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Show PAGE 15 THE ZEPHYRNOVEMBER 1995 Times Are Tough for Trees, II The Republican controlled senate voted to strip Undersecretary of Agriculture Jim Lyons of much of his responsibilities for the Forest Service, saying he's improperly refused to open public lands to legging fast enough. According to the Washington Post, the Senators later backed away from that position. However, a timber group filed asked an Oregon federal judge to jail Lyons and another Forest Service official for contempt of court in failing to sell countless acres of public forest to the timber industry without complying with environmental laws (the judge declined). competitors and new trails were created, among other problems. The BLM has not determined the cumulative impacts of the event on desert bighorn sheep and peregrine also skipped town without falcons, a key complaint against the event. to that more than debts in $100,000 supported the race (litigation has companies paying been filed). Ms. Kitchell told reporters that "in retrospect, we BLM could have written some things better, we'd be very dear about sensitive areas and times, and we'd take at least a year for processing. Clearly, it is a lot more difficult to hold people accountable for this than any BLM analysis showed." Kaiparowits Coal Mine Andalex Resource's effort to turn the Kaiparowits Plateau into a coal mine got a small boost with an initial approval from the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining. The move was not a surprise, given DOGM's industrial orientation. The BLM is still writing an EIS for the Andalex proposal, and it is BLM's ultimate decision based on the EIS that counts. Republican Scheme for Fooling the Public on Environmental Issues. Republican senators and representatives have launched wicked legislative attacks on the laws that protect our water and wildlife, as well as specific areas such as southern Utah and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (after attending subcommittee hearings on environmental issues, I can attest some of these folks are absolutely wacko). National press recently focused on the assault, and the Republican leadership is concerned the public will learn that industry groups have been allowed to write their wish lists into law. So, the House GOP leadership sent out suggestions on how Republicans can convince their constituents they really care about the environment, at the same time the politicians are giving the timber, oil, gas, and livestock industries about every thing the corporations want. The document, dated October 17, 1995, labeled "A agenda for House Republicans", was leaked to the press, and it is instructive in how politicians work. The leadership does not suggest that Republicans stop their attack the environment, but that they take steps to convince the public that they are not and hostile to the survival of every cuddly critter roaming God's Good News For the White River Canyon The White River provides a gentle canoe float through one of the few remaining desert wilderness areas in northeastern Utah. The Vernal District BLM approved road construction and the drilling of an oil well on the rim of the canyon in 1991, a decision that was successfully appealed by several groups, including SUWA and the Uintah Mountain Club. The BLM then completed some more studies, and again approved the well SUWA and the Uintah Mountain Club then again appealed the decision. On September 28, Samcdan Oil Corporation announced it no longer wanted to drill the well, and as result the underlying lease will expire. What a Kidder Representative Jim Hansen made a speech to the House of Representatives on October 1 1 which proves he' has a sense of humor. I le attacked a letter written by Robert Red ford which warned against a bill that would undermine federal management on 20 million acres of public lands in Utah. Mr. Hansen doubted that such legislation existed and wanted to "know where that bill is. Mr. Hansen has a short memory, since he introduced that bill, I I.R . 1745, "The Utah Public Lands Management Act, which attaches "hard release", AKA death penalty, language to 20 million acres of Utah BLM land. If you read the dry text above, then you already know "hard release prohibits the BLM from protecting "wilderness characteristics of these areas which means the BLM would be foreclosed from stopping ORV use, oil and gas drilling, and other development on these lands. Aid to Families with Dependent Cows An early draft of a Republican budget reconciliation provision would have allowed ranchers to avoid paying fees for all cattle and sheep bom to animals that graze on public lands. Representative George Miller, borrowing a page from GOP arguments for overhauling the welfare system (the one for people), said "It's not good for these cows. They don't have to show any social responsibility. They can just keep having calves. It encourages you to move cows out of the private sector and into the public sector