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Show v;y;wA.y.:w:w:.A;;-;y.,;;A,A- VMSvY.V.WVA,MV.VAW.V.V.WWWA,AVA.VAVWMvXVrtVmWM;,i,;W' industry groups. He added that if anyone's feelings were hurt, he would be happy to form a citizen's advisory panel to try to roach consensus. Senator Bob Bennett didn't respond to a party invitation, but instead sent out a press release claiming each citizen attending had been paid $1000 to eat cake as part of the well funded environmental machine. of the Draft Normal Year Fire Rehabilitation Plan Environmental Assessment Comments should specify the need for. 1) public notification of emergency fire rehabilitation plans; and 2) interim management protection language for HR. 1500 areas (Le., no chaining). Also, the Richfield District BLM is currently updating their NFRP; look for their environmental assessment in upcoming months. Monument Planning Update The BLM is in the midst of a three year process of preparing a management plan for the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument The Utah congressional delegation, Utah Association of Counties, State Trust Lands Administration, and other groups have done a great job of raising a stink over the monument, and pushing the Department of die Interior into retreat There is a real danger the monument designation will be meaningless, unless public sentiment convinces the Department of die Interior to protect the area. You can provide input by getting the BLM's mailing list for future planning alerts by writing GSENM, 337 South Main Street, Suite 010, Cedar City, Ut. 84720, or calling die planning office at 801.865.5100 (be warned: this office is terrible about returning calls). The agency will send a "visions kit, which directs your comments toward certain topics. It appears that the word "vision is destined to become the next meaningless federal land use planning term, replacing "ecosystem management" An indication of the direction the agency is taking is provided by a July 9, 1997 BLM alert providing management guiding principles. The document fails to even mention the reasons the monument was established, such as the archeological, biological and other natural values. Instead, the alert blithers on about "traditional lifestyles," certain recreational goals, and cooperation with county and local government officials. None of these are among the purposes for which the monument was established. We do not understand why BLM feels compelled to consult and cooperate with county commissioners who are responsible for illegally blading roads in the monument. BLM is conducting a series of workshops, where citizens will have the opportunity to Moab on October 14. speak with BLM about the monument, including Forest Service Straggles with Roadless Criteria As we engage in daily battles over project proposals and their impacts on roadless areas, the Forest Service Intermountain Region Office grapples with protocol for roadless area inventories on all of Utah's national forests. In the next few years, Utah's national forests are slated to revise their Land and Resource Management Plans (the National Forest Management Act requires forest revision every fifteen years), and must reinventories as part of that process. Similar inventories have caused conduct roadless-are- a major controversy and sparked litigation in the past SUWA is working with the regional office to avoid a similar outcome. The regional office developed Draft Roadless Area Inventory Criteria directing individual Forest Supervisors on how to conduct inventories, including specifics such as the haB been types of human impacts that exdude an area from roadless consideration. SUWA criteria. draft the about concerns to and office on improvements working with the regional to clarifying Significant opposition still exists within the Forest Service bureaucracy roadless from area exclude an "roads" therefore as k which (and ways qualify to area roadless absolute is reinventory consideration). This clarification an prerequisite any because Utah's national forests, like other federal lands, have been raked by unauthorized use, creating tracks that could be used to label pristine, undeveloped areas "roaded. Expect more developments on the Forest Service roadless reinventory in upcoming months. anti-wilderne- ss Public Land Management Case Study: Richfield District A SUWA staffer recently discovered new road grading activity in the proposed Bullfrog Creek wilderness (several areas roads had been graded in the area, but only the routes into proposed wilderness were flagged). BLM first told us they had approved the work, and then changed their story. So we followed up with a written request for information. The Richfield District refused comply, claiming attorney client privilege because of ongoing litigation. Well, that peaked our interest, since part of our concern was BLM had not taken the trespass to court So we called BLM's lawyer, who had no idea why the Richfield District was making the assertion. So we wrote yet another letter, explaining the attorney client excuse was bogus, and reiterated the request for information. The Richfield District responded with some mumbo jumbo about the work had not changed the character of the existing toad, which is clearly false. The Wont managed Wilderness? Just west of Capitol Reef National Park, is a lovely stretch of land that is proposed for wilderness as the Fremont Gorge unit. Unfortunately, the Richfield District BLM, with the approval of die Utah State Office, has mangled portions of the area. First, agency has been allowing a company to mine sandstone for building materials under a dubious claim that this is "hardrock" mining under the 1872 mining Act By no refusing to contest the claims, BLM is allowing the stone to be removed with to comppmuiHrm to the public, and has relinquished authority to shut down the operation about the protect this proposed wilderness. Secretary Babbitt has, rightfully, made a fuss But what lands. 