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Show T T 0 C5 r5 307 U. 20 CIT ft I. T Lft I U ITE UT A6 g1101-121- ; - I- cc;nClATlOfJ PRt"' UTAH ttr ilflbll! Valedictorians and from saiutatorians Duchesne County high They're S35 a person ever comes is when he fills out a Job application form. Stanley J. Randall The closest to perfection (9) 2 uintah Basin 50C Kings Peak Tuesday schools talk about what it takes if you want to come out on top. Seepage May 28, 2002 Roosevelt, Utah 13 Vol. 88, Number 22 www.ubstandard.com AREA TO BE A SHOWCASE' Making the front page ft's not often that youpick up a magazine with a V? jC j worldwide circulation and H see a picture of someone Mitigation project opens new lands for waterfowl habitat from Duchesne or Tabiona. But then, its the unusual B! )The project is unique and inviting. events that capture the attention of readers. See page 2 By Lexlee E. Whiting There may bea statewide drought, but in an areajust southeast ofMyton, theres ao much water that the rite ia in the procew of becoming a vaat wetland area for thousands of migrating water fowl The construction of four ponds and dikes in the Mallard Spring Wildlife Management Area near Myton is expected to be a prime example of how a wildlife mitigation project is supposed to work. The Division ofWildlife Resources and the Duchesne County Water Conservancy District are working together on a $200,000 prqject to replace habitat lost when the water district piped five open canals. A portion of the federal salinity J .'fc. i'l in Suspect control money the water district received for the pipeline construction was earmarked for mitigation. The money spent by the water district to enhance habitat for waterfowl at the Mallard Springs site came from that fond. "We decided to do the mitigation project in a block rather than have it scattered out We wanted a showcase. We wanted to create something that is an enhancement explained Duchesne County Water Conservancy District Manager Randy Cro-tie- r. "There were a lot of ideas for mitigation that floated around, but it became apparent that if you really want to create something that would give you the biggest bang for your buck, this was it The series of four ponds range in acres to size from three acres and will be about four to SEE NEW HABITAT on page 8 J' Vy j A hostage first-degr- ee ? aggravated felony kidnaping and assault on an officer has entered guilty pleas to reduced i t. . s v ' .s ; 12 The amount Duchesne, sports stars Top State mat champ Ryan Moat and Jessica Fabrizio j. selected as outstanding 't Utah Division ofWildlife ReWILDLIFE MITIGATION PROJECT sources Northeastern Manager Walt Donaldson and Randy Crazier, manager of the Duchesne County Water Conservancy District, take a look at foe area south of Myton where four ponds are being constructed in the Mallard Spring Wildlife Management Area. The ponds will replace waterfowl habitat lost to the construction piped canals in Duchesne County. athletes. 16 PLAN CALLS FOR RETIRING' PERMITS Public lands proposal stirs up western ranchers By Therena Morrill A proposal by environmentalists for government fonded buy-ouof public lands grazing permits has created alarm among many cattle ranchers who depend on thoee permits to provide needed pasture for their herds. Responding to a letter being circulated to ranchers asking for their support of the proposal, the Canyon Country Ranchers Association said ranchers need to be aware of the call for the proposed legislation that would cost taxpayers $3.5 billion and would permanently retire grazing permits. As reported in the article Environmentalists push legislation for a ts 30 edition of the Uintah Basin Standard, there is a call from opponents of public land use for federal legislation that would pay ranchers $175 per animal unit month to purchase their grazing permits. Once purchased, the government would permanently retire the permits, thus eliminating the use or public lands for grazing. The legislation, if it were to materialize, would also indude for mining, timber, and oil buy-ou- -at (- - i i.-r-. ts permits. Two Duchesne County commis buy-o- ut sioners have spoken out in opposition to the grazing elimination campaign. Commissioner Guy Thqyne said he thinks the legislation, if passed, would be a violation of the Taylor Grazing Act, which was the first federal effort to regulate grazing on federal lands. One purpose of the act is to assure free grazing of domestic livestock on public lands r "Without public lands grazing, private land i E ranching in the western states would no longer be economically feasible. with the purchase ofa permit Under the act, it is illegal to purchase grazing permits for conservation purposes, so any new legislation that would effectively terminate public lands grazing would violate the act. "I believe they cant legitimately uphold that the proposed legislation, said Thayne. "If it ever did pass, it would be a devastating thing for the whole West All the redly good ground is getting covered with cement, which makes the grazing Almost all departments permits a vital part of ranching in the west. Commissioner Larry Ross is also proposal, howopposed to the buy-oever, he said he can understand why