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Show Federal Agencies Meet To Discuss Area Issues PANGUITCH Garfield County Commissioners Louise Liston, Clare Ramsay and Maloy Dodds met together in their quarterly Federal Agencies Meeting with representatives from the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service. Evan Boshell represented Powell District Ranger Carl Guillette's for the Dixie National Forest, Panguitch office. Boshell, while updating commissioners on Forest Service controlled burns, said his agency could not take all the credit for lingering smoke in the area. He said the burial site for the wood chips hauled from the former Kaibab mill, seven miles northeast of Panguitch caught on fire and had been smoldering from several weeks. Boshell said that surveying was ongoing in Red Canyon in preparation for the Red Canyon Bike Trail. The surveying should be completed this summer and the contract will be put together this winter. Jeff Bott updated the com missioners on the Spruce Recovery Recov-ery Project that addresses ongoing problems with the Spruce beetle. Bott said they expect to have the draft EIS out by the end of the month. Another project is the Brian Head Expansion Lift Proposal requiring an environmental assessment as-sessment which also will be signed by the end of the month, with a 45-day review period to follow. Bott told the commission that logging is still taking place at Sidney Valley. The project was originally supposed to be completed com-pleted this fall but is not on schedule. The Forest Service, he said, had to do a lot more remarking. Spruce Beetles are virtually out of control, eating everything in front of them. He mentioned it looked like they would be expanding sales in that area in the fall. A helicopter operation will continue throughout the summer. Mountain Valley Timber, Rexburg, Ida. was high bidder and expects to begin hauling this week. Utah Forest Products, Escalante, Esca-lante, is currently logging the timber sale around Brian Head Town, the Navajo Ridge. Logging was expected to begin Aug. 1 on another sale near Mammoth Creek. 1. Two others, the Boundary and Duck Creek sales, have been purchased by Intermountain Timber Tim-ber Products out of Montrose, Colo. No date has been set for their start. Getting subcontractors is a real problem, Bott said, since Kaibab disbanded its operation. Almost all other subcontractors went out of business at the same time, he said. The commissioners collectively collec-tively expressed their amazement at these timber sale going out of Utah to Colorado, something they said had never been seen in the past. According to Bott, another sale will be offered, the Blue Ridge Sale, about Sept. 1 Part of the sale is on Blue Springs mountain just south of the interstate and the rest is in Reed's Valley, just a little farther south ,above Mammoth Creek. Bott said that Range Conservationist Conser-vationist Dale Harris, reported a serious problem with White Top, a noxious weed, in Sandy Creek. It is literally out of control in that (See Commissioners Meet With Federal Agency Reps Pace 3A) Commissioners Meet With Federal Agency Representatives From Page 3 A that again this year with the cooperation of DWR. They have $30,000 for cutting Pinion Juniper and reseeding. Commissioner Dodds asked if the BLM opens up those areas for wood cutting to local people after they cut down the Pinion Junipers. Smith said that they had done so in the past but the junipers were small enough to yield little usable firewood. Commissioners Hold Quarterly Meet With Federal Agency Representatives From Front Page area, Bott said, with a lot of it on private ground, some of it on Forest Service ground and a substantial amount on Bureau of Land Management lands. Bott said the Iron County weed spray supervisor was overwhelmed when he saw the extent of the problem. Sandy Creek is about four miles northwest of Panenitrh Commissioner Dodds said that he believes the . White Top infestation was mostly on Iron County's side of the line on private ground but said they are willing to work with Iron County. Bott said he was merely making the commission aware of the problem. County Engineer Brian Brem-ner Brem-ner reiterated - that Garfield County would be willing to do whatever could be done to help. Commissioner Liston asked how weeds on state lands are dealt with, taken care of on state lands? Bremner replied that the state has about $5-6,000 per year for this area that they can spend. Just have to notify them that the weeds are there, give them an estimate of what it is going to cost and they authorize it. When the money is gone, it's gone. Commissioner Dodds asked Bott about the Frandsen Lumber Mill in Panguitch, if they had any timber under contract? Bott said they do not at the present, but they are working quite closely with Mountain Valley Timber out of Colorado. They trade a lot of green timber cut with Kevin Frandsen or with Utah Forest Products. He also noted that there are a lot of private land owners and wood that needs to be moved on their lots too and that would be a likely source for Frandsen. Dodds noted that Frandsen had bought the mill from Kaibab but at this time was still using the old mill of his father's. Didn't look like it would be a month or two before he had the new mill up and running. Bott noted they are desperately short of haulers. Commissioner Ramsay asked if Reidhead out of Kanab is still hauling? Bott said they are working in the Navajo Lake area and also do a little subcontracting for other companies. They are one of the biggest logging outfits remaining in the area. Louise Liston remarked that it was "an unfortunate turn of events, a tragic waste." "The beetles came on," stated Bott, "just about the same time Kaibab was going out." Verlin Smith, BLM office in Kanab, reported that the Sandy Creek bum (by Three Mile) for 800-1,000 acres is still planned but has no date set. ' Other habitat projects include the Panguitch Mule Deer Habitat Improvement Project on the Panguitch Lake highway. Doing (See Commissioners Meet With Federal Agency Reps Page 6A) |