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Show ATV Use Tracks from illegal vehicle (ATVs) use are showing up with increasing frequency in southwestern Utah Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs). The use of motorized equipment in WSAs is strictly prohibited, yet the sights and sounds from these mechanical beasts have been recurring in wild lands with a disturbing intensity. These inhuman Intrusions not only destroy ecological and cultural values, they shatter the solitude and primitive experience offered in so few remaining areas. SUWA has been working with the BLM's Kanab and Dixie Resource Areas to silence the hum of reckless ATVs. Unfortunately, illegal ATV users are hard to catch. Posted signs have been shot or tom down, and fences and gates are often bypassed or trampled. While SUWA continues to watch over wild lands, we can use your help. If you see tracks from or actual ATV use in WSAs, call the local SUWA and BLM offices to report five intrusions. The more we can document illegal ATV use, the better our chances of boosting BLM enforcement efforts. all-terr- ain SUWA appealed the decision on several grounds, including inadequate consideration of alternative sites for the welL The State Office agreed that the Environmental Assessment for the action "contains little or no data or evidence to support the rejection of alternative locations." So it's back to the drawing board for local BLM officials. This gives them the chance to be creative and figure out some way give Lockhart Basin the protection it deserves. As readers of this column are no doubt tired of hearing, the simplest and best way to do this is to suspend the lease in order to protect the health and safety of the environment Chutzpah Award in Order for die San Juan County Commission SUWA was not alone in appealing the Lockhart Basin well decision. The San Juan County Commission also appealed, arguing that the decision was too friendly to the environment After consulting the Division of Wildlife Resources, the BLM had decided to impose various seasonal restrictions on the construction and operation of die well, in order to protect desert bighorn sheep. San Juan County appealed this aspect of the decision, and asked that the seasonal restrictions be reduced by about 75. A few paragraphs after asking the State Director to eviscerate these bighorn mitigation measures, the county urged that any complaints from others that the well might harm bighorn sheep be ignored, since the BLM had already determined what mitigation would be necessary in consultation with the Division of Wildlife Resources. Use the Internet to Keep Tabs on die BLM How does SUWA keep track of what the BLM is up to? One way is by monitoring the Utah BLM's "Electronic Notice Board" (ENB). This is a computer bulletin board which gives the status all Utah BLM projects requiring administrative analysis in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Since just about any project which might have an effect on the ground requires some sort of NEPA analysis, this is large and useful list When the ENB was started a few years ago, it put the Utah BLM way ahead of the rest of die country in terms of public notification. Unfortunately, the ENB has not kept pace with technology. To access it, one must dial directly to their rather slow modem, and the interface to the ENB is not very This past Summer we asked the BLM whether they had plans to convert the ENB to something accessible via the internet, preferably a web page. They said they planned to do so, but there was no telling when ft might actually happen. It seemed to us that this shouldn't be very difficult to do, so we did ft ourselves: we wrote a program which dials up the ENB, extracts information from it, and automatically sets up web pages listing all current BLM projects. The program and web pages took about two days to setup. SUWA has been using these pages internally since June. They are accessible to the public at user-friendl- y. "http:www.suwa.oigenb". The BLM now says that work on their own ENB web pages has picked up and might be finished within a couple of months. If you have comments on SUWA's ENB pages, send them to enbQsuwa.org. BLM Protects the mouth of Nine Mile Canyon A couple of years ago the BLM acquired some private inholdings at the mouth of Nine Mile Canyon, along the Green River in Desolation Canyon a few miles below the Sand The BLM must now decide how to manage these newly acquired lands, in Wash put-iof fonn the an amendment to the current Resource Management Flan for the area. Surprisingly and refreshingly, the BLM is proposing to do all the right things: eliminate jeep trails. They also propose grazing along the river and close unnecessary and little-use- d to put "no surface occupancy" restrictions on oil and gas leasing. The comment period for the plan amendment will have already expired by the time this gets published, but if you like you can mail expressions of appreciation to Dave Howell, BLM District Manager, 170 South 500 East, Vernal, UI 84078, and Richard Manus, BLM Area Manger, 125 South 600 West, Price, UT 84501. n. Jennifer Lupton attempts to engage Representative Hansen in meaningful dialogue but the congressman turns bis back on her. Forest Certification The Fishlake National Forest is working with local wood producers to develop a forest certification program that would allow timber companies to receive a green stamp for sustainably harvested timber. The idea, to promote low impact timber sales, is a step in the right direction for the Forest Service, but the setting is all wrong. The Fishlake wants to use timber a roadless area as the forest certification testing grounds. Even the most sale threatens the preservation of roadless areas when heavy equipment and roadbuilding are Involved. The details of the Fishlake's forest certification sale are still being negotiated, but SUWA has requested the Fishlake to choose an alternate harvest area, one that does not affect a roadless area, to test its "low impact" timber sale. In 1947, Kevin Walker blah blah yadda yadda blah. low-impa- ct itviVir.r r . v v'.v v.y.vA Xv.v.vXv Jennifer Lupton once bluh blah blah blah. t 9 - Lockhart Basin Well Stopped For Now SUWA's appeal of the Lockhart Basin well has succeeded: The State BLM Office has set aside and remanded for further analysis the decision by the BLM's San Juan Resource Area to permit oil drilling in Lockhart Basin. 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