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Show February 19, 2009 Page 7 The Garfield County Insider Division of Wildlife Resources position on HB 187 Recreational Use of Public Waters During summer of 2008, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that the public has the right to access natural stream and lake beds on private lands in Utah for recreational purposes, including fishing. The court based its ruling on a state statute. The statute declares that all the water in Utah is the property of the public. Because the ruling is based on a state statute, the state legislature has full authority to reverse or modify the court decision. Unfortunately, the court’s ruling left many questions unanswered. Late last summer, a group was assembled to discuss the implications of the Supreme Court ruling. The Division was invited to participate in this group along with representatives from the Governor’s Office, legislators, agricultural interests, anglers and others. The group agreed that legislation was needed to help clarify the Supreme Court ruling. Representative Ben Ferry stepped forward and agreed to sponsor a bill that would help clarify recreational use of public waters. The Division has maintained a neutral position on the Conatser decision as it pertains to landowner rights and recreational pursuits since both anglers and private property owners play a pivotal role in protecting and sustaining Utah’s wildlife. Anglers support fishing through license dollars that provide needed funds for management, fish production and habitat improvement. Private landowners help by providing and maintaining important habitat for fish and other wildlife. The Division appreciates Representative Ferry’s willingness to attempt to balance recreational and private property interests. His approach is much preferred to a bill that would completely reverse the Supreme Court ruling. The Division has worked closely with Representative Ferry to provide needed information as he drafted the bill. The Division also kept angling groups informed about the status of the bill throughout the past few months and encouraged groups to meet directly with Representative Ferry to express their views. There is a great deal of misinformation circulating about HB 187 and what it does and does not do. The Division believes the public should obtain the correct information about this bill so they can make an informed decision on whether to support or oppose it. We encourage everyone to go the Utah State Legislature Web site and read House Bill 187 at http://le.utah.gov/~2009/ bills/hbillint/hb0187.pdf. It is important to note that the bill authorizes the public to engage in recreational activities, including fishing, on many waters in the state that were previously closed to public access prior to the Supreme Court ruling. The bill guarantees access on 17 major rivers and streams in the state that, in many cases, were closed to public access prior to the Conatser decision. The bill defines which recreational uses are allowed on these streams and provides a needed definition of a streambed. The bill authorizes recreationists to leave the bed of the stream onto private land to negotiate around barriers in the stream such as fences, dams and diversions. The bill also provides a mechanism, where over time, other streams and rivers can be added to or removed from the list as recommended by a “Recreational Access Board.” The make up and duties of this board are discussed in detail in the bill. The bill establishes a list of criteria that will determine whether a stream can be added or removed from the list by the legislature. What the bill does not do is affect, in any way, accessibility to public waters on public lands or private lands that already have easements in place. Many have assumed wrongly that this bill somehow affects the status of our great fishing and other recreational opportunities on public lands. The Division remains concerned about several provisions in this bill and will continue to work closely with Representative Ferry and other legislators as it proceeds through the legislative process. The Division’s hope is that the legislature will ultimately pass a bill that meets the needs of anglers as well as private landowners. Regardless how HB 187 turns out, the Division will continue to make it a high priority to acquire access and to improve fishing opportunities for anglers. In the past several years, the Division has spent millions of dollars to acquire public access and to improve fishing opportunities through direct purchases, easements, leases and cooperative agreements. The Little Hole purchase on the Green River, an expanded Walk-In-Access program, two new ultra-modern fish hatcheries, stream restoration projects on the Weber and Sevier river systems, and numerous new Community Fisheries all demonstrate the Division’s ongoing commitment to fisheries management and angling. For more information