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Show I $10 million earmarked for salinity control Several years ago, former President Richard M. Nixon entered into an agreement with Mexico that the United States would do something to dean up the salt in Colorado River water." Two possible methods of accomplishing this end are to build plants for water desalinization, or to keep the salt out of the water in the first place. The Duchesne County Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) recently conducted a tour of a number of projects completed last year in Colorado. Local interests were interested in finding out how Colorado has implemented its programs, problems they have encountered, etc. Representatives from the state Departments of Agriculture and Wildlife, state ASCS personnel, Chamber of Commerce representatives, and Soil Conservation Service, Farmers Home Administration, and Water and Power Resources personnel were amon those joining the tour to Grand Junction, Colo., slid the surrounding area. According to Dennis Tuttle, agricul- ture program specialist with the state ASCS office, two million dollars have been appropriated for use in the Uintah Basin area, targeted toward all nine drainages in Duchesne and Uintah Counties. A local salinity committee will be established, according to Nathan Allen, executive director of the Duchesne County ASCS, and priorities set on the basis of identification of specific problem areas. The Colorado programs have utilized a number of different approaches, depending, for example, on what a farmer plants and Colorado's his farming methods. efforts have been directed at more efficient application of water to the farmlands. They have put in a lot of le sprinkling systems, and done quite a lot of land leveling, said Allen. The program is entirely voluntary on the farmers, with the government paying 80 percent of the cost of improvements, if the recommendations are accepted and agreed to. Allen said that Colorados experience has been that a farmer may simply have to alter his methods, Le., use shorter rows, rather than make extensive alterations to his irrigation system. Agencies participating in administration of the appropriated funding include the Extension Service, Soil Conservation Service (SCS), ASCS, state and federal fish and wildlife officials. Power and Water Resources, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Farmers Home Administration. As soon as plans are complete. Continued on page 3 VOLUME 68 NUMBER - ; r , H - .! . ; LIFTS At last f Although local users. Ivie said that area parents should be aware that in the United States $25 billion per year is spent on marijuana. Enforcement is no easy task. As far as juveniles are concerned, information usually comes to law enforcement personnel from parents, teachers, or some other confidential source. The pick up the individual, contact Slice i advise him of his rights, and contact an officer of the juvenile drilling Gordon E. Harmston, Sr., is the Roosevelt Area Chamber of Commerce nominee for the Total Citizen award resented annually by the Utah State amber of Commerce. Harmston is director of the Division of Natural Resources, State of Utah, and now resides in Salt Lake City. He is a native of Roosevelt, which was founded by Harms tons grandfather in 1906. At the close of World War II, he opened the Frontier Grill in Roosevelt, and later purchased the Frontier Motel from his parents. He continues to operate both businesses an is has by the Roosevelt Area Chamber of Commerce for the "Total Gtizen" award. Gordon E. Harmston . . . been nominated N drilled. Oil and gas com drilled 243 wells in Utah as ol December, a year ago. compared to a total of In 1978, 258 wells were completed. At present there are 82 wells in the state which are on the verge of being completed which could result in 1979s total well count surpassing the 1978 total. The highest total well count in the lest iQ years wa ?73, vs'hod i" 1977. There are 152 well locations Continued on page 3 with his son as general manager and partner. Harms tons lasting contributions to the Roosevelt community include the organization of a Boy Scout troop, sponsored by the American Legion Post, which Harmston served as Scout Master and with financial backing. He participated in the efforts to build a swimming pool for the community, signing personal notes to aid in getting construction underway, local Continued on page 3 ame-the-new-sch- ool contest continues Entries are being solicited by the Duchesne County School District in the contest to select a name for the new elementary school to be constructed north of Roosevelt junior high school. The contest, open to all residents of Duchesne County, will be judged by the Board of Education of the Duchesne County School District. The winner will be announced at the first board meeting in March. District officials have suggested that possible entries might include the names of outstanding civic leaders. UBAG to educators, or benefactors of the community, of, if not the name of an individual, names that would identify the school's location. Entries should be submitted to the School District, Attn: School Name Contest, P.O. Box 446, Duchesne, Utah 84021. Judging will be on originality and for and reasons appropriateness, submitting a particular name should be included with the entry. In the event iff a tie, determination will be made on the basis of the earliest postmark. re-for- m advisory council product Ivie said that while many adults in the area are evidently using