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Show UINTAH issues final rule on activities United States wilderness areas BLM The Bureau oTLand Management today published a final rule that revises and updates management regu lations relating to congressionally designated Wilderness Areas under BLM management. The final rule, which appears in todays Federal Register, applies to 5.6 million acres of BLM- - managed Wilderness Areas in the continental United States. The rule does not govern activities in Wilderness Study Areas. Wilderness Areas are among the crown jewels of Americas public lands. said BLM Acting Director Sylvia V. Baca. This final rule will help the BLM preserves and protect these national treasures. Baca added. "This rule brings the BLM's wilderness regulations up to date with several legislative, policy, and technological changes that have occurred since 1985-t- he last time our agency issued wilderness regulations. The final rule recognised rock dimbingasa legitimate use of Wilderness Areas. Under the rule, rock climbers do not need a permit to climb. Climbers may not, however, use power drills to install permanent fixed anchors. The final rule does not address the issue of installing new, permanent fixed anchors for rock climbing in BLM Wilderness Areas. The BLM has decided to reserve for the future, and therefore postpone for now, any regulatory action on the installation of such anchors. The final rule authorises American Indians to use BLM- - managed Wilderness Areas for traditional religious ceremonies, but does not pant Tribes exclusive rights. The BLM decided that a provision providing privacy for Indian ceremonial uses, which the agency had included in its proposed wilderness rule of December 19, 1996, is not necessary. BLM land managers already have authority under other regulations and Federal law to temporarily close an area to protect or accommodate this or any other type of use in appropriate circumstances. The final rule, which takes effect BLM-manag- January 16, 2001: makes clear the sailboats, sailboards, parachutes, game carriers, carta, wagons, and similar decides are mechanical transport that cannot be used in Wilderness Areas. The rule also defines motorised equipment as including chainsaws, power drills, and motor vehicles. The wilderness Act of 1 964 prohibits the use of mechanical transport and motorised equipment in Wilderness Areas. implements the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 by allowing wheelrfaair use in Wilder-- ' ness Areas by those individuals who need them. Consisted with the provisions of ADA, the BLM will not construct facilities or modify land condi-tion- s to accommodate wheelchair use. makes clear that the use of horses or other pack stock is a legitimate activity in Wilderness Areas. retains the existing prohibition against the holding of competitive events, such as foot or watercraft races, in designated areas. consolidates existing provisions that prohibit aircraft from landing in Wilderness Areas or from dropping skydivers or materials into three areas. affirms the right of miners with valid existing rights to cany on certain activities in support of their mining claims, consisted with BLM requirements to protect wilderness values. allows grazing to continue in Wilderness Areas at the level that existed at the time Congress desig nated these areas as wilderness. ensures access to owners of lands that are completely non-Feder- al Wid surrounded by lderness Areas. The BLM will approve an access route if it existed at the time Congress designated the surrounding area as wilderness; if such a route did not exist at that time, the Bureau will approve access to the in holding. Copies of the final wilderness management rule can be obtained from any of the BLMs State Offices or accessed from the Bureaus national Internet Web site (aatOLhlllLffivl or the Federal Register website (httn: www.accres.gpo gov'su docxaceaf acrel4Q.html!. BLM-manage- The national spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America says his organization will continue to stand up for values, despite recent decisions in the nations two largest cities. The Scouts received a double blow the past couple of weeks. First, the CityofLos Anjire unanimously voted to cut its ties with the organization because of its moral stance against homosexuality. The city council decided it would start charging the Scouts to use city parks and recreation areas. In addition, the chancellor of the New York City Schools barred sponsorship of most Scout activities, saying the group violated board of education policy by discriminating against homosexuals. But Scout spokesman Greg Shields says they will continue to stand up for values. We are dedicated to our mission of helping American young people build their character, and helping them make decisions that will last a lifetime, and that wont change, Shields says. Our values are not driven by popularity contests or by membership numbers, they are not driven by financial contributions. Theyre our values, and were standing up for them. Shields says while the Scouts have lost some financial contributions due to pressure from homosexual activists, others have come forward with support. He says one anonymous donor from Pittsburgh recently gave 115 million to the organization. Back in June, the UB. Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America can bar homosexuals bom being troop leaders. The justices over-turned a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that the dismissal of a homo-sexuScout leader bad been illegal . :) Pace 3 long distance, put them to work under the states antidiscrimination law. The Boy Scouts, which also exclude atheists and agnostics as leaders. believe it has the right to decide who canjoin its ranks. The Boy Scouts effort to uphold morality and decency has been under severe attack not only from large municipalities, but alao from some large corpora- In other related news, the Boy Scouts in Broward County, Florida, have filed a suit against the Broward CountySchool Board, saying they are being discriminated against by being evicted from meeting in public school facilities. The board had planned to evict the Scouts from school grounds overtheorganisathmsbanoD homosexual leaders. But Fox Newa says the Scouts have asked the U.S. District Court in Miami to atop the eviction, scheduled to be effective mi December 17. The suit claims the boards policy is not being applied to other groups, such as Brownies and church groups, which art not being asked to leave. blocks. ments instead Of If you make a lot of short calls (calls whereyou leave voice message or fax calls that are unsuccessful on the first try), you could save up to 35 using fractional billing. 5) Use one of the free phone-to-phoservices. 6) Check out competing plans on full-minu- te By Marc Raptrt Its ironic. Deregulation and incredible technology progress has slashed the costa of providing long distance service. But you are almost certainly paying more for long distance. According to a recent study of longdistance consumers, Americans are actually paying between 201 1050 e than more today for thev did just a year ago. That is what the T elecommunica-tion- j Research and Action Center (TRAC), a watchdog groupthai tracks e telecommunicathe tions industry found in a newly released mqjor study. So bow does this happen? It turns e out that while many carriers have cut their rates, they've increased feci and charges for other services to more than compensate for the lower rates. The good newa is that you can easily get your phone bills under control, but you'll need to do some homework first. Here are some strategies to help you cope: 1 ) Adi for the best rate. AD carriers offer discount plans, but they wront tell you about them unless you ask. 2) Dont restrict yourself to just the big carriers like MCI, Sprint and AT&T. You may get the best rate from a smaller operator. There are over 500 operating companies in the United States, many of which offer attractive rates. 3) Even if you have local business service, you dont have to sign up for a business plan. Evaluate both residential ami business plana when shopping for a service. Pick a residential calling plan if you usually spend 175 or less for intereach month. If state you spend between $75 and $200, you ahould consider both plan type and pick the beat deal. If your call volume exceeds $200 a month, youll want a business calling plan because you can qualify for a larger discount. 4) Try to find a calling plan that provides fractional billing, which incre measures calls in long-distanc- long-distanc- long-distanc- Despite repeated attacks, Boy Scouts refuse to abandon moral values Grotning and Jim Brown Ivcvvr STANDARD. Top ten tips for saving money on in per-minu- By Chad B AS1N long-distan- long-distan- long-distan- the WebPricer. (www.trsc.org-webpricer).WebPricrr,- free service provided by SalesStar, a telecommunications consulting company, compares plans from AT AT, Excel. Frontier, Qwest, MG, Matrix and Sprint. (But remember, you can probably find a better deal from a smaller company.) 7) Before you switch plans, read the fine print on the service contract. Evaluate monthly minimums. A 5 cent a minute plan with a $9.95 monthly minimum may not be such a great deal if you make just a few calls. Ifyou avenged only 60 minutes a month, your effective rate would be Judge wants slaughter data on wild horses A federal judge has asked the Bureau oTLand Management to tell him the number of adopted wild horses old for slaughter despite their new owners pledget not to do so. US. District Judge Howard McKibben alao asked the BLM to aay how many of those cases agency officials recommended for prosecution. Those who adopt wild horses are required to sign a statement saying they do not plan to sell them to a slaughterhouse; someone who violated that pledge could be proeecu led for making a (kite statement to the government. Justice Department lawyer Lyn Jacobs, representing the BLM, said federal officials are prosecuting one person for fraud for allegedly telling a wild hone after signing the pledge. group Alawyer for an animal-right-s thslhM criticized the BLM wild burse no-tal- c INIIIE1US1EINUS 15 cents a minute. 8) Watch out for hidden charges too. One plan charged a minimum of three minutes for every call. Another advertised a leaser rate for acouple of months and then doubled the charge. 9) Ifyou are willing to put up with lesser sound quality and are in front ofyour computers lot anyway, one of the outfits like dialpsd, net2phone. can deltathree com or media-rin- g really your long distance costa down to size. You can make a phone call to virtually anyone anywhere, for as long as you wish, free or dirt cheap. 