about the Supreme Court’s ruling, please visit the DWR’s Web site at wildlife. utah.gov/fishing/waters_access.php CONFERENCE TO SHARE TIPS WITH UTAH SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS Senator Bob Bennett’s (R-Utah) annual Rural Business Conference kicks off its 2009 statewide tour this week with two global businessmen from Utah who will share tips on maintaining successful small businesses. The first conference is on February 18 in Blanding, followed by a second conference on February 19 in Moab. “During these economically challenging times, sound business advice is more valuable than ever, “said Bennett. “This conference will provide tips, skills and networking contacts that can help small businesses succeed.” Alan Hall, founder of MarketStar will be the keynote speaker at the Blanding conference. Hall started MarketStar in the garage of his Ogden home more than two decades ago. MarketStar now employs more than 2,500 people worldwide and represents several Fortune 500 companies. Hall held the title of Utah’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 1997, and is often referred to as the “Johnny Appleseed” of Utah business. “I will share with the audience principles I have learned over many decades of being in business that will help local companies remain viable through 2009 and beyond,” said Hall. Robert Harris, founder of ChemDry, a Utah based carpet cleaning company, will be the keynote speaker at the Moab conference on February 19. Harris created ChemDry while he was putting himself through law school as a carpet cleaner nearly 40 years ago. ChemDry now employs more than 50,000 people in 50 countries and has even formed a partnership with Home Depot. As a philanthropist and unpaid consultant Harris has helped thousands of people start their own businesses. “Knowing what to do, when to do it, and how to do it, are important, but by themselves are merely the substance of college classes and political debates,” said Harris. “The goal of our discussions in Moab will be to define the potential and to outline the steps, not just for surviving the current chaos, but for prospering from it.” The conference is free to anyone wishing to at- tend. Each conference will include several workshops focusing on small business development, international marketing, running a home-based business, financing options for startups and small firms, and online marketing on a budget. Both conferences will feature a lunch session keynote address and question and answer period with Bennett, a former Inc. Magazine regional Entrepreneur of the Year and strong advocate in the U.S. Senate for small businesses. A business expo will also be available at the conferences to give attendees an opportunity to network and learn about the products and services of exhibiting companies. For the last eight years, Bennett has partnered with the Utah Rural Development Council to host this annual conference. After seeing the event grow beyond the capacity of most rural Utah venues, organizers this year have arranged for eight smaller conferences to be held in Blanding, Moab, Midway, Roosevelt, Brigham City, Delta, Ephraim, and Richfield. Family Practice Dr. Richard Birch Dr. Todd Mooney Becky Roberts, FNP Tim Dennis, PA-C Dr. Mitchell Miller Speech Therapy Flora Howard Anesthesiology Lewis Barney, CRNA Certified Nurse Midwife DeAnn Brown, CNM VISITING SPECIALISTS FOR FEBRUARY 2009 Dr.Robert RobertNakken Nakken Dr. 26 Orthopedist . ................................676-8842 Dr.Robert RobertPearson Pearson Dr. 10 Ear, Nose, Throat.........................676-8842 Dr.Mark MarkHansen Hansen Dr. 19 General Surgeon..........................676-8842 Dr.Brad BradWebb Webb Dr. 3, 16 Podiatrist.............................. (800)260-3668 Dr.Ronald RonaldLappe’ Lappe’ Dr. 5 Cardiologist...................................676-8842 Dr.Eric EricMaxwell Maxwell Dr. 11, 25 Audiologist....................................676-8842 Dr.Ronald RonaldCrouch Crouch Dr. ? Urologist.......................................676-8842 Dr.Randy RandyDelcore Delcore Dr. 12 Orthopedist...................................676-8842 Our Pharmacist, Tim Smith, will provide Coumadin testing and results at outlying clinics. Please call clinic for available dates and times. Coumadin testing and results at the Garfield Memorial Clinic will be by appointment. Mammography will be available in Panguitch on Feb 25, 2009. To schedule an appointment with Mammography, please call 435-676-1267. Clinics - Call For Appointments Garfield Memorial Clinic, Panguitch ............................................... 435-676-8842 (Mon - Fri) Kazan Clinic, Escalante . .....................................................435-826-4374 (Mon., Wed., Fri.) Bryce Valley Clinic, Cannonville ............................................ 435-679-8545 (Tues. & Thurs.) Circleville Clinic, Circleville .................................................... 