Beyond The Bears Ears: May 2019

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Advisory Council, Electoral College, Tell Your Story ~~ June 1, 2019

Reservoirs Fill After Winter Snows

Remember all the years the City Council in Blanding was dogged in their resolve to drill deep wells, build reservoirs, put in pipes for better water distribution, fund additional engineering projects to protect this this valuable resource!?

Well, it was a priority, and after the drought of last year, we understand even more why local governments are key in making decisions that benefit all its citizens.

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# Bears Ears Nat'l Monument Advisory Meeting June 5-6

Plan to attend

#Utah's Public Radio Story Telling Project. Here's how to be involved:

Follow the link and fill out survey. UPR will be in San Juan County June 19-21

They hope to involve many local people in short interview sessions

#This Week's SJ Record: News in a Nutshell Bill Boyle

#Last Week's News: Editor Bill Boyle, SJ Record

#Electoral College Opponents Attempt to Have It Both Ways

#Videos Show LaVoy Finicum Death was Planned Assassination

"Evidence proves that LaVoy was murdered in cold blood. Had authorities responded to Greg Bretzing and Dan Love in 2009, this chain of events may have been much different. Instead we stand and watch as our friends and neighbors are raided, falsely accused and prosecuted, and subjected to the lies and derision of hateful colluding special interest groups. Can LaVoy’s death be anything but wrongful? Instead of covering the truth, the media has done nothing but denigrate the honest people, while protecting the snakes who are orchestrating these actions." Rep. Phil Lyman

#Montezuma County: A Sanctuary County For the Right to Bear Arms?

#Bears Ears Referendum: Should Decision be made by Voters?

#SJ County Wrestles with Litigation, Referendum Requests Four Corners Free Press:

#Are we Misreading and Misleading Millennials

#Laws-Grayeyes Appeal Still Pending: Earlier Events and Comments

~~ Blanding City Reaps the Benefits of Dry Wash Reservoir Pipeline

~~ 101 Things to Do in San Juan County

~~ US Minerals: Don't Undermine Them Free Range Report

" The one economic sector that meets the American appetite for raw materials, gadgets, high-tech equipment, cars, jetliners and "renewable" energy technologies that we take for granted -- all of which are made from minerals and metals -- mining!.

~~Senator Romney Introduces Legislation to Settle Water Rights for Navajos

~~Mill Protesters Chose Not to Research Facts

"If anyone wants to see the data for sampling that happens at and around the mill [Energy Fuels] go to the link below. Everything that is sampled is public information and can be found on this site including the mill license and requirements to operate. The samples that are analyzed in these reports are all done offsite at independent labs. The sample results show the tailings ponds are not leaking. Also, white mesa gets their drinking water from the Navajo aquifer and there is an impermeable layer of clay between the Dakota aquifer and the Navajo aquifer.

So even if there were a leak it cannot get into the Navajo aquifer that is used for drinking.

There are over 100 wells that get sampled, air monitoring stations, soil sampling, vegetation sampling, seeps and springs sampling, stack sampling, radon sampling, and surface water sampling done all around the mill. These samples all show the mill is not contaminating anything in the area. The results are all provided in the link. There is a lot more information I could post on here but it would take all day. Hope that helps. G. Palmer

https://deq.utah.gov/.../ener.../white-mesa-uranium-mill.htm

~~ Gov. Docs reveal who donated To SJC Democratic Campaign

. . ."interesting financial information can be found by reviewing the financial disclosures statements of the San Juan County Democratic Party and both the Maryboy and Grayeyes' Campaigns. All 3 show sharp increases in money beginning in July 2018 and running through the election. We learn two things from this. First, very few San Juan County residents contributed to their campaigns. Two, San Juan County can be bought for about $60,000 - the cost of the two Commissioner races."

"When you look into the disclosure statements of the non-profit groups that donated to the San Juan County Democratic Party and the Maryboy Campaign you'll also find very interesting results. The chair of one of those non-profits is the former Political Director for the Utah Democratic Party and the current CEO/Chair of the Rural Utah Project. The Rural Utah Project is the one that registered all those new voters last year in San Juan County."

~~ Will Trump Administration Revive Domestic Uranium Market?

#Up to Date News from the BLM

~~Nat'l Parks More Affected by Climate Change than other Areas

(Hmmm, Did they factor in Industrial Strength Tourism?)