ut it might be enticing for some ranch- ers. "Ranching families' are getting older, theyre looking for someone to take over their operations but their children arent interested, "Ross said. Commissioner Loma Stradinger was unavailable for comment. Bryce Olsen, a Neds rancher and second of the Utah Cattlemans Association recently traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with Utah Senators Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett and Rep. Chris Cannon to discuss his concerns about the environmentalists legislative aspirations. "I think weve gut it in check, said Olsen. They the congressmen know about it now. Olsen said, "Agriculture is vital to our community. He explained that now is the time for ranchers and others concerned about agricultural survival in Duchesne County to contact their congressmen and express their opinions. "They the congressmen told me nt SEE PUBLIC LANDS on page 3 June 18 is final day to register There is a major change that local voters need to be made aware of before the Duchesne Country primary elections on June 25. In order to vote in the Republican primaries, voters must now officially declare an afliluftion with the Republican party. According to county clerk Diane FYeston, this change oc- - curred after the state Republican delegation changed the iiigibility rules tor their party. According to Freston, as long as a person is registered to vote by the deadline, June 18, the county will allow voters to declare a party affiliation at the precinct the day of the primaries. The Democratic Party has no such rule; any registered voter may vote in the Democratic primaries, regardless of affiliation. POOR COpVm that goes into Roosevelt city coffers from sain and excise taxes, and the highway use sales tax will help boost their 2003 fiscal year budget. Sales taxes arent going up, but the city is expecting to receive more money due to more spending in the upcoming fiscal year about $88,000 to be more specific. Thats good news for the budget, because revenue forecasts dont anticipate any increase in property tax revenue from this year to next year. (See related chart on this page.) tentative budget The 2002-200- 3 includes a 2.5 percent pay raise for employees. The city will also pick up higher medical insurance premium payments for their employees. Spending by almost all departments is up due to wage increases, along with the increased cost of supplies and maintenance. Depending are up due to wage ; increases, along with the increased cost of supplies and i maintenance. : PRIMARY ELECTION DEADLINE NEW RULE: MUST BE AFFILIATED WITH REPUBLICAN PARTY TO VOTE IN THEIR PRIMARIES ROOSEVELT CITY'S DOTTOM LINE UP $1 40,800 By IIeoE.Whiting j Seepage '- Budget tight, revenue up slightly charges. Seepage f 'v CONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN -- Cemeteries throughout the Uintah Basin were adorned with flowers and American flags as families gathered to pay tribute to their loved ones over the Memorial Day holiday. man Duchesne ; four-and-a-h- ft case pleads charged with . sH.-i--'.j Voters must also be registered to vote in the county in which they reside. Satellite registrations will be June 14 and June 17 at the Crossroads Center in Roosevelt and at the county administration building in Duchesne from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voter registration forms may also be picked up at various other public Eit officesin and Duchesne County. form is also in the back of the 2002 phone books. Areg-istratk- ' : on the age ofthe vehicles in a specific department, their administrative auto fond equipment lease went up or down. Hie fire department budget, for example, took a nosedive of about $21,500, but the department wasnt hurt, said city finance director Mike Davis. "A fire truck depreciated and we took it out of their budget The fire department budget went way down, but they didnt take a cut Its just because of that line item that was transferred to another budget Onebudget was completely erased this year. The "council discretionary expense hind was aa high as $31,899 five yean ago. In the current budget year it held $24,300, but when the new budget year begins July 1, that budget will be zeroed out The discretionary fond was mainly used to help pay for emergency repair costa in various departments. From now on, each department is being asked to set aside money for unforeseen emergencies and pull it from their own budgets when needed. For the most part, while the budget isnt really generous, times aren't that bad, said Davis. "We havent seen the (economic) difficulties. We havent lost that much, we have stayed pretty much as s normal year. We are noticing that we are going to have to start replacing a few more sidewalks. We are tryingto get our streets going, therefore we are trying to make sure that all our sewer lines and water lines are in good shape before we overlay a street The need to keep up with maintenance of water end sewer lines, as well as util ity expansion and enhancement will have the council considering a possible raise in water and sewer rates in the next month or so, he said. The increases are not being consid- 8EE BUDGET on page 3 Roosevelt City Proposed Budget 1 |