435-577-2958 (Tues. & Thurs.) Physical and Speech Therapy . ........................................................................435-676-8840 Mammography .................................................................................................435-676-1267 Diabetic Counseling(Jan Frandsen) ................................................................. 435-676-8811 Garfield Memorial Hospital Long Term Care Center ........................................435-676-1265 To My Friends in Utah Word has come to me that there are many people in the State of Utah who have taken it upon themselves to learn the ropes of what it is to be a citizen in a republic. You would think we’d pretty much have it down after over two hundred years of practice, but freedom is a funny thing. We, the People, are free to be lazy, apathetic, and we are free to forget. And by and large, we have forgotten. Can you imagine if we were to hear of a group of North Korean citizens who were organizing to reacquaint themselves with what it means to be citizens in a communist country, as if they had forgotten? “Okay, let’s go down the list again of the rights we’ve had stripped away, shall we? Who would like to…? Gosh, you all look so hungry.” Here in America, the Land of the Free, we’ve boiled our citizenship in this great republic down to this pathetic mantra: “I’m a good American – I pay my taxes.” Next time someone says that to you, ask them what the alternative would be to not filing their income tax returns. They’ll have no trouble reciting the well-known litany: fines, confiscation of private property, imprisonment. “I’m a good American – I pay the government every year to keep out of prison.” Is this what we mean by “Freedom isn’t free”? It’s like saying you’re a good person because you gave some money to a guy - never mind that he was pointing a gun to your chest. Citizens of Utah, appreciate what you will be doing this February 20th and 21st. You will be sending delegates from each of your “mini republics” to a Convention, modeled after the Federal Convention of 1787, and there your delegates will bring together their hearts and minds – they will discuss, they will debate, they will problem solve. Citizens from other states will be there to observe the process and to take what they have learned back to their own states to recreate what you are doing. Many of us have read of such things, we have seen movies and plays that depict our Founding Era, we have heard the stories of a great republic. But there is no substitute for doing. And that is why I so envy each and every one of you who will be participating in this event. There were many frustrations at the Convention in 1787. Many ideas from goodhearted, earnest men were shot down, feathers were ruffled, occasionally tempers flared. But all who were there agreed that, times being what they were, accomplishing something was better than accomplishing nothing. It was a humbling realization; nothing grandiose about it. Your exercise in Utah will not reach a state of perfection in any sense; nor will it transform this nation’s political awareness overnight. But the something you will accomplish will go a long way in a nation that has had nothing for so long. How foolish we have been as a nation to pin our hopes on the person we send to the White House, or on the people we send to the Congress, as if they are to run this nation. Isn’t that our job? Don’t we send them to Washington to do our bidding instead of having millions of us show up every time there’s a vote? But after we vote them into office and send them on their way, we pick up the paper, we turn on CNN or NPR, and what do we do? We roll our eyes, or shake our fist, or sigh in disgust. We do everything but what we are supposed to do, and I have to admit that this has described me for most of my life until fairly recently. Make no mistake, those people we roll our eyes at in Washington will “little note, nor long remember” what you do this February in Utah. They don’t care if we assemble; they don’t care if we debate. They don’t care what we discuss; they don’t care if we care. They don’t care if we march; they don’t care if we make the ten o’clock news. Friends in Utah, there is only one thing the people in Washington and those in our state capitals do not want us to do, and it is the very thing our Founders took pains to set us up to do – govern. We, the People of the United States, must stand up and take the place that has been prepared for us by those who understood so well the principles of liberty and its preservation. Utah, show us how it’s done; remind us; take us to school. May this be the beginning of a wake up call this nation will never forget; a wake up call that gets our full attention and gets We the People back to work – a wake up call that finally pulverizes that which the politicians have labored for generations to protect: America’s giant snooze button. Kurt Henning, Chicago, IL ~ 847.275.5878 |
