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Show PAGE 26 THE ZEPHYR APRIL 1992 The IBLA deserves credit for showing courage within die Department of the Interior, an agency where political influence ofter undercuts good staff level work. Mr. Middelton can go the canyon country suck eggs. SUWA's Moab office redeved fills decision the same day we received a BLM press release which justified the new agency regulations which will wipe out citizen oil and gas appeals. The rationale? The BLM said it is unlikely the agency would lose on such appeals. watch dog The Groene Report Who Is This Guv and Why is He Doing These Terrible Things? The BLM will hold a planning conference for Cedar Mesa on April 5 in Blanding. Participants will face scheduled speeches by the BLM area manager, district manager, Utah state director, and our congressional representative: still, BLM staff have privately made assurances that the conference will be more than a BLM public relations carnival and that citizen comment will be seriously considered. For more information call the BLM at 24-2- ' The Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Manuel Lujan, announced March 12 he would block citizens from bringing appeals in die Department's administrative courts against predator control on public lands. Instead, Lujan will assume jurisdiction over all appeals in order to insulate die livestock industry from citizen involvement The effect is that the "control" (AKA This despite the "death") will continue while Lujan sits on appeals, perhaps indefinitely. Department's legal mandate to provide "objective administrative review." Department of Agriculture "Animal Damage Control" employees generally do the predator killing on both BLM and Forest Service lands, primarily to protect domestic sheep and calves. The killing is done by snares, traps, 4 ejection devices (containing sodium cyanide), denning (killing animals in their dens by suffocating them with gas cartridges or shooting them, and shooting from airplanes and helicopters. In 1989, $12,072,625 worth of tax payer money was spent to destroy wildlife. Several southern Utah counties have also contributed funds to pay for the destruction. The Moab District BLM permits predator control on the public lands, through ADC, whether or not ranchers have taken steps such as sheep dogs. Between 1979 and 1988, ADC concentrated on killing coyotes, and destroyed on the average 67,853 of the animals per year. Government employees also killed an average of 126 mountain lions; 3,793 foxes; 702 bobcats; and 207 bears per year according to a General M-4- non-leth- ... Cedar Mesa Planning al 587-214-1. Bad Trees. The Forest Service issued press releases, which ran in some Utah newspapers in March, forests either by dragging chains the many advantages of tearing down pin touting filled drums armed with spikes ("roller between bulldozers ("chaining") or by dragging water chopping") to create cow pasture. The value of this expensive action is questionable, and southern Utah is scarred by many old chainings where few trees and little grass is found. Nonetheless, the Forest Service's press release barely stopped short of claiming that chaining and roller chopping cause marital bliss and would bring world peace if given the opportunity. This past winter the Forest Service Moab Ranger District withdrew a decision to roller chop portions of the south flank of the La Sals in response to a SUWA appeal. Did you see this one coming? Yup, the press releases will be followed by a new Forest Service decision allowing roller chopping in the La Sals. To get on the list for the EA for the roller chop, call the USFS at yon-junip- er 259-715-5. Accounting Office report. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance's current lawsuit against predator control programs on the Dixie and Fish Lake National Forests is unaffected. Who Are These Guys, and Why are they doing these Terrible Things, Part II. , Last Fall, in an appeal brought by SUWA and the Sierra Qub, the Interior Board of Land Appeals issued a decision which forced the BLM to halt the oil and gas industry from working while the IBLA had considered citizen appeals (the IBLA is tjie Department of the Interior's own administrative court). In an effort to protect the oil and gas industry from "turmoil", the D.C BLM office immediately set out to gut the decision by changing its regulations. The new "emergency" regulations, published the same week it was announced the public would be cut horn predator control decisions, March 13th, specifically dted the SUWA case as cause for the change. The regulations were issued with no official notice to the public, and no opportunity for outside comment. The new regulations may see legal challenge. , The Answer to Why These Guvs Are Doing These Terrible Things: To Stop Citizen Appeals Like this One. On March 11, 1992, the Interior Board of Land Appeals overturned the BLM Grand Resource Area's decision to allow geophysical work near Hell Roaring Canyon (any bets on whether the BLM's P.R. sheet, the "Spectrum, will report the decision?) The IBLA ruled against the BLM, despite efforts by Utah Senators Jake Gam and Orrin I latch and Representatives Bill Orton and Jim I lansen to interfere on behalf of the oil and gas industry against the legal challenge brought by SUWA. After SUWA filed the appeal. Senators Gam and I latch and Representatives Orton and Hansen sent a letter dated November 7, 1992, to the Director of the IBLA, asking the Director to lift the stay in place against the geophysical exploration work. The politicians did not notify SUWA that the request had been made, a violation of federal regulations which provide standards of conduct for IBLA appeals. The Director of the IBLA, Roger E Middelton, lifted the stay, and displaying a heightened sensitivity to senatorial power, ruled that SUWA had "demonstrated no likelihood of The Director then success on the merits," as was reported in southern Utah newspapers. IBLA. over The to case the IBLA, the remanded however, favoring integrity political expedience, BLM failed to consider IBLA had the The ruled instead Director's the illegally findings. ignored the impacts of the proposed geophysical exploration on wildlife, failed to consider whether the exploration work should be denied, and failed to allow public participation. The IBLA's ruling negates the Director's earlier decision. Petroleum byproducts Tests on the production potential of the third Columbia horizontal oil and gas well on the Island in the Sky Hateau may be complete as you read this. Columbia's inability to reduce drilling costs is rumored to be causing a few doubts about field development, even if the oil can be produced. Still, Chevron recently ran seismic lines across Deadman Point and is still pushing to drill there in an area eligible for protection in the National Wilderness Preservation system. According to the BLM's public notice list. Northern Geophysical now wants to run seismic lines across Fisher and Castle Valley, Adobe Mesa, and a bit of Porcupine Rim. You can call the Grand Resource Area, to get on the mailing list for the EAs. Last spring a federal court judge blocked the BLM from alto wing Coors to reconstruct the Gemini Bridges road and drill in Little Canyon (SUWA and the Sierra Qub, assisted by the Sierra Qub Legal Defense Fund, were plaintiffs). Coors then paid a biologist to watch the desert bighorn sheep in Little Canyon and based on that work the BLM will again approve Coots' request to drill in Little Canyon this upcoming spring. This time the BLM sent file final decision to DC for signature. The long distance approval is an attempt at an agency end run around its own administrative appeals process (a decision signed by an assistant secretary in D.C, unlike a local decision, can not be appealed to the IBLA- - sound familiar?). The BLM has already sent their decision once to the D.C brass, who sent it back for more work. Coors still leads all oil and gas corporations around Moab for drilling sites which will cause the most environmental damage. Comments can be addressed to Coors at For the real masochists, read on. According to the BLM's public notice list Columbia still seeks to drill a well on Deadman Point and two additional wells near the boundary of Island in file Sky portion of Canyonlands National Park. Exxon wants to run seismic lines on Flat Iron 259-819-3, PACK CREEK RANCH HELP SUPPORT FINE DINING IN MOAB Pack Creek ranch is taking a limited number of outside guests for dinner this year. Reservations are absolutely necessary. If you can't in at the ranch this year, please support fine dining in Moab and visit the Center Cafe' on Center St. in downtown Moab. for reservations call 259-55- 05 . |