Show Wednesday September 25 A4 The Herald Journal Regional view Scrap forest fees The trict and Sawtooth National Recreation Area Along with the survey results the Oregon environmental group Wild Wilderness quoted a variety of comments from Forest Service employees A few examples: “This program will continue to he a train wreck and a black eye to the agency" “I pay enough in taxes This is public land for the Public Get rid of Tlmes-New- s Twin Falls Idaho - E ' ' years now the Fores! Ser- vice has plugged ils fores! access fees as an efficient way to improve recreation and Irailliead facilities But lots of hikers hikers and other ts ouldoorsmen disagree Many view the fee which charges forest users $5 a day and $ 5 for a year pass as a double tax on people who visit public forests Now it appears a lot of Forest Service employees aren't crazy about the program cither In a recent survey of Forest Service workers in Oregon and Washington only 40 percent of 2240 respondents approved of the fee propercent opposed gram Thirty-eigit and the rest were undecided The survey was detailed in a story by The Oregonian of Portland earlier this week The 2240 respondents don't represent a national sampling of Forest Service employees hut the survey suggests considerable internal oppo- sition to trailhead fees When even the federal employees who enforce the fees aren’t convinced of the hen- eFils something is amiss in the camto keep them in place paign ' Fees haven't been felt just in Oregon and Washington hut nationwide Closer to home the enforcement of trailhead passes has created a contro- versy among many public land users' Since 1997 the Sawtooth National Forest has enforced fees at 38 trail-heain the Ketchum Ranger Dis- recre-alionis- 1 - it” - ht ' Why?" “Bad public relations Put it to rest RIP”' Remember these are federal employees who could be expected to g prosupport a gram Yet a large number of them revenue-generatin- t Your view Cold caffeine vs hot caffeine lb the editor - i Bagley book shows a bias By John Stewart L my column on August 14 1 mentioned that I had received for recognize that this program’s nega- review from the University of Okla- lives outweigh the benefits homa Press a preliminary draft and The recreational public is starting later the final draft of a hew book to fight back These employees clear-lya“Blood of thC Prophets --- Brigham'' tired of being blamed for a bad Young and the Massacre" at the policy Mountain ' If Forest Service leaders won’t Meadows” by heed the public outcry to stop these Will Bagley of fees perhaps they should start listenSalt Lake City ing to their own colleagues Because of the controver- sial nature I ' needed a few weeks to care- fully read the be it would had against they they book and because they are full of caffeine” avoid any snap judgment of it I have In a museum of Nauvoo there are some wonderful pioneer relics and of a high regard for tire University of Oklahoma Press As a founder of the particular interest is a list of required National Association and Center for items that had to be brought on the "Outlaw & Lawman History I have trek west so many pounds of sugar flour salt all of your wives and cof- - ' had occasion to get well acquainted with many of U of O’s publications fee It has done a tremendous job in help-- ’ ing to keep alive the storyand spirit NiCole Seegmiller of the American West Logan My comments on Bagley’s book are both positive and negative I wish they could all be positive I hope that you will read the book and make your own judgment of it If you have To the editor a keen interest in western Americana I am greatly saddened that our you will find it a worthwhile addi- tion to your library because Bagley leaders are preparing for armed Conis a skillful writer and a diligent flict with Iraq Here ore my reasons' researcher His 544-pabook is for believing this would be an well worth the $40 sale price for it ' immoral and ineffective course of contains a wealth of interesting action information regarding early Utah first attacks are Peremptory immoral and run entirely counter to history American tradition and ethic HistorUnfortunately Bagley’s book is a victim ofhis personal prejudices ically until someone attacks us we plus a lack of reliable information on attempt to solve differences through issues To quote him on diplomacy the second point “Reliable history War with Iraq would wreak havoc on the alliance we are attempting to requires accurate data In the case of Mountain Meadows we have a form to enlist the help of middle record irrevocably colored by dubieastern states in the fight against tcr- ' ous folklore and corrupted by per- rorism We have no proof of theaccusa-tion- s jury false memory and the destruction of key documents” that Saddam Hussein has It is Bagley's obvious dislike of mass His destruction” “weapons of refusal to admit inspectors could as Brigham Young that taints his book What has triggered that dislike he easily be interpreted as a sign of docs not say But the basic purpose weakness as a sign that he is hiding ofhis book is to lay onto Brigham: strength (After Pearl Harbor the Young the blame for the massacre of US kept its losses top secret not to 40 men 30 women and all but 17 of hide our strength but because our the 70 children who comprised an Navy had been so thoroughly deciArkansas emigrant company enroute mated) A CNN online article pubto California while encamped at lished Sept 12 among others states Mountain Meadows southwest of thid many of the points listed by tire Cedar City 145 years ago this See YOUR VIEW on A12 month re ds I know this letter is terribly late but I want to voice my opinion concerning the article I read in the Sunday July 28 2002 Herald Journal with much interest concerning the consumption of soda pop in Utah In the article by Arrin Brunson it stated that it is “Utah’s addiction” I am sure we all understand why it is “Utah's addiction" Since coffee and tea are forbidden the next best way “the church approved way" to get your daily intake of caffeine so you can wake up and get your day going is to have your caffeine through Pepsi