| Show j I What's Wrong With It l r J o From The me Ephraim Enterprise Wildlife Feder Federation tion We fail to go along with the Utah i in n that groups group's attitude toward a plank in the agricultural section of the 1952 Republican an platform as published in this should like to state that paper last week In differing we livestock have no grazing permit and we like we own o no to fish and hunt and to enjoy outings in the mountains us concerning concerning con con- stockman has approached Also at this writing no last weeks week's s news item The plank to which the Wildlife Federation pointed with dislike and it seems alarm states In the management of public lands and forests we pledge the elimination of arbitrary bureaucratic practices To this end we e favor legislation to define the rights and and users users to privileges of grazers and other operators co-operators A 1 d th v nf of judicial review against i e e pr v tj lilt un p v j administrative invasions of those rights and privileges and to protect the public against corrupt or monopolistic exploitation exploitation exploitation tation and bureaucratic favoritism Now just what is wrong with that Is there place in a republic for arbitrary bureaucratic practices True they have grown up in recent years so that many government agencies have been prosecutor jury and judge and some of them without being subject to review by the courts of the land Some call such steps in government progressive and liberal but to us they have always seemed reactionary a reaching back to the days of the absolute monarch the tyrant from such which the free peoples of the world fought for so many centuries to free themselves and build a nation of free men which the founding fathers of America set up The courts were designed and should ever be the final dispenser of justice No bureau should be above having having having hav hav- ing its decisions reviewed by the courts when those affected affected affected af af- af- af feel an in injustice has been done If the courts uphold the bureaucratic actions well and good if they reverse or modify them that too should be accepted as in the public interest 1 u LJ 1 d fin th And its about time ume we ve had nau legis 1 to 10 IU e e un me e rights and privileges privilege of grazers and other operators co-operators and users of public lands including the rights and privileges of hunters picnickers and others who wh use the national forest fores t and other public domain Also we probably need more mor e es legislation to define the rights of private property owners owner s to to tobe be protected from damage by hunters deer elk pheasants pheasants pheas pheas- ants etc If th the public domain is to be used for the grazing o of f 1 livestock there must be some definite rules defining denning and protecting the rights and privileges of people who go to the tle expense of establishing herds and flocks camp equipment equipment equip equip- ment etc to use the public lands for this purpose i Livestock raising is one of Utah's major industries To destroy it would be to destroy a considerable of the states stales economy And much of that livestock industry depends in part at least on use of public lands Surely these lands should be used for beneficial purposes and there 4 is such a thing as conservation with utilization of the watersheds One thing that makes a republic work is the constant protection of the rights of minorities It is true that the number of fishermen hunters etc who use the forests for sport and recreation far outnumbers those who use the forests for production of food and fiber to feed and clothe the nation But that gives the majority no right to trample roughshod over the productive users of f public lands City dwellers now greatly outnumber r rural ral dwellers in America but that gives s them no right to swarm into the country districts rob orchards and or otherwise destroy the property and crops of the minority in the country country country coun coun- try even though some city dwellers seem to glorify in doing just that Yes the minority group has a right to be heard and that in the courts of the land and not before the court of public opinion which just now seems very much warped if not ot somewhat berserk in favor of fun and recreation as opposed to the serious business of production of food and fiber and timber I No one is asking that the rights and privileges of the stockmen should supersede the rights of the majority of the people All that platform plank requests is that the rights and privileges of the grazers operators co-operators etc be recognized and be subject to judicial review to protect them from arbitrary and unfair bureaucratic actions As to those rights and privileges there are many today who would take away all present grazing rights and divide them among the people generally If that can be bedone bedone I done this year it can be repeated each year until no user i would ever be established so as to operate a profitable industry in- in industry industry in in- for himself or one which would benefit the nation producing meat and fiber and nd leather for general use use use- at a aprice aprice price which people can afford to pay While it may a and d may not be true that less than I two taro percent of the nations nation's meat supply is produced on the controversial public domain and watersheds take away that two percent and it could mean that pe people far more than the entire population of Utah would go I meatless We are at present a meat importing nation If I we fail to utilize fully without undue damage to the watersheds watersheds water water- sheds and range our grazing resources we shall be placed more and more at the mercy of prices set by foreign producers producers producers pro pro- of meat And concerning damage to the watersheds let it never be overlooked that much of the most disastrous damage to these areas often results from the carelessness of hunters fishermen campers smokers and travelers through the forests forests forests for for- ests who annually set large numbers of fires to send up in smoke thousands of acres of timber and grass and browse While the representative of the National Wildlife Federation Federation Federation Fed Fed- points out that less than two percent of the nations nation's meat supply is produced on the public domain nothing is said of the percentage of the nations nation's wool that is produced on such lands This wool production is a really serious matter for Americans to consider Further curtailment of this important important im im- im industry could have disastrous effects on the entire entire entire en en- tire nation And so let it ever be remembered that a plank favoring favoring favoring favor favor- ing the producers of food and fiber is a plank favoring all the people of America and camping and fishing fishing fishing fish fish- ing would lose much of their lore should the and campers and fishermen find it impossible to obtain warm clothing to protect their bodies or meat for their weinel's hamburgers steaks etc I r |