~~Toxic Flowers Suspected in Cattle Deaths

~~ SJ County Commission Declines Referendum Application May 21

~~ Mix of Anglos and White Mesa residents March to Uranium Mill in Protest

~~ Vandalism on Shinob Kibe in Washington, Utah

~~ and the irony ....Tourism Boosts the Economy. . .but is the price worth it?

Saturday, May 18, 2019

Unrest in the West, Bear Essentials May 18, 2019

News in San Juan County, Utah and the Rest of the West

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~~State Rep. Coleman Seeks to Bring Back Bill for Splitting Counties

~~Spanish Valley: Potential Development with Problems Moab Sun Times

~~Comm. Maryboy Promotes Moratorium on Spanish Valley Development

~~ Gate Way Community Planned for East Side of Zions Park

~~Deaths in Zions Park and Other Sites in the West

~~ Bears Advisory Board Meeting June 5-6, First public meeting

~~Utah State Code Regarding County Government

~~SITLA's Involvement with Spanish Valley Development

~~Truck Stop Will Comply With Dark Skies Request in Spanish Valley

4th grader in Syracuse Learns about San Juan County

~~Protest March May 18: Uranium Mill Moab Sun Times

~~ Thieves Steal Artifacts from Danger Cave

~~ What's Behind the Anti-Animal Agriculture Movement

"The anti-animal agriculture narrative and plant-based diet agenda combines political ideology and commercial interests. This “movement” is insidious, unsavoury, and cannot be ignored by those who value liberty and consumer choice." Free Range Report

~~Crowding in Nat'l Parks Brings Plan for Timed Entry for Visits to Arches

~~Another Version of Pehrson/ Everitt County Admin. story Moab Sun Times

~~ Babylon Allotment: Co-management or Co-Negligence?

"Our purpose in publishing Part I of this revealing history of the Babylon Allotment is to bring scrutiny to what appears to be a pattern of mismanagement by a coalition of the Grand Canyon Trust (GCT), a well-moneyed left-wing environmentalist group funded primarily by Swiss billionaire, Hansjorg Wyss, and the Ute Mountain Tribal Council (UMTC). It appears that the nearby Gooseberry Allotment, along with grazing allotments within the boundaries of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM), are also held by GTC.

Our research into the Babylon Allotment management file has been intensive, and we believe these records will serve to either prove or disprove the veracity of the “co-management” narrative that has repeatedly been used to justify Utah’s million-acre federal land grabs. What we have uncovered in the Babylon Allotment file paints an unflattering picture of a dysfunctional relationship between two entities who give lip service to the idea of co-managing these important lands and resources, but are doing more to harm the environment than good. Furthermore, these entities went to the trouble of formulating a contract with the federal government to co-management Forest Service grazing allotments, but there is strong evidence that they have failed repeatedly to fulfill the terms of the contract." Free Range Report

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Spring Runoff: Water! Words! and Warnings: Bear Essentials May 12, 2019

News in the Nation and the West

Recapture overflows: April 29, 2019 8:14:22 AM by Kelly Jeppesen -- San Juan Record

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Bears Ears Advisory Council Hosting Public Meeting June 5-6

"Written comments to address the BENM-MAC may be sent to the BLM Canyon Country District, 82 East Dogwood, Moab, Utah 84532, or via email with the subject line “BENM-MAC” to blm_ut_mt_mail@blm.gov. Written comments must be received by Friday, May 31, 2019 to be considered by BENM-MAC members in their first meeting." Canyon Echo

Five Years Ago: Recapture Canyon in Retrospect by Rep. Phil Lyman

--Free Range Report--

"Recapture had gone from being a symbol of conflict in the west to being a symbol of corruption in the BLM and the so-called Department of Justice."

"Now, five years after the May 10, 2014 protest in Recapture. The BLM admits, behind closed doors of course, that they do not have a Title V Road in Recapture Canyon. They admit that they had conflated their pipeline right of way for the county road, inappropriately asserting jurisdiction over the county road. They, and the U.S. Attorney’s office admit that those they convicted for trespass and conspiracy did not trespass or conspire. They were forced to drop their claim of damages to archeological sites, when respected archaeologists called their claims of damages not only ludicrous, but spurious and dishonest."

BYU Commencement Speaker Arthur Brooks:

"We don't need to disagree less. We need to disagree better."

Controversy over Non-Native Mt. Goats in La Sal Mts

Social Movement: Eco-Socialism or Death

Shuttles for Tourists Begin in Zions

A Variety of Concerns in Navajo Times: Letters to the Editor

~~ Bears Ears Advisory Council; a brief summary of board members

~~ Signatures for Studying Forms of County Government needed before June.

