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Show THE ZEPHYR APRIL 1993 PAGE 24 the canyon country anti-wildern- ess WATCHDOG ft Four of Utah's five national represena fives, Senators Bennet and Hatch and Wayne Owens' land bill which would Representatives Shepherd and Hansen, have cash to dollars 200 estimated million Utah's 50 to poor schools. However, the bring an interests have convinced lone Congressional Representative Bill Orton to take up their charge, and he has threatened to interfere with the bill. Mr. Orton's political gain would be the school kids' loss. This is not the first time Mr. Orton has taken a position contrary to the taxpayer's friends. Mr. Orton tried to get the Book interest in order to cuddle with his Cliffs highway built through a wilderness study area, although it has been clearly documented that the project would have cost Grand County taxpayers a bundle with little financial return. Instead our new local county council killed the highway project. Worst Grazing Allotment of the Month The wont public land grazing allotment in the Moab area will be identified each month as a new feature of this column. Hie criteria for selection will be arbitrary, capricious, and unwritten, but generally allotments where cows or sheep have spoiled some otherwise beautiful spot will qualify. Forest Service allotments will also be eligible as the cows move up the mountain this summer. Public nominations will be preferred in the future, but in the absence of outside input I nominate the South Sand Flats Allotment as the worst allotment of the month for March, 1993. In the south fork of Mill Creek, above the juncture with the north fork and just downstream from the first fence, cows have provided a first class example of what Mr. Abbey termed "cow burnt" The vegetation has been mauled and manure slopped everywhere. Recent grazing has caused another way the film Industry generates revenues A subsidiary of Universal Studios was fined $24,600 for a trespass on California BLM land during the filming of "Bade to the Future III." Universal appealed the fine to the Interior Board of Land Appeals, but lost Yet this area, otherwise a pleasant perennial stream canyon setting, to simply look like hell The joy of a spring hike was dampened by what the cows have done to the canyon, and as a result our vengeful judge gives the place a nine on a 10 scale for disgusting. Send your nominations to PO Box 758, Moab, 84532. Remember, competition will be stiff for this honor, so send only the worst. Photos appreciated. Thanks. Its Spring, and Even Stiles is Smiling. In many ways it has been a very good spring for southern Utah. Governor Leavitt vetoed efforts to place a nuclear waste dump in San Juan County. The new Grand County Council decided there are better uses for our tax money than a new highway to Duschene, a highway which according to BLM documents would accomplish little other than harming big game hWds in the Book Cliffs. Bruce Babbitt is the new Secretary of the Interior and he will undoubtedly put the public back in public land management. Jim Baca has been appointed Director of the BLM, reversing a twelve year trend of Burfords J amisons kowtowing to industry groups. With Messrs. Babbitt and Baca, the professionals left in the Department of the Interior will find support for following the law and protecting our public lands. And the Indian Paintbrush are blooming. Real Guys Drive Red Jeeps and Smoke, Smoke, Smoke those Cigarettes Grand County has been visited in the past by the European Marlboro Adventure team, those adventure loving souls who ride around in red jeeps and motorcycles. They'll be back this summer. We will also be visited this fall by an American "Adventure Team" that will "take on the West" going "over trails that lead to places that aren't even considered places yet" according The criteria for the "hand picked" adventure team are tough- - for to Marlboro's brochures. starters you must certify you are willing to risk death by smoking cigarettes. If you can't make the team, you can earn official Marlboro "Adventure Team Gear" by smoking enough Marlboros (for example, a "4X4 cigarette lighter). Get'em while you can. Souvenirs of the movie "Slaughter of the Innocents" can still be collected around the film site below Castle Rock. Small amounts of foam remain stuck in the bushes, along with bits of wood. These keepsakes seem most prevalent in the gully below the rocks which were splattered with blue paint Congressional Representative Orton Out to Rob School kids. The State of Utah owns approximately 3.8 million acres of land, over 2 million acres of which is scattered as 5000 parcels of isolated tracts one square mile in size. The scattered sections fail to generate much revenue for our schools, the purpose of the original grant of the lands to Utah (Utah's 1894 Enabling Act granted the state four out of every 36 square miles in each township). In order to raise additional money, interim measures, such as raising the low grazing fee charged to state lands grazers could be taken. The Utah Legislative Auditor General's Office could be raised per year if the State land grazing permits has estimated an additional were issued on a competitive basis. Currently, the UtahDi vision of State Lands and Forestry operates under a rule which prohibits advertising the availability of grazing leases when they expire. But the only real solution is to trade the scattered state sections for commercially manageable blocks of land. Last year, Representative Wayne Owens came close to passing a bill which would have collected 200,000 acres of state sections scattered across Utah National Forests and Parks and blocked these lands into valuable subsurface coal leases. The bill would have protected the Parks and National Forests, and made money for Utah's school kids. Unfortunately, Senator Gam killed the deal in the last days of foe congressional session. There has remained one group steadfastly opposed to such land trades: interests hope they can stop wilderness designation by holding onto state sections scattered among federal lands. $67-100,0- 00 anti-wildern- Where the Money Goes One of this column's redundant refrains is that federal agencies lack the numbers of staff necessary to adequately enforce the laws, but that agency's managers often choose to spend money for questionable projects rather than for more employees. The BLM's recreation program seems particularly beset with unsound expenditures. The Moab area is facing heavy recreation use which is causing damage to both flora and fauna. But the agency has chosen to spend its resource on "showcase projects" such as placing BLM signs along Highway 313 (a FY 1991 "showpiece"). It appears the BLM intends to use the signs as a public relations tool to convince the public the agency is doing a swell job. The highway 128 corridor will soon also suffer the insult of a slew of ugly kiosks and directional signs, each marked with a BLM logo. The BLM plans to install seven large signs near trail heads along the Colorado river with matching money from Utah State's fund. The cost: $14,000 total. The trail fund could have been spent paying seasonal workers to build new trails or maintain existing routes. The agency also plans to soon uglify the top of Cedar Mesa with BLM signs. It is whether campfires might be environmentally justifiable after all. enough to make one As the BLM touts itself at roadside stops across southern Utah, it would seem in the interest of fair advertising for the agency to also place BLM stickers on all those cows the agency permits on our public lands. Among other Utah BLM choices for expending limited resources in fiscal year 1993: $96,000 for the Cisco boat ramp (although a gravel ramp would be just fine, the agency wants to build a first class concrete ramp which will likely encourage more motorboat use); $145,000 for a Paria Ranger Station ($600,000 total eventually); $389,000 for the Moab Information Center, and $332,000 for construction of an ORV area campground road. j j t i j S i non-motoriz- ed non-motoriz- ed i re-thi- multi-agen- cy of the Cliff Dwellings, 00.0086 of die Cows- - How to divide up the Money? The BLM is responsible for managing 270 million acres across the western United states. According to the agency, fully 17 of all cultural resources found on those lands are located within the Moab District of the Utah BLM. Further, 85 of all cliff dwellings under BLM jurisdiction are within Moab District. ) 85 Do you use solar electricity? LOCAL SALES & SERVICEINFORMATION Professional design & installation Site surveys.NO Btu tax Equipment competively priced Local references available Robert Soldat, CVSR 25 0 Mocb, UT 84532, (801) 1 259-763- 8 i j |