10) Go over your monthly bills with a sharp rye Ifyou find anything that doesn't make sense, call and get an explanation. Ifyou think rate plana are confuting Just imagine creating a computer billing program! They are filled with mistakes and never lucky ones for you! Put these ten tips into action and you're well on your way to cutting your long distance bill down to size. said that the agency needs to tougher on those who sell wild homes to slaughterhouse. hich send home meal oversea for people to eat. No one is august mg that hundreds of people are going to be prosecuted for these kinds of abuses, Howard CnutaLalawyer for the Fund for Animals, said T uesday. "But if you go prosecute a few people, it will let folks know that if they break the law. something will happen to them." The BLM has said more than 500 wild homes have ended up in slaughterhouses since the agency began g the pledges two years ago. The agreements began aft The Associated Prrs in 1997 exposed the continuing practice of sending wild homes to slaughter. d The BLM takes homes from areas of federal land in the West and lets people adopt them for as little as $ 125. They can claim title to the homes afteroneyvar Congress set up the adoption process in the 1970s after anunal-right- a groups complained that thousands of wild homes were being rounded up and sold to slaughterhouses. r no-sa- le -- over-graze- One Show Sunday 7:30 C&B0& ' flag) Dec. 30th Regional Council Meets Update on Welfare Clients Have Reached Their 36 Month Limits At its December 6 meeting, members of the Uintah Basin Regional Council members were given an update on welfare reform by the Roosevelt and Vernal Offices of Department of Workforce Services iDWSV Welfare reform was passed over 3 years sgo, and starting in January of lhis year, those who bad been receiving welfare assistance for the post the 36 months received no further financial aetuUnce, though food sumps, child care and medical assistance continued. Critics of welfare reform had predicted that thousands of families who lost their monthly cash assistance would cause a huge financial burden for local govern-menIn the Basin at least, the FOOD PANTRY Continued from page 1 to determine ifcriminal activity may have been involved. So far. Roosevelt Mice CpL J. C. Hansen said it appears that the case will come down to poor recordkeeping. In the event any of the items were located it would be difficult to prove they came from the food pantry because they were not marked with serial numbers that would tie them to the pantries, hr said, adding that a few of the missing items from the Vernal Foodrantry were apparently reported totheUmUh County Sheriffs office when it was apparent thev were gone. Womack look over as Human Services Specialist on Nov. 1, replacing Stacey Bateman who worked in the position for less than a year until she quit. With board approval, Womack is in the process of implementing new record kiepingand inventory controls fee the two food pantries. Suspicions that inventory may be missing were heightened in October when two neighbors living near the Duchesne County Food Pantry witnessed two people removing a Urge couch from the adjoining homeless shelter late at night. The neighbors confronted the people removing the couch and were told it was being uken out because the carprU were going to be cleaned. It was never returned. Mention ofthe missing couth later uponan inventory sheet where Eipfwxj it as being left at a chureh donation drop" In Roosevelt. The missing couch was reportedly fsirlv new and in very good condition Batemcn said the couch was not in graid condition. htd predictions have not materialised. Toni Ansel. Roosevelt Office Manager, reported that one household readied the limit in October, one in November, and none in December. Vint DeGraw, Vernal Office Manager, reported that heonly had one household in November ream the limit and none were scheduled for December. "In almost all of the esses, the people have found jobs, and are now employed, said Ansel. The job market has been reaUy good in the Basin. There seems to be a job for The everyone who wants one." unemployment rale for IXichesne Co. in September was 5.5, and in Uintah County the rale was 4.8. The Council alao received an update on the Uto TribwOracle Partnership from Tribal spokesman Max Adams. Both USU and UBATCwiU be or are now providing computer training courars for the joint venture. The Council was also updated on the feasibility study underway for a railroad that would run from western Colorado toa point nesr the Bonanza power plant south of Vernal. Commissioners Ted Kapprn and Herb Snyder were honored for their service on the Regional Council. Happen has served as member of the Operations Committee and Commissioner Snyder has served on the Planning Committee. Sharon Ikilkina.Chair of the Regional Council, noted that both have served faithfully and been very active mem-be- n of the Council. We will miss their ideas and enthusiasm. The Uintah Basin Regional Coun-- 1 cil oversees the activitm of the Department of Workforce Services in the Uiidkh Basin, and more importantly. provides strategic leadenhip in developing and maintaining killed workforce that meets the needs ofarea employers. th Recliners, Sofas Entertainment Centers Sectionals, Bananna Love Seats, Chairs End Tables Mattress Lamp's Glider Rockers Mirrors ) and O Oprt What Women Want TG-13- " Mel Gibson 7;20p.m.& 9.30 p.m. Gom-miaaion- er ONE OF ns FUNNIEST FILMS OF THE YEART THE EMPEROR'S AUTOPSY Continued from page I hecomplrted serving his jail sentence. Potter pleaded guilty last May to felony attempted forcible sexual abuse ends class A misdemeanor for supplying alcohol to a minor. He was given asuspended 0- - 5 year prison termand ordered to serve up to s year in the IXichesne County jail. He served shout three months of his sentence before being released in the firrl part of August third-degre- S01DOWNISRECIAUEINANCINGTAVAIl!ABUEfijai 133 East lagoon Rooeeveft. Utah 722-223- 9 OmtSkowOnfy 7:30p.m. ,V Show On Sender MOVIE Information Call 722-209- 5 |