made by Newel Anderson for fifty yards on a dive scoring the last touch down Storm Singleton and Brian Smith also each scored Smith's reverse took Park City by surprise Singleton's romp left Park City in the dust after he broke out of the pack and hustled to the end zone Landon Noah made two extra points but missed the third He said "I missed the last one because all I could think the whole time was that was going to miss it" Nerves were racked but the players maintain enough cool to finished the game despite pressure from the Miners in the fourth quarter Line backer Jake Abbott’s catch sealed the victory for Delta Delta has relied on a variety of players this year Besides Abbott and Smith the offensive line has been as tough as any in the state cluding Spencer Hintze center Carl Watson right guard Tyrell Curtis right tackle Kory Moms left guard and Kyle Smith left tackle Newell Anderson Singleton Abbott Kyler Hughes Brian Smith and quarterback Tyler Greathouse finished off the offensive roster The defensive changed because of Withers being sidelined Tyler Greathouse shifted to Withers slot Ricky Spencer came in for Greathouse at the comer back position Singleton continued to play nose guard Kyle Smith Trevor Riding Tyrol! Curtis and Dallin Jeffery tied up Park City’s touted offensive line With only :45 left on the clock the final score set Delta student body started to creep up to the fence pre stomi the field the second ran out When the horn buzzed Rabbit players and fans paring to the time swamied together creating a massive The grey helmets that held small red fours were raised above the clumps of people Strong boys wept openly hugging their moms dads and one another Lineman Carl Watson said “ It was great to be the team celebrating on the field this year” Brad Withers defensive captain missed playing in Saturday’s game after a broken leg sidelined him |