OCR Text |
Show THE ZEPHYROCTOBER 1995 PAGE 14 The Canyon Country WATCHDOG By Scott Groene & Ken Rait Management: New Phrase, Same Management. The BLM office responsible for the Arizona strip north of the Grand Canyon has proposed cutting ponderosa pine in the Mt. Logan designated wilderness area, calling it management." The cutting would be part of a "show case" project with special funding. The BLM may be convinced to drop the wilderness logging, given the potential high profile of the project, if the public objects. For more information, contact the BLM in St. George, (801) Eco-Syste- m "eco-syste- m 673-354- 5. infestations justify cutting down trees. The dollars, to convince the public that beetle studies. But the studies consisted of Dixie claims the public favors the cuts based on of either live or dead forests. The public was showing the public distant photographs and road construction. not shown what a timber sale looks like with stumps, slash, beetles play in forest Nor was the public given an accurate picture of the natural role timber sales such various names health. In a bit of bureaucratcse, the Dixie "viewshed management", and "vegetation euphemisms as "recovery projects", management." The Dixie has withheld information that indicates beetles can be checked by natural factors. During a federal court challenge brought by SUWA, a forest service beetle expert admitted under oath that the Forest Service had predicted a beetle outbreak would harm the forest in the Midway Face area near Cedar Breaks National Monument unless trees were cut down. The export also admitted that subsequently the beetle outbreak either never materialized or was controlled by natural factors. The Dixie has never admitted to the public that its projections of a beetle infestation was unwarranted. In fact, the Dixie still intends to cut 3.3 million board feet worth of trees in the Mid wav Face area, even thouch the beetles arc now cone. Making Guidebooks Look Good magazine provided electronic positioning coordinates for archeological sites, adding a whole new threat to the remains of the Anasazi culture. The article also described a route through proposed southern Utah wilderness that includes thirty crossings of a perennial stream. Written by a "Pass Patrol 4X4 Travel Club" promoter, the article warned that the trip was unfortunately not a "Ya Hoo, axle crushing Wild Bunch adventure" but offered an alternative route if the reader seeks that experience. The writer inaccurately stated the BLM denies the existence of a "road" up the canyon. Actually, BLM, under former District Manager y for the never graded Gene Nodine, gave San Juan County an RS 2477 reversed BLM's trail. decision administrative an was court, then the BLM reby jeep y wrote the decision and gave the county a again. SUWA filed a second BLM has continued to allow BLM's decision. and secured the a appeal stay against Jeep Jamboree to run ORV events up the canyon despite the stay which has now been in effect for five years. A recent ORV gear-jammin- Rait because: 1) The g, controlled, right-of-wa- Agency Action on the Butt Trail Several years ago, Garfield County trespassed into the North Escalante Canyons Wilderness Study Area while working on the Burr Trail. The BLM began to consider rehabilitation measures in September, 1993. In August, 1995, the BLM finalized that plan. Dixie National The Dixie National Forest (which covers Boulder Mountain and the Forests of southwest Utah) is taking advantage of recent changes in the law to accelerate cutting down the forest. At the end of August, President Clinton signed legislation that allows the Forest Service to exempt timber sales from certain environmental laws where the purpose of the cutting is claimed to be the salvage of trees that may be susceptible to insects or disease. These "salvage" sales are also exempted from public scrutiny: no appeals are allowed. Scarcely before the ink on the new law had cooled, the Dixie National Forest announced it would pursue a timber sale that would be exempted from public appeals. The Dixie National Forest then announced in September that it intended to amend an earlier decision to add additional cutting which would probably also be exempted from existing environmental laws. The Dixie also just approved a 21 million board feet cut on 16,000 acres on Boulder mountain (the Sierra Club has appealed the decision). This cut will require the construction of over 30 miles of new roads. The Dixie also now proposes cutting over 4 million board feet of forest around the town of Brian Head. Three other timber sales are in the planning process, and two other timber cuts w'ere recently completed. The Dixie has engaged m an extensive public relations campaign, funded by tax De-Fore- st depressed Republican anti-wilderne- ss enough to depress anyone. 2) Sometimes he feels like nobody loves him. 3) He's not depressed; he's trying out the new portable toilets featured in Red River Canoe's ad on page Congress right-of-wa- Whither the Cows The BLM is now implementing Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt's grazing plan. The plan sets up local planning groups that will waste a great deal of time, and in most cases ultimately protect the status quo. New legislation passed last August requires the Forest Service to indefinitely postpone environmental analysis which would otherwise be required on the more than 4,000 grazing permits that expire this year. looks is 11. 4) all of the above. studios conducted two decades ago, the Dixie National Forest Service found there were about 700,000 acres of wilderness left on the 1.9 million acre Forest. In 1984, only 83,000 acres, or a tenth, of that wilderness was protected in the Utah Forest Wilderness Act. And the lands left unprotected have suffered since. By 1989, another approximately 1 80,000 acres of wilderness had been lost according to the Forest In Service. iiu muru luuuic-j- . ianas are iusi eacn year unaer tnc uixies concerted ettort to supply logs to the timber industry. The new salvage bill and excuse of beetle infestations only speeds the destruction. The public can request to be placed on the update list from current and ongoing Dixie on the N.F. projects by writing the USFS at P.O. Box 580, Cedar City, Utah 84721. Arizona Strip Thefts Kaibab Forest Products Co., which recently closed its mill in Frcdonia, Arizona after cutting much timber off of the Kaibab National Forest north of the Grand Canyon, stole more than 1,200 trees according to 1992 federal report unearthed by the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity. Loggers also hit a clearly marked archeological site, damaged a raptor habitat enclosure, and failed to complete road improvements paid for by the Forest Service, according to the High Country News. It was also uncovered that Forest Service employees accepted discounted Christmas turkeys from the timber company. Oil Well Proposed For Escalante Region Viking Exploration, Inc., wants to rebuild 8 miles of old dosed uranium exploration road, and build five miles of new road to drill an oil well near Middle Moody Canyon in the Circle Cliffs within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The rv ice is now aiona ar deciding whether an environmental assessment or a I Jim SoJttcn'B NORTH AMERICAN FEATURING: RIVER EXPEDITIONS river trips 2 and 3 day Cataract Conyon trips (3rd day by Jeep in the Needles) Jet Jeep combos Daily 543 North Main Moab, UT 84532 'f. Lk 259-58- 65 or 800-342-59- 38 A A "JDl |