to have their babies just so they can get welfare checks. An official for the National Cattlemen's Association said the provision must have been a drafting error. Where the Gravy Train Runs. Some states do better than others in the return on federal tax dollars. Due in part to public land subsidies, intermountain states all collect more than we pay to the Fed. Utah gets back $1.16 for each federal tax dollar we pay. New Mexico fares the best with $1.93 return on each dollar. Big losers arc northeastern states. Eco-Challen- pro-activ- nt, pro-pollut- er, green earth." The steps include issuing press releases for Earth Day stating support. Or using "environmental related constituent letters... which hopefully, you have coded ... into your data base and responding with letters which put the politician in a favorable light. "Announce an office policy which includes purchasing recycled materials is a helpful suggestion. Or "set up a conservation task force" which includes "organizations sympathetic to your common sense environmental agenda. How about "consider! ing passing out tree saplings with your door to door pamphlet"? If Republican staff follow this advice, then they can feel confident that when Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt comes to the district "to tell the press how their congressman is, if reporters have been to your clean-utwo of his tree plantings, and his Congressional Task Force boss on Conservation hearings, they'll laugh Babbitt back to Washington. Even if the "boss voted to wipe out Utah wilderness, the Arctic Refuge, and the Endangered Species Act. adopt-a-highw'- ay p, Oil Well in Glen Canyon Recreation Area The Park Service faces a proposal by Viking Exploration, Inc. to drill an oil well near Middle Moody Canyon in the Circle Cliffs within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The route has already been flagged. NPS now says that this well would require reopening 8 miles of old, closed road and the construction of approximately a mile of new road. The National Park Service, along with the Escalante BLM Resource Area office, may need a little assistance in the backbone department in stopping this project. Please write to tell them that an EIS should be required for the project that could convert this now protected area into an oil and gas development field: Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, P.O. Box The Park Service should provide a lengthy 1507, Page, Arizona 86040, or and on the EIS, place you on the mailing list for future documents. public comment period 1. Scott Groene is a staff attorney in the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance's Cedar City office, now banished on temporary exile to Washington, D.G It Just Won't Go Away. e: Moab BLM District Manager Kate Kitchell says she is evaluating whether the agency will withhold some of $80,000 performance bond for violating stipulations that required that MTV coverage of the race must include a minimum impact message. promoters ran a 370 mile "extreme" sport race that crossed Utah wilderness last spring, over the objections of environmental groups and local outfitters. An appeal filed by SUWA, the Wilderness Society, and local outfitters against the event is still pending, although the administrative court denied our request for a stay against the event. Race promoters promised to mitigate problems caused by the race by running public service segments during television coverage of the race. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Ms. Kitchell said "there was no attempt whatsoever to weave the canyon country minimum-impamessage into the race coverage. There were even visual images of folks tramping on cryptogams, and they know damn well that was not a message we wanted to send. Thanks Kate for speaking out. violated other permit stipulations, including one against upstream motorboat use designed to protect peregrine falcons and low elevation helicopter use. The race course was routed through an archeological site, citizens were illegally blocked from vehicles were operated in an area closed to ORV Canyonlands National Park, toilets not were use causing erosion, provided in heavy use areas, press representatives created their own trails, the route was not marked which lead to off trail travel by Eco-Challen- ge CMfeateCMSiE QQStetfBsD IK' ct Eco-challcn- You soy that old ovin wont thaw the turkey? Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Souili I Id) Iasi. Sill I.jke Otv I Mini to join tho Soulltcm Gull Wilderness Alliance. Here in ms annual will i fa1 iu (In' ijiuitcily newNlettei and penodie ieiiimoiicnted bulletins: Yes! I dues. i j $25 ' I would like lo make a contribution $35 ; $50 ; ; $100 f i in dw amount $250 Name Stale Guy t All dues and which I a new oven or a pre-cook- ed !j .. turkey. We have a great selection. (of ovens, that Is) Addios . Phone; duo us mail toi iS25 ; lii aJdiiH'ii in ni You either need uh Mills N.M Zip ) conn ihulum an ta deductible to ihc eslenl allowed b) law e, |