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Show i 1- I . V -; . I! ! v x ' ' i ' ! 1 " ;- ' At Friday's Bureau of Land Management's scoping open house on the Wilderness Study Area Reinventory area planning projects, Escalante residents Chris Christensen (left), Shane and Stephanie Steed, and an unidentified Escalante resident (foreground), discuss a documen- BLM Holds Scoping Meeting In Escalante "iiSCALANTE Despite a pc-" tition signed by 51 people asking for a standard open public meeting, the 100 area residents who attended Friday night's scoping session on Wilderness Study Areas (WSA's) in Escalante were obliged to settle for the Bureau of Land Management's new "open house" format. A BLM decree in use statewide mandates the open house format which presents the BLM's WSA planning project utilizing several specialists to explain aspects of the plan in small groups simultan- eously. Potential members of People Peo-ple for the USA (PFUSA) who are organizing chapters this week in Boulder and Escalante had filed a request re-quest signed by 51 people asking that the meeting be conducted as an open forum so that each question and each answer could be heard by everyone attending. They were advised ad-vised that their request could not be met due to a decision from the state office establishing the open house format. Representatives from BLM offices of-fices in Washington D.C, Salt Lake City, Arizona, and Cedar City were assisted at the open house by local Escalante BLM staff members who directed those attending the meeting to the specialist best equipped to respond to their questions ques-tions for a one-on-one discussion. Attendees were given a "scoping kit" as they registered, and were tation file with Maggie Kelsey, wilderness coordinator for the BLM state office and Elizabeth Ballard, GSENM outdoor recreation specialist special-ist Some 100 interested people attended the meeting where strong opinions were expressed and penetrating questions were asked. urged to leave their written comments com-ments or questions for the BLM to review. As a special courtesy to the public, Paula Shakespear of the Escalante Area Office typed up remarks re-marks as they were dictated to her, allowing people to deposit their comments before leaving the meeting. meet-ing. Many citizens voiced strong concerns that additional wilderness had been added to the original inventory in-ventory and that local citizens were not asked to assist in the reinventory reinven-tory of their own lands. With the deadline for public comments set for May 19, potential members of the developing chapters of PFUSA protested the brief time allotted for input and pointed out that the documentation and Wilder-(See Wilder-(See MEETING on page 5-A) MEETING From Front Page ness Reinventory were not available until one day before the open house. Many requested an extension exten-sion of the scoping period saying they are not being given adequate time to study the issues and prepare their responding com-ments. A single copy of all of the materials ma-terials displayed at the open house are now available at the Escalante BLM Office for public inspection. The public may also visit the Internet In-ternet website at www.ut.blm.govwilderness where comments may also be submitted. Large topographical maps of each of the Wilderness Study Areas in Garfield County were displayed, and documentation files for each area containing reports, photos, statistics, sta-tistics, and maps were available for examination. A specially produced film outlining the steps of the Wilderness Wil-derness Reinventory was shown throughout the evening. Maggie Kelsey, wilderness coordinator co-ordinator for the BLM's Utah State Office, identified the purpose of the open house as a time and place to receive comments, resolve conflicts, con-flicts, and reach a greater understanding under-standing with the local people. Kelsey, who may be reached at 801-539-4068, invites calls from those with unanswered questions. At the end of the evening, Rob Hellie of the BLM's Washington D.C. office commented that although al-though he had answered the questions ques-tions of many angry citizens who disagreed sharply with him, none had been rude. |