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Show Gessig Responds To Detractors I have only four brief remarks concerning last week's responses by three Esc a ante Center board members mem-bers to my earlier letter to the editor. edi-tor. First, I singled out no particular board member by name and referred only to the entire Escalante Center board. Contrary to my detractors, I am not attacking individuals, but dealing with issues and asking for answers to my questions. Second, in no way am I consumed with destroying the Bureau of Land Management. If that were my agenda, I would have singled out the BLM board member. I simply want the BLM to cooperate with local traditional users of the land and not become dictators of the public lands under pressure of lawsuit from our local special-interest greens, the Great Old Broads For Wilderness and the Escalante Wilderness Project and their better-known allies, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the Sierra Club. It seems that nothing can be done locally without the approval of our new almighty gods the greens. Third, contrary to charges in one of the letters, I do not peep through windows. If I choose to do my photocopying at the office of the letter-writer's employer, and speak to the general manager in his own office, that is not the letter-writer's business to blabber to all Garfield County residents. To his discredit, he publicly acknowledged his own guilt of easedopping and spreading gossip while being paid by his employer and while serving on the Escalante Center board. Fourth, I respect our county commissioner in her letter . She did not attack my character and actually dealt with some issues. However, many, many people still want to see in a written plan what the Escalante Center is all about, instead of having to approach each of the 11 board members individually, only to find out that each apparendy has a different vision of what it's all about. That is similar to the tactics of federal government scoping meetings divide the group and conquer. Remember, I gleaned the facts I presented in my letter by attending meetings and talking one-on-one to board members. The departing director told many different people different information informa-tion that created confusion no disrespect intended, just a fact. For the last 10 years, I have conducted extensive research, and gathered in-depth information to become fully informed about our local concerns, and over the past several years, I have become increasingly more involved in those issues. Some people, such as the letter-writers, perceive me as anti-government. anti-government. Exactly the opposite is true; I am a strong and avid supporter of Constitutional government govern-ment as our founding fathers conceived it and perceived it, but I do not support pseudo-governmental entities that would usurp the power from the governed. Those with an opposing agenda (See LETTERS on page 3-A) LETTERS From Page 2-A have tried, unsuccessfully, to discredit dis-credit my work, and then, failing to find facts to support their position, attacked my character, something that happens regularly to any Escalante resident who is trying to protect our traditional heritage. I have asked repeatedly, and ask once more, to be shown in writing and in specific detail what the Escalante Center is all about. Steve Gessig Escalante, |