Beyond The Bears Ears
Exploring News and History of Public Land Issues in the West
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Straight From The Horses Mouth: Plans for Educating and Organizing All SJC Citizens
Sunday, November 13, 2022
More Subterfuge Surfaces
BEARS EARS ACTIVISTS LOSE SPOTS ON SAN JUAN COMMISSION
During their four-year tenure as commissioners, Maryboy and Grayeyes had an opportunity to cement gains made after creation of the monument; it was an opportunity lost
Kenneth Maryboy and Willie Grayeyes (Bill Keshlear)By Bill Keshlear
Yesterday’s election closes a chapter in the 12-year saga of Bears Ears activists Willie Grayeyes and Kenneth Maryboy to protect Cedar Mesa (aka Bears Ears) in southeast Utah.
The two Democrats lost bids by whopping margins in attempts to hold on to their San Juan (Utah) County Commission seats – four-year tenures enabled by a federal judge's 2017 ruling on redistricting and Salt Lake City-based Democrats that began in 2019 with a downward spiral of legal maneuvering, stonewalling of requests for transparency, lack of trust, pettiness, pique and peevishness and has ended with prospects of an audit by the state Legislature into potential violations of Utah’s Open and Public Meetings Act by the two San Juan County commissioners and undue influence by outside individuals into how the commission is run. Follow link to read more:
Friday, October 8, 2021
Past is Prologue: Bears Ears Monument Reappears
~~ Biden's Expansion of Utah Monuments
The Antiquities Act gives presidents too much power, ignoring the many stakeholders whose needs should be considered. . .
San Juan Record Bears Ears Coverage
Oct. 13, 2021
In restoring the Bears Ears National Monument, the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that there is adequate staffing and resources to appropriately protect the area’s natural and cultural resources, to manage the increased visitation that the area continues to experience, and to make Bears Ears a model for Tribal participation in the management of the Monument.
The Bureau of Land Management plans to assign additional rangers to the region; install appropriate signage and infrastructure to inform and support visitors; begin working with local communities, the State of Utah, and Tribal leaders on assessing the potential opportunity for a Bears Ears visitors center that highlights the monument’s cultural resources; and support the Bears Ears Intertribal Commission’s participation in management of the National Monument.
All six of Utah’s federal representatives including Representative John Curtis, Senator Mike Lee and Senator Mitt Romney issued a joint statement ahead of the announcement.
“President Biden is delivering a devastating blow to the ongoing efforts by our delegation, along with state, local, and tribal leaders, to find a permanent, legislative solution to resolve the longstanding dispute over the boundaries and management of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.
“Rather than take the opportunity to build unity in a divided region and bring resources and lasting protections to sacred antiquities by seeking a mutually beneficial and permanent legislative solution, President Biden fanned the flames of controversy and ignored input from the communities closest to these monuments.
“We will continue to support efforts to ensure that our monuments’ boundaries and management reflect the unique stakeholder interest and uses in the area, but today’s ‘winner take all’ mentality moved us further away from that goal.”
~~ Help us Challenge Abuse of the Antiquities Act
Help us spread the word about this! And Sign the Petition!!
~~~The Biden Administration used the Antiquities Act to restore the original boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah. This undoes what the Trump Administration had previously done in shrinking these monuments. This is a blatant attack on Utah and its public lands and will result in restrictive access and management policies. Governor Spencer Cox has previously stated his frustration with the Biden Administration's unwillingness to work with lawmakers regarding this issue. Show Governor Cox that he has our support to challenge this designation with a lawsuit from the State of Utah.
Biden's Bears Ears Expansion/ Belies Real Plans for Protection
~~ CNN) President Joe Biden on Friday (Oct. 8) announced the expansion of three national monuments -- Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine -- in a move that restored protections that had been undone by then-President Donald Trump. "This may be the easiest thing I've ever done as president, so far," Biden said ahead of making the announcement.
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah also criticized the move, saying Thursday on Twitter that his state's national monuments are being used as a "political football." "The decision to re-expand the boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante is a devastating blow to our state, local, and tribal leaders and our delegation," Romney said. "The President squandered the opportunity to build consensus by working with stakeholders to find a permanent, legislative solution to resolve the longstanding dispute over the monuments' boundaries & management, which would've brought certainty to and benefited all stakeholders."
Friday, June 18, 2021
SJC Great Republican Presidents Dinner Sat. June 26
~~~~~~
Silent Auction Items:
1) Bluff Ballads Song Book & CD: Donor Gayle Shumway;
Starting bid $25
2&3) Two batches (1 doz each) White Chocolate Chip Raspberry Rolls
Donor: Sherri Lewis Pugh: Starting bid $20 per batch. (Additional orders can be taken if you match the high bid.)
4 & 5) Steel Patriotic decorations --Don't Tread on Me. Donor, Scott Mitchell
Two items: Smaller snake starting bid $50; Larger snake $65
Retail value: $90 and $120
6) "Turning 20" quilt; Starting bid $50; Donor LaRue B. Kirkham
9) Heritage quilt: Hand quilted in beautiful detail: Starting bid $100
10-15) 9 lbs hamburger per batch/ range fed San Juan beef
Starting bid per batch $35-- 5 batches; Donor Lloyd Shumway (45 lbs. total)
Compliments of Mountain Joe's Trail Rides.
(Value $150) Call 435-669-6586 or email
mountainjoestrailrides@gmail.
to set up a time and redeem your certificate.