Coke or Mountain Dew Thai's when you know “you're a Mormon living in Utah" when you start your day with cold caffeine instead of hot No matter where 1 have worked in this valley the cold caffeine drinkers have always been very insultingtoward the hot caffeine drinkers without realizing caffeine is caffeine regardless of whether it is hot or cold Wjth carbonated water or without it is still caffeine Those that drink it with carbonated water do so for the same reason the people drink it without carbonated water to get going in the morning — there's no difference Many people will argue that these drinks aren't against the “Word of Wisdom” however over 20 years ago in LDS Conference the general ' authorities addressed this issue because tliey had received many letters from members asking if the caffeine-rilled drinks were against the “Word of Wisdom” and should they be drinking them Their reply was “They weren't around when the Word of Wisdom was revealed but if “Next thing we will have a fee to use the toilet which is where this program should go" ‘‘Give the public back their freedom to visit and recreate in their (our) land The person(s) who thought this up and implemented it should be severely disciplined Dumbest thing we have done in years Absolutely asinine” “We are paying a heavy price with the public over this issue ' Attack violates American ethic ge ' ' “The modern LDS Church wishes the world to simply forget the most disturbing episode in its history” says Bagley “and the institution does not conceal its resentment of anyone who stirs the darker ashes of its past Although I am proud of my Mormon heritage my duly as a historian obligates me to abide by the rules of my craft” But rules of his craft include being objective accurate so far as possible and willingness to present both sides of a controversy and let the reader any reliable evidence accuses Bagley Brigham Young of planning the massacre even before the Arkansas travelers reached Mountain Meadows then ordering church authorities in the area to com-- : mil the foul deed preferably with the help of Painte Indians so that the ' blame could be shifted to them: federal mili-tai- y Unsavory officers prosecutors judges and politicians tried at the time of the massacre and over the next20 years until Brigham Young’s death to convict him but could find no evidence to do so All through his otherwise book Bagley takes cheap shots at Brigham Young who was territorial governor and superin- -' tendent of Indian affairs atthe time To mention a couple of examples: In 1853 four years before the MMM Indians in Utah's Sevier County killed Captain John Gunnison and eight of his 12 government railroad ' route surveyors Notes Bagley: ' “Brigham Young did little to track down the killers” In 1856 one year prior to the MMM the Willie and Martin handcart companies migrat- ing to Utah got caught in an early winter storm “Hundreds of men nt women and children died of sure exhaustion and starvation more than two hundred Saints died the worst disaster in the history of America’s overland trails Even though Young had conceived the handcart venture Mormon leaders ' refused to shoulder any blame for the anti-Morm- on well-writt- en expo-importa- catastrophe” James Holt My Haslam who made the famous horse ride from Cedar City to Salt Ike City and back in jig time to carry a message from Isaac Haight to Brigham Young seeking his advice on what to do in regard to the emigrants is mentioned a dozen times in Bagley’s book At the trial for John D Lee in 1876 he testified that Brigham Young’s reply to Haight was to protect the emigrants no matter how many men it took to do so great-grandfath- er ' - Jacob Boreman the bitterly anti- Mormon judge at the trial angrily told Haslam aside “If I could throw out your testimony I would free John D Lee and hang Brigham Young!” He and his predecessor Judge John Cradlebaugh had tried desperately to do so One of the many weaknesses in Bagiey’s case against Brigham ' Young is this: If BY planned the’ massacre and had instructed Haight and other Iron County officials to do the dastardly deed why would Haight have dispatched Haslam to ride non-sto- p to BY to ask his advice on what should be done? Unfortu- nately John D Lee and others of the local militia failed to wait for BY’s reply Upon learning of it BY denounced it as “a wanton uncalled for afTair one that I never authorized or endorsed Ctiuld we have had a telegraph line in our territory at that time that thing would never have : happened” I i That the MMM was a terrible and tragic deed no one can deny Those men who committed it deeply regret-- 1 ted it the rest Of their lives War hysteria triggered by a federal army marching toward Utah to exterminate the Mormons was a basic cause Another factor was (he recent murder of Apostle Parley P Pratt in Arkansas plus bitter memories of the earlier murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and Mormons having been driven out of Missouri and Illinois into the western wilderness with the loss of hundreds of lives It is true that BY and his coun- selors including Daniel H Wells and George A Smith a cousin of the Prophet Joseph Smith alerted citi- zens throughout Utah to prepare for war if need be and solicit the sup- port of the native Americans If there are others who should the blame for MMM besides those men who did the horrible cow-- 1 ardly deed consider President James Buchanan and Secretary of War John Floyd who treacherously dispatched the federal army to Utah anticipating the revolt of the southern states to which they were partial Floyd became a Confederate general after pilfering Union military supplies ! I John Sfewart is a longtime fliver Heights resident He is among a number of Cache Valley freelance writers whose columns appear in The Herald Journal as part of an effort to expose readers to a variety of community voto-e- s He is not an employee of the newsat paper He can be reached by johnstewart843210yahoocom al f Mallard Fillmore xx if flebsy cm Hs OFRflAlS flNlsHep T&ttfHgfi (top feOlAINlfte- - tfte vm? to m&o? 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