Show Page 6 Salina SunGunnison Valley News Oct 996 2 My View A land grab of New communications law to bring something big something better the worst kind by Vic Saunders Southern Utah’s Kaiparowil Plateau is a colorful yet desolate place Water is scarce in this slickrock desert and what wildlife exists there consists mostly of lizards and other desert species Life in an upland desert environment is hard The people living in the region cck out a living on ranches hundreds of years old or work off the ranch in jobs in the petroleum mining or the minimum wage tourism service industries A desert highlands timber industry once very productive and a good wage earner for these families was recently closed after environmentalists succeeded in adding new regulations which made this industry unprofitable It's no wonder then that many of these ranch families were looking forward to the opportunity offered by a proposed trillion dollar underground coal mining development in this hostile country The low sulfur coal found in southern Utah bums clean and is highly prized for this environmental eastern US cities and the Pacific benefit particularly in Rim Families saw the mine as a way to stay on their ranches and hopefully provide a way to keep their children from moving away to seek jobs in Denver Salt Lake City or Phoenix But with the stroke of a pen President Clinton ended all that Alter precious little discussion with Utah's governor and congressional delegation and with no input at all from the local population whose lives would be severely impacted the President designated almost two million acres of southern Utah as a new national monument SevUtah already has five national parks and six national monuments enty percent of our lands already belonged to the federal government and almost four million acres of that is off limits to any economic development because of wilderness designation or the potential for it It wasn't as if the got eminent didn't already control the use of most of the land “bold” move? Perhaps it is So why did the President take this political payback to the Robert Rcdfords and Barbra Streisands of the world Califorwho promised to deliver the environmental otc in nia if he would make a significant “offering'' to their cause That offering procd to be the lives hopes and dreams of the residents of southern Utah s crushed in favor of the Grand of the Escalante National Monument What is a concern though is the reality that our society has now reached a point w here a privileged affluent few in this case the activist en ironmen-ta- l community can callously disregard and barter the hopes dreams and aspirations of another group of people in exchange for a “victory notch” in their agenda in this case that of environmental religion They played the political game and won But while legal what President Clinton did in southern Utah is far from being right People who live in little towns like Kanab Escalante and Boulder Utah were helpless in stopping the President A sign at a rally in Kanab the day of the signing perhaps said it all “We the people” had been crossed out and in its place were the words “I the President” This was a federal land grab of the worst kind: one for political gain Those w ho treasure honesty and forthrightness who arc unafraid to press their cause in the light of day rather than under the shroud of darkness and secrecy can only hope that what happened to the people of southern Utah is an aberration and not the sign of things to come If not then September 18 1996 will go down in the history of this country as the day honesty and decency totally vanished from our democratic process Vic Saunders is Vice for the Utah Farm Bureau Federation by Mary Beth Vitale It’s the start of something big The Telecommunications Act of 1996 passed by Congress earlier this year has the potential to revolutionize the communications industry and have a profound impact on consumers nationwide Quite simply the law was designed to create a thriving healthy telecommunications industry by opening the monopoly markets of the cal telephone exchange to competition And as we’ve learned in the long distance business when monopolies become competitive it’s a veritable bonanza for consumers If the law’s vision becomes a reality we can expect more choices lower prices and more innovation improved quality for communications Consumers services and products will experience increased convenience with the advent of shoppi ng one bill and one customized package New serof products and services vices and enhanced technology will be enjoyed by millions while the US economy gains a competitive advantage in global markets Creating a truly competitive telecommunications industry however is going to be a formidable task and it’s not going to happen overnight Much of the responsibility will fall to the expertise of state public utility commissions and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) While these agencies appear well on their way to implementing the law as intended they’re going to have many difficult hurdles to clear For example in order for competitors to provide local telephone service have mainthe local companies-whtained monopolies in this business for more than 100 years have to open their networks to their potential rivals More specifically the local companies under the Telecommunications Act of counties brand wilderness reinventory illegal call on Babbitt to stop Utah laws require that there be full involveOn September 23 the Utah Asment of the public and of state local sociation of Counties called on Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to halt the and tribal officials in the process for public an opportunity wilderness entory he has started comment before the Government can on BLM land in Utah The counties charged that the proceed The Department refused to inventory is “illegal based on faulty do that” explained Mark Walsh Asand discredited criteria is in direct sociate Director of the Utah Associacontradiction of the clear intent of the tion of Counties The counties' analysis detailed Wilderness Act of 964 and w ill only other problem areas with the increase the divisivencss of the wileffort in addition to the illegal derness issue in Utah” The counties manner in which it was developed and also released an extensive analysisand effort and is being conducted Like the original critique of the Utah wilderness inventory the listed the many problems with it “The basic problem is that" the ignores specific requirements of the Wilderness Act of 1964 and is being done in clear violation of several federal laws These misapplies others the analysis found The BLM also is continuing to use a definition of what qualifies as a road which is in direct contradiction to the specific provisions of federal law and court decisions thereby allowing the BLM to claim that some areas meet the Wilderness Act’s “roadless” requirement when in reality they do not In addition the analysis notes that the effort violates a number of commitments the Secretary made to the Utah Congressional Delegation on how it would be conducted The Utah counties are calling on the Secretary