1872 law and how it restricts the ability to manage public good is the changing the mining law, when the agency refuses to protect the land even where mining law does not apply? BLM also approved a rock quarry in the area, only later to discover the location was n.iric a Wilderness Study Area in violation of BLM regulations. A review of BLM files shows the agency never made a public decision to allow the action, it just started issuing the quarry (see permits for the WSA. The agency just completed "reclamation" work on photo). In July, BLM also allowed Wayne County to maintain a road through the unit that goes nowhere. BLM was unaware of the work when we discovered it, but claims it is justified of a private agreement with the county reached without environmental study or public involvement site-specif- ic two-trac- Jennifer Lupton is greater Zion representative for SUWA in SL George. BLM Permits Oil Well in Lockhart Basin As expected, the BLM has given the in Lockhart Basin. Lockhart Basin forms for Legacy Energy Corporation's oil well part of the spectacular eastern rim of the Canyonlands Basin, and forms the backdrop for many of the viewpoints in Island in the Sky. For this reason the Park Service has been lobbying to have the area added to Canyonlands National Park. The BLM argues that it is quite capable of managing the area in a responsible manner, but in approving the well it seems to be trying to prove the exact opposite. While the BLM claims that it had no choice but to approve the well, in fact they could have suspended the lease to protect the health and safety of the environment If the BLM rtiinir. an oil well is appropriate in a place like this, there's likely nowhere they wouldn't approve a well SUWA has appealed the decision. go-ahe- ad Not Yet Dead Goose The Forest Service has come out with a partial decision on the "Dead Goose" project on eastern Elk Ridge: They have decided to go ahead with plans to log within a roadless area, while postponing decisions on road improvements and closures. look for The legal issues surrounding the roadless area question are a bit complex Kaiser put more details next issue. For now, suffice it to say that Forest Supervisor Janette decision. her in d of justifying on a virtuoso display stubbornly wrong-headelegal reasoning SUWA plans to appeal The road improvementclosure issues has been controversial from both sides. The Forest Service's tniHal idea was to gravel the main roads (bad), but reduce the excessively trails high road density in the area by closing a substantial number of unnecessary jeep closures. Write (good). It's not to late to encourage the F5 to stay the course on the road District last issue I it fnamanM Ranger, P.Q. Box to gienn sorry glennl spelled wrong 820, Monticello, UT 84535. ; -- ii q . . Scott Greene is the issues director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, who got tricked into moving to SLC after ten years in southern Utah. A A V sjv j ' W S v-- " A r'ffy'x 'V. V V.V.V r., f ; T--: y W'V VV , ' f t. s . ' Fire Rehab Leads to Chaining The BLM's Dixie Resource Area has come out with a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) of its Normal Year Fire Rehabilitation Plan (NFRP). Though seemingly innocuous, NFRPs have been used statewide to authorize chainings on thousands of acres of woodlands. NFRPs are typically vague, leaving vast discretion with district pinyon-junipmanagers who view chaining as an indispensable rehabilitation technique. The scenario goes like thds-a-n area burns, and a BLM district writes up an emergency fire rehabilitation plan tiered to the NFRP which requires no public notification (probably a violation of NEPA). The district solicits federal funding for the emergency rehab which since the public is not expensive chainings, and barring any obstacles (not likely of acres of woodlands are chained and reseeded with notified), grasslands. transformed into grasslands that may Why do we care? Not only are native woodlands cultural lack long-terviability (but are tasty for cows), chaining destroys irreplaceable NFRPs the Worse cultural still, nation's heritage. resources that tell the story of our wilderness authorize chainings in HR. 1500 areas. Since fires do not respect potential since the boundaries; no interim management protection exists for HR 1500 areas; and rehabilitation fire its plans, a emergency BLM traditionally refuses to notify the public on exists that potential wilderness areas will be irreversibly Impacted through fb teal rehabilitation. What you can do: and talk to Kim Leany. Ask for a copy 0, Contact the Dixie Resource Area, (801) , ; s . ,V" i er irtr-inrio- n non-nativ- . m e PERSONAL CARTOON DISPLAY ADS For more information and rates, write the Zephyr at P.O.Box 327 Moab. UT 84532 (801)259-777- 3 688-320- r |
