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Show PAGE 10 THE ZEPHYRJAN-FE- The Canyon Country WATCHDOG By Scott Groene The Last Coffin Nail? On November 30, 1993, Vernal BLM District Manager David Little rejected Uintah County's y application for the proposed Book Cliffs highway. Mr. Little based his decision on the County's failure to coned the application deficiency created when Grand County pulled out of die project. Grand County previously withdrew its application for die highway on March 19, right-of-wa- 1993. Moab? Whop ChopWhopChopWh opChopping the silence, or Hell-Fre- e December 1, 1993, The Grand County Council held a public meeting to hear concerns about scenic helicopter flights. The Council chamber room was packed with those opposed to operations by Arches and Two Jays Helicopters, each of which conducted scenic flight operations out of Moab this past season. Concerns raised included safety hazards created by the companies operating alongside Highway 191, noise to hones within Moab and Castle Valley and noise to backcountry users. I've been fold both companies have expressed interest in helicopter based skiing in die La Sals. There are at least three reasons why the Forest Service (USF5) cannot grant the companies a permit to operate in our local mountains: First, there is a USES moratorium against heliskiing which will remain in place until the various Forests within Region 4 complete winter recreation area inventories (the moratorium was put into place in part as a result of increased permit applications for heliskiing). Second, the USES winter recreation plan for the LaSals prohibits helicopter skiing. Third, the Forest Plan neither considered or approved heliskiing: a plan amendment current Manti-LaSand EIS would be necessary before a permit could be issued. The ski operators would have to cough up for the costs of the EIS. One of the operators is said to be seeking permission to land on a patented mining daim near Mount Waas. However, even if permission is acquired for the private land, the operator would need a USES permit to run skiers downhill across the National Forest. Heliskiing is inappropriate in a small group of mountains such as the LaSals where there jes ain't enuf room for both backcountry travelers and helicopter skiers. A single load of helicopter skiers flying around the peaks would ruin the solitude for all other users, and probably the al businesses now operating huts and yurts oh the mountain. There has been enormous animosity between backcountry skiers and helicopters in the Wasatch Mountains. We hardly need to allow the problem to spread to the LaSals. Local dimatic conditions in the LaSals create a snow pack prone to avalanches (the danger is much greater than in foe Wasatch Mountains) and the terrain is steep, with few gentle slopes available for riding during high avalanche risk periods (as is available to helicopter ski operators in Colorado). For these reasons experienced helicopter ski operators have expressed little interest in the LaSals at least until the spring season when safer snow conditions exist. . . r": " i 1994 about both noise and safety. The Utah Parks Department appears willing to act on the recommendation of the Council as to whether the river should be dosed to upstream motorized use. The BLM could also dose the daily stretch above Castle Creek, but is responsible for the one existing commercial permit for jet boat use held by NAVTEC (I've been told the permit was granted by manager Gene Nodine without any environmental consideration- a violation ex-BL- M of federal law). Look for the Union Bug on your next EA. BLM employees at the Grand Resource Area and Moab District BLM offices have filed with the Federal Labor Relations Authority for representation by the National Federation of Federal Employees. The result of the employees' vote, on whether to join the union, should be out as you read this. BLM employees have told me the union move was triggered by dissatisfaction with the top district management Boom Goes die Cabin- - Thank You Monticello Ranger District. The mining law of 1872 allows miners to file claims on public lands and then use the land for mining related activities. The United States General Accounting Office (GAO) recently related residences (with studied the problem of mining claims being used for rent-fre- e and found same mining claim forests and national on our lands) public occupants living commercial and holders were also using their claims for illegal activities operations, and as a result the public had been blocked from public land by gates and fences, and threats of violence. Another problem uncovered was environmental contamination caused by unsafe storage of hazardous wastes on daim sites. The Manti-LaSNational Forest recently stepped up to stop this abuse. On November 30, non-mini- ng non-mini- ng al Groene insisted on a blank spot for his photo this month because: A) He still hasn't recovered from the "Stud Muffin" characterization in last month's Zephyr. B) Stiles' persistent multiple choice portrayals have made Greene's life a living Hell. C) We ran out of photos of Groene and it's the Lame Issue, so what the heck? D) All of the above. ' Adventures of Wild Willy Utah Congressional representative Bill Orton has sided with the helicopter operators by making an "inquiry into the USFS's refusal to grant a permit for heliskiing in the LaSals. Congressional inquiry" is the political euphemism for "threat." Public meetings in Moab have shown heavy opposition to h dicopter operations (the Moab Ski Club voted unanimously this Fall against helicopter skiing as well). Mr. Orton has become a political weather vane by which one can determine the direction of Grand County voters. If we are for it, he is probably against it River Noise At file November 1 meeting, the Grand County commissioners also took testimony over problems with upriver motorized boat use on the "daily stretch of file Colorado upriver from the 191 Highway Bridge fit's swell having commissioners willing to listen to community concerns!, for a change). Public animosity to upriver use focused on jet skis, with concerns raised i. B after repeated efforts to have the owners remove a dnder block home built on Elk Ridge in the Abajo Mountains, the Forest Service blew up the structure. According to the Forest Service, the cabin, equipped with a lawn and horseshoe pit, had been used for recreational purposes in violation of federal mining laws. The Forest Service had repeatedly contacted the owners to solve the problem, but were ignored. As a last result the Forest Service destroyed the building. That finally got the attention of Blanding resident Jerry Holliday, in the cabin, who complained to the press, seeking sympathy. What Holliday deserves is not sympathy, but a bill for back rent owed to the taxpayers and the Forest Service's cost of removing the structure. Mr. Holliday's cabin is a perfect example of abuses perpetrated under the Mining Law, and why the 120 year rid law must be reformed. The Forest Service' s action sends a dear message to others holding illegal developments, that the USES (at least the Monticello Ranger District) has gotten serious about protecting the public's interest against illegal "mining" shacks and "grazing cabins. part-own- er |