to voluntarily stop the until the concerns that have been raised can be addressed “We hope the Secretary will do the honorable thing” Walsh said 1996 must permit new competitors to: connect into thei r netw orks w hcrever it is technically feasible to do so buy local service in bulk at discounted rates and resell it to their own customers at retail and buy parts of the local network and combine them with their own facilities and operations to produce competitive local service Companies like AT&T have entered into negotiations with local companies on these issues in hopes of entering the local service market in the near future Given w hat’s at stake for both sides it’s no surprise to anyone that these negotiations are not going well in many cases AT&T for example has not been able to reach an agreement with US WEST The TeleAct stipulates that communications after 135 days public utility commissions can be asked to arbitrate a request that AT&T has made in many states the complexity of Considering these issues it's likely that similar arbitration requests will be made by many companies throughout the country Thus state public utility commissions will play a critical role in realizing the law's vision as their decisions shape how competition will evolve in their states State regulators w ill be assisted by the FCC which on August 8 issued guidelines and rules for dealing with these intricate details This should take some of the burden off the shoulders of the utility commissions allowing them to concentrate on rcsolv ing the difficult negotiations between the local companies and their new competitors By establishing a div ision of labor along these lines Congress wisely sought to expedite the process of opening up the local service marketplace Nevertheless slate regulators have a big job ahead of them If the spirit of the law is to be followed it's imperative that the creation of true fair competilion-anthe benefits it will bring to consumers-bparamount in all decisions that are made The Telecommunications Act was designed to benefit consumers not US WEST or the other regional telephone companies and not AT&T or for the many other companies eager to enter the market State regulators must ensure their decisions are driven by how best to serve the people not the “providers” If they accomplish that we all most surely will benefit Mary Beth Vitale is vice president ofAT& T's local service organization Gooseberry Sevenmile road needs to be improved Dear Editor ATTENTION: ATV riders Many ATV riders are opposed to the improvement of the Gooseberry Sev enmile road Each year for the past ten years since the making of the ATV trials in this location 100’s oflOOO’s of riders have enjoyed this beautiful area on their big noisy machines This is fine but the sad thing is that they all go home and then the next year bring two or three friends back with them I’ve heard lots of local ATV riders say it’s our mountain and we don't want any more people coming in because of the road improvements All I can say is “wake up” people are there the traffic is there the campgrounds are busy and full and all due to the ATV trails that have been promoted so strong by the Sevier County Travel Council Chamber of Commerce ATV Jamboree and many others All I can say is “It’s not your mountain anymore" Now we need a road that will take them out of the Gooseberry and Cold Springs area and put them on top and into Fishlakc believe that ATV riders need to together with those that can’t thousand machine and a that don’t even want one but like to get into their car and go enjoy the beautiful scenery by taking this drive The cattlemen and sportsmen are learning to work together now it is your turn to work with all of us If you are a sportsman worried that this new road would ruin your hunting then you must be a road hunter Get off your butt get out of your truck and hunt like a real hunter By the way there’s not many deer up there anyway We could always call in the environmentalists and ask them to close some of the trai Is and make some more wilderness Then you could have your mountain to yourself but then who I work afford those would really enjoys??? I hope we can all work together on this Richard Crane 1412 Thistledown Dr Sandy UT 84092 'Who’s for kids' brochure available to educate voters The Utah Kids Coalition released its “Vote for Utah’s Children 1996" question brochure to educate both voters and candidates about the needs a 10 of Utah’s children and families The Who’s for Kids brochure helps voters ask candidates their solutions to the problems our children face The Utah Kids Coalition andjWhos com- (MmkZM posed of a network of over 30 child and family serving organizations believes that informed voters are the foundation of democracy The coalition is strictly nonpartisan and is not affiliated with any political action tion which places the burden of key decision making squarely on the serve elected officials who understand shoulders of the governor and the state legislature The era of “let Washington do it” is over Slate leaders - and the challenges and have practical lutions to those challenges The voters - must have the knowledge tools and plans to ensure that our chil- committee Utah’s children and families de- soan- swers candidates give to the questions will help voters determine “Who’s for Kids and Who’s Just Kidding” This election year is especially crucial in the wake of federal lcgisla- - dren and families don't lose ground to poverty violence school failure and crime To obtain copies of the brochure contact Utah Children 364-- 182 CHECK OUT OUR NEW LISTINGS! Visit BIG A Auto at Gunnison Implement Before The Hunt Before you go after your deer or elk come see us at Big A for everything you need fq Windshield Wipers keep going Windshield Fluid in the hills! Oil Filters & Oil Air Filters Spark Plugs Gunnison' Implement 62 So Main Antifreeze Tow Chains Tire Chains Much Morel Gunnison - 528-727- 1 you want country this is a beautiful set up for you 1800 sq ft A handyman's dream Also horse corrals homewith3cargarage onl 12 acres $118000 A must see' If Completly Redone) 4 or 5 bedrooms 2 baths all redone inside Hardwood floors This Is really a must see1 Additional Listing! 6 acres Charming Old Home in Centerfield Big yard all redone on main floor Has upstairs with two bedrooms Just listed this home is priced right at $72000 Nice Brick Rambler 5 bedrooms 2 bath Family Room all on 6 acres Oversized garage1 This is a Must See' Cute Cottage Home in Fayette 12 awe 3 bedrooms water heater All redone! gas furnace Miller & Company has a lot of new listings on farms homes and property A nice modular home yard with sprinklers family room Full Owner will This is beautifu finance with inside unfinished basement 000 down bedroom $95000 $10 and out1 3 Asking if®' Nice 2 bath Robert Childs Janice McClellan 528-- 182 Kevin Spencer Marlene Cox 835-- 18 1 Office 17 iLUfSHi MILLER & COMPANY REAL ESTATE SERVICES 186 North Main 2 - Bed - Bath home in Redmond for $70000 Has big garage living quarters in back of garage This is a must see' with Information deemed INC Gunnison s ms reliable but not guaranteed |