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Show never be “used” in any way. PFUSA is not a group to let the facts stand in the way of their rhetoric. The group's battle-cry includes such rabble-rousing stuff like: the federal government is buying up “vast tracts of land” for wilderness areas (fact: most of these public lands, managed for the benefit of the citizens of the US, were lands that historically had no value to private interests and were never homesteaded or purchased); and no one can “use” wilderness lands (fact: fishing, hunting, grazing, horseback riding, hiking, canoeing, and other activities are allowed). There's some analogy to a bondage, rebellion, and abundance cycle, which I haven't deciphered yet. As noted previously, there's nearly 23 million acres of public lands managed by BLM in Utah. America's Redrock Wilderness Act is includes only 9.1 million acres of the still wild areas. This Act requests not that the government buy up lands but rather to manage these public lands in a manner to protect the exceptional wilderness values that cannot be manufactured or reproduced. Counties attack wilderness. Recently, the Counties have displayed their irrational hatred for wilderness with an organized resurgence of illegal acts against the landscape to thwart wilderness designation: * Uintah County illegally bulldozed 3-4 miles into the White River inventory unit. One week later, approximately 100 vehicles and 200 people traveled on this illegal route to attend a rally organized by People for the USA, and Uintah County. Near the end of the event, Congressman Cannon arrived by helicopter, and drove a Uintah County vehicle past a BLM ranger, ignoring a warning not to proceed and signs stating that the area was off limits to motorized vehicles. Four other vehicles followed. SUWA has urged the BLM to issue trespass citations to Representative Cannon, Uintah County, and the others that violated the public land laws. * San Juan County Commissioners and a representative of the Utah Association of Counties ripped out a closure sign and drove into the Fish and Owl Creek Wilderness Study Area toward Moon House ruin, a fragile Native American archeological site. The violators ignored the BLM field manager who stood by, and a court agreement requiring that they consult with SUWA and the BLM before performing any work on routes in disputed areas. * In Grand County, at the prodding of a Utah Association of Counties lobbyist, the Grand County Council adopted an RS 2477 road claim inventory map drafted by an ardent off-road vehicle advocate. The map depicts over 5,000 miles of claimed routes through the county, that the County will use as an argument against designating the newly reinventoried BLM wilderness units as WSAs. So much for Grand County being the "Great Hope" of reason in rural Utah politics (see last issue). These illegal attacks against the land make clear the importance of your comments in support of protecting all the remaining wilderness, including the 2.6 million acres of BLM reinventoried wilderness units. Although the Wilderness Review comment period ended on June 21, the BLM will still consider comments on specific areas. oe The “brawl” on Little Baullies Mesa continues. The BLM has decided once again to beat-up Little Baullies Mesa by chopping down about 1,300 acres of pinyon and juniper forest with a huge “hydromulcher,” and tearing through the remaining 700 acres with chainsaws. The mesa is located between the Elk Lower Bitter Creek unit of the Citizens' Wilderness Proposal, with some wells intruding the White River unit that was also found to have wilderness character in the BLM reinventory. SUWA and the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies each filed a Request for Stay and for State Director Review. The State Director granted the Request for Stay, and on Review concluded that because the threshold level of impacts to the winter range was exceeded even with the mitigation, “the Finding of No Significant Impact is not possible.” Thus, the State Director remanded pees to the Vernal Office for the preparation of an environmental impact statement Send some pre- “scoping” comments for the EIS stating that no drilling or road construction should occur within the White River and Lower Bitter Creek units of the Citizens’ Wilderness Proposal, or inside critical mule deer winter range. Address letters to: Dave Howell, BLM Vernal Field Office Manager, 170 South 500 East, Vernal, Utah 84078, fax (435) 781-4410; and to Sally Wisely, State Director, BLM, 324 South State Street, Suite 301, P.O. Box 45155, Salt Lake City, Utah 84145-0155, fax(801)539-4013. Filming trashes wilderness lands. Dreamworks Hollywood mystique, our land managers rushed the application through, and issued the a letter to Dreamworks and the BLM: Dick Manus, BLM Price Field Office, 125 S. 600 W., Price, Utah 84501, or fax (435)636-3657; DreamWorks Productions, LLC., 1041 N. Formosa Ave., Santa Monica West Blvd. 2" floor, W. Hollywood, CA 90046. If you have ever had a hard day on the Mesa-Grand Gulch area to the south. The initial knock-out happened in 1960 when the agency chained (two bulldozers with an anchor chain stretched between them ripped out the vegetation and soils) much of the mesa to create forage for cows. Now, as the BLM itself stated in its 1999 Utah Wilderness Inventory, “the chaining is no longer noticeable on the ground. The area has revegetated with pinons that are now 15 feet tall and appears predominantly natural.” So, just as nature has finally licked its wounds back to recovery, the BLM stands poised to step in with machines and deliver the final blow. The BLM should pull this punch and instead reconsider the mesa (along with the rest of the Arch Canyon unit) for Wilderness Study Area designation — a much more natural approach to full recovery of this mesa. Comments on the plan are due by August 6, 1999. Write to Kent Walter, BLM, P.O. Box 7, Monticello, Utah 84535, fax(435)587-1518, with a copy to Sally Wisely, State Director, BLM State Office, 3245 S. State Street, Suite 301, P.O. Box 45155, Salt Lake City, UT 84145-0155, fax(801)539-4013. Book Cliffs Update: the land is saved .. . for now. an “other permit “full-force and effect.” This meant that filming began immediately, without providing the public an opportunity to appeal before the damage was done. SUWA is appealing this decision. It won't restore the land, but it may prevent this abuse of the law and public process from happening again. You can help by boycotting the film and writing overlooking Cedar wanted the Citizens' Wilderness Proposal and the BLM's own reinventoried wilderness character lands. Caught up in the Ridge portion of the Abajo Mountains and the upper Comb Wash (Arch Canyon) drainage, the Productions, LLC, worldly” site to film Galaxy Quest, and chose an area on the western bench of Little Wildhorse Mesa just west of Goblin Valley State Park—within trail, a hard workout, or are visited by sore joints and muscles, you need this product. Made from 100% natural plant extracts, this gel is formulated from American Indian medicines which they have used for centuries. For questions or to order, call or write: Glo Germ Company, 150 E. Center St, MOAB,UT 84532. 1-800-842-MOAB or 259-5693 Check or money order only. Order by Visa and we pay shipping. For a free sample, just send us a dollar for shipping/handling. As you may recall from the April/May Zephyr Spring newsletter, the Vernal BLM approved a proposal to drill nearly 1,000 gas production wells and construct over 400 miles of roads throughout 80,000 acres of critical mule deer and elk habitat that overlaps the Reflective & Introspective Recollection of Moon Landing Ad (with John & Jim pretending to be Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin) Yes Buzz, it’s weird, to be Buzz moon. And now we own 77D) Kre‘OY WHAT DO WE DO? We write custom ; : a company called "Footprints." Is that weird or what? NO WAY. I'M Neil. . but YOU'RE Buzz. I'M Neil. Nobody wants Gee Buzz, 30 years ago we put footprints on the software for the big people and the little...OK...We take that real big file cabinet full of paper and put it all into your computer. / 121. 100S. #108 Moab, UT 84532 435.259.4384 800.635.5280 |