marijuana, the immediate concern is the supplying id this and other drugs to 'juveniles. He said, In any school in Duchesne County, you can make contacts if you know who to see. Parental concern about the problem has been evidenced by the recent Mother's Club presentation in Duchesne, attended by over 225 concerned parents and teachers. Ivie said that 3, 1980 Gordon E. Harmston is Citizen nominee the juvenile's then made aa to whether formal action will be taken. In the case of an adult, possession or knowledge of possession of a controlled substance is sufficient for formal action. After arrest, the suspect must be taken before the nearest magistrate, and bond set. Ivie said, They can be out in 20 minutes. Ivie said of his drug education program, which many area young people have attended, I try and make the kids aware of what they are getting. We have been lucky so tar, as many of the more dangerous substances haven't found their way here. But we definitely do have a problem. no statistical well count which should be slightly more than last year; oil production in should up wph only a slight decrease from that recorded. in 1978; and as 1980 begins, Utah drilling records reflect a tremendous number of new well site locations waiting to be while the fog set in and nothing depresses one more as hetraveis around the Basin and finds out Roosevelt is the only place with the cold dreary fog. area parents can no longer blame it on outsiders, either, that most of the illegal drug traffic in Duchesne, for example, is in the hands of local young people who have left the area for employment, then returned to supply anuary a good year records were broken, generally speaking Utah oil and gas drilling activities this year remain "high, according to Carlton Stowe, Utah Department of Natural Resources. Several new oil and gas discovery wells were completed out of the total Yes, Virginia, there IS a dbrai problem People in the Basin tend to see themselves as isolated from many of the nations problems, said Duchesne County Sheriffs Deputy Gerry Ivie. This may be true to some extent, he went on, but there is definitely a drug' problem in the area. Marijuana is the most commonly used drug, besides alcohol, but some people in the area are using cocaine. Ivie confirmed what many area residents have suspected and feared, that some elementary school students are experimenting with or regularly using drugs, that use increases as these youngsters begin junior high school, and continues to increase through the high school years. Furthermore, Ivie continued, areas not affected a couple of years ago are now getting into it In presenting drug education programs to students, Ivie says that he can identify groups that were relatively naive about drugs in general two or three years ago, who are now much wiser, much more aware of different types of drugs and how they may be obtained. Where do the drugs come from? Mostly from Salt Lake City, said Ivie. Much of the marijuana used in Roosevelt and Duchesne formerly came from Vernal, but enforcement in that city has cut down on the amounts iilable there. Some marijuana is grown right in the area, however, said Ivie, ana only recently a man was arrested for growing 314 plants in the Altonah area. He said that evidentaly a number of construction workers are using marijuana regularly, and supplying n to others. Quite a bit of traffic comes through the Fruitland area, by means of transients rather than' by residents, usually headed for Duchesne and Roosevelt What does it cost? Ivie said that on the local market the going price for marijuana is about $60 to $70 per ounce Columbian, somewhat less for locally grown marijuana. He said the price depends on the quality id the -J- for Utah oil and gas readings the fog lifted and blue sky was viewedby 'the people of Roosevelt. But It did leave everything white and sparkly with Mother Natures talent for beauty. Temperatures did drop FOG 1979 Snow course 1 PARAPHERNALIA Duchesne County Sheriff's Deputy Gerry Ivie exhibits this display of drug samples and gadgetry in , presentations for area students. Everything in this display was confiscated from drug users in Duchesne County. , The Human Service Advisory Council of the Uintah Basin Association of Governments is being disbandin an effort to better ed and serve the needs of the Uintah Basin residents, according to Henry Crellin, UBAG press officer, press officer. The new council will be formed along Title XX guidelines, and will be charged with the responsibility for administering some $130,000 of discretionary Title II funds. Crellin, who also serves as social service planner for UBAG, said that the membership will probably be reduced from its former fifteen, and will be made up of interested residents of Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah Counties. The council will advise the county commissioners as to the effectiveness and the future directions to be taken by the Unified Social Services System in the Uintah Basin, said Crellin. Area residents interested in being on the council should contact the Social Service Planner (Crellin) at P.O. no later Box 1449, Roosevelt, than Jan. 15, 1980. Applicants for membership on the council should have a knowledge of and interest in social services in the Basin, but may not be employed by any social service agency. They should also have a positive attitude toward maximum local participation and supervision iff social services in the Uintah Baiin-'lo- cal know best' should become a word iff an effective council, said. 722-451- 8, |