18) Floral arrangement from the Flower Shop Blanding
$45 Value: Pick up voucher and
order arrangement when needed
Just in time for family reunions! Jazzminton, Glowbattle, and "the ultimate in competitive games": SLAM BALL !!
Valued at $80/ Beginning bid at $60Collection of books supporting conservative values, philosophy, and historical efforts of former great Republican presidents. Donor: Brian and Silvia Stubbs Beginning Bid $35
21) Patriotic Warmth -- Red Afghan
Saturday, December 26, 2020
December 2020, Wrap up and Reminders
Due to an ongoing family crisis, today's blog post will be basically links to help you stay informed. May the new year bring all of you new hope, love, and health. JW
Post from Representative Phil Lyman Dec. 22, 2020
~~ Today is an important day for my family and me, and for rural Utah. To say the last 5 years were difficult would be an understatement. My family has been my salvation in the darkest moments. My wife, Jody, is my partner and friend. I am blessed, and grateful beyond words for her support and for her resolve to always, always, always do the right thing regardless of the consequences. My adult kids are people of capacity who live by their convictions as well.
~~The Monolith Hypocrisy and Legal Exemption by Monte Wells
Copies of 3 issues of Blue Mt. Shadows related to the uranium industry in San Juan County are still available in print.These and other older issues are available at Gone Thriftin (Blanding 708 S. Main) or The San Juan Record (Monticello.) Newer issues sold at Clarks Market, San Juan Pharmacy, --or contact. Blue Mountain Shadows |
~~ Energy Fuels Plans to Process Monazite Sands by David Boyle
~~ Creation of new national uranium reserve could mean jobs in Utah, but is the environmental cost too high? by Zac Podmore
~~ ABOUT THAT DRILLING NEAR LABYRINTH CANYON by Bill Keshlear
~~ SJ County NewsThat Clicked in 2020 : San Juan Record
~~ The Plot to Steal America
~~ Bluff seeks to protect geoglyph near west-side gravel site
~~ New BLM Field Manager in Monticello
~~Local Residents (Pete Sands) Recognized by Time Magazine 2020
~~ For History Buffs: A Trip Back in Time to Kayenta by Harvey Leake The Canyon Zephyr
Sunday, October 4, 2020
Life in the West Amid Covid and Controversy -- Oct. 5, 2020
News In The West
~~November Election: Think Before You Vote
With just a few months until the elections, it behooves all of us to dig a little deeper for facts, as we determine for whom to vote in all levels of government. It’s a time to evaluate our core values, philosophies and freedoms, then then seek candidates we can trust to promote and protect those eternal truths. The future of the United States could turn sour for all if “extreme” socialists are elected who do not believe in these values. Please research and query every candidate before you vote. Rather than criticizing how candidates deliver their messages or believing other superficial data, we should evaluate their political philosophy and past actions.
Those who live in less populated states should be also be concerned about protecting the Electoral College which ensures that each state is equally represented in Congress; otherwise we are controlled by the East and West Coast extremes. All of us should also vote for those who will curtail excess Federal spending, instead of looking at more ways to spiral the debt ever more into the abyss. (This includes not voting for those who support using our hard earned Social Security Insurance to pay for foolish whims.) The National debt is now over $26.7 TRILLION! Consider who the foreign countries are who may bail the USA out of that fiscal quagmire! Citizens who value peace, security, and individual rights must elect those who will support our military, law enforcement, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Don’t take your right to vote lightly; the future of all Americans depends on far-sighted and judicious voters.
~~Stiles: Fast Forward to 2045 -- What Election 2020 Triggered
--From 2045…REMEMBERING THE 2020 ELECTION …by Jim Stiles • September 30, 2020
~~The Long Walk to Socialism:
This video shares the unfiltered stories of the harsh struggles of the Navajo Nation. These raw experiences reveal the individuals, families, and communities torn thin by socialistic government programs and waste.
~~Indigenous People and Land Grant Universities. High Country News Investigates
~~Governor Herbert: An Anti -Masker at Heart?
~~Excerpt from Billionaire Wilderness : By Justin Farrell
"Billionaire Wilderness offers an unprecedented look inside the world of the ultra-wealthy, focused on their increasingly significant relationship to the natural world. More specifically, it shows how the ultra-wealthy use nature to resolve key predicaments in their lives. Along the way, it reveals the surprising ways in which nature and wealth intersect in America, and the swelling impact of these relationships on the nation’s social and environmental landscapes." Canyon Zephyr
~~The Slovenly Wilderness: The Least Consequential Election …by Stacy Young
~~Census Count Still Not Complete on the Navajo Reservation
by Kate Groetzinger
~~ Phil Lyman, State Legislature, Call's Out Court Corruption Recorded Interview
(The Bad News is that this case has drug on forever!)
~~ Meet Supreme Court Nominee Amy C. Barrett
~~ High Speed Internet Coming to San Juan County Reservation Schools by Kate Groetzinger
~~ Reflections of the past: Trials and Travails of Park Ranger John Wetherill at Navajo National Monument by Harvey Leake/ The Canyon Zephyr
~~ Operation Firewood Blesses Navajo Reservation
Utah has had a record 1,300+ wildfires this year, over 1,000 of which have been human-caused. When recreating outdoors this fall, pay attention to federal, state, and local guidelines and warnings, always completely put out your campfires, and leave our lands better than you found them. If you live close to at-risk landscapes, take a few minutes and learn what you can do to protect your home.