Those circulating petitions, please get them to to Mayor Lyman's office by June 1. If you haven't signed, go to his office in Cedar Mesa Pottery to sign, or to the Wilcox home, 112 S. 300 W.

~~ Applicants needed for County Administrator, closes May 17

"Serves as County Administrator to the San Juan County Board of Commissioners. Incumbent will perform a broad range of duties including advising the Commission, attending meetings on their behalf, and recommending management strategies. Incumbent will also perform duties as the Risk Manager for the County. Incumbent will also attend Commission meetings and receive work assignments from the Board of Commissioners. Requires an MBA, MPA, or Business / Accounting degree, or similar degree, with five (5) years progressive experience in managing organizations, or a combination of education and experience.

Position Location: San Juan County Administration Building, Monticello. Position closes: May 17. https://sanjuancounty.org/?s=jobs

~~Link for Filing Complaints to the Attorney General's Office

~~ Recording of May 7, 2019 SJC Commission Meeting (First part of meeting is missing because camera wasn't turned on.)

~~ Recording of May 7, 2019 County Commission Work Meeting

~~ County Web site

~~ Public Notices of Meetings (Thus avoiding secret combinations)

~~ Radical Gratitude for Recapture Reservoir By Merry Palmer

Watch: Twisted Arch Video: Recapture Reservoir Spring 2019 👍 Brett Saunders

Recapture Reservoir May 5 by David Homedew

~~ Congressional Western Caucus:

"Update on what Interior is doing with regards to wild horse population management, permitting reform, critical minerals, oil and gas drilling, and mining.

~~ San Juan and Ethics in County Government

Utah codes: Title 17 Chapter 16a County Officers and Employees Disclosure Act, Section 2 - Purposes

17-16a-2. Purposes.
The purposes of this chapter are to establish standards of conduct for county officers and employees and to require these persons to disclose conflicts of interest between their public duties and their personal interests.

and also Section 11

17-16a-11. County ethics commission -- Complaints charging violations -- Procedure.
(1) A county may establish by ordinance an ethics commission to review a complaint, except as provided in Subsection (3), against an officer or employee subject to this part for a violation of a provision of this part.
(2)
(a) Except as provided in Subsection (3), a person filing a complaint for a violation of this part shall file the complaint:
(i) with the county ethics commission, if the county has established a county ethics commission in accordance with Subsection (1); or
(ii) with the Political Subdivisions Ethics Review Commission established in accordance with Title 63A, Chapter 15, Political Subdivisions Ethics Review Commission if the county has not established a county ethics commission.
(b) A county that receives a complaint described in Subsection (2)(a) may:
(i) accept the complaint if the county has established a county ethics commission in accordance with Subsection (1); or
(ii) forward the complaint to the Political Subdivisions Ethics Review Commission established in Section 63A-15-201:
(A) regardless of whether the county has established a county ethics commission; or
(B) if the county has not established a county ethics commission.
(3) Any complaint against a person who is under the merit system, charging that person with a violation of this part, shall be filed and processed in accordance with the provisions of the merit system.

For More information regarding legal issues

~~ Tribal Sovereignty Does not Generate Successful Businesses

“We’ve been in a socialist system for the past 100 years,” Begay charged. “We don’t even understand what it means to have a private sector. It does not mean establishing
enterprises owned by the tribe and run by the tribe to compete with small businesses
owned by individual Navajos.”

~~Fed. Gov. Lied about Who Owned Recapture Canyon The Petroglyph

~~ Interim County Administrator Hired in Defiance of Ut. Open Meeting Laws San Juan Record

~~ Utah's Open Meeting Law Violated by New Commissioners Deseret News

"During the work meeting, Adams said the job opening should have been filled in-house, or if there were no suitable candidates, advertised outside."
"I wonder what the negotiation process was, and why I wasn't included," Adams said, referencing a meeting Everitt had with Grayeyes and Maryboy to discuss working for San Juan County.: Des. News

~~ A Reminder of what Tourist Towns do to Housing Market

~~ Extreme Environmentalists Continue Attack on Oregon Multiple Use Lands

"In the most recent lawsuit, the U.S. Forest Service is accused of unlawfully approving a 10-year grazing permit for the allotment despite “irreparable harm” to the threatened Oregon spotted frog and wetland plants and mollusks."