Ups and Downs of Politics in San Juan/ Bear Essentials Oct. 10/2019

What's New In The West

San Juan County Residents should have received this ballot in the mail.  

"Shall a Study Committee be appointed to consider and possibly recommend a change in San Juan County's form of government? 

This is only forming a committee to look at 4-5 different options on how 

San Juan county Government might be configured. 

~~ Cataclysmic Money and the Illusion of Prosperity

by Stacy Young
" It has been my experience during the years of the Bears Ears controversy that one very common rhetorical strategy of monument proponents is to include economic indicators unique to the Reservation to make the case that San Juan County as a whole is desperately poor and in dire need of the sort of fixing Industrial Tourism is good at. The reasons for doing this are simple enough. To start with, it is the steadfast belief of elitists everywhere that they come not to condemn a place and its people but to save them. And many Bears Ears maximalists certainly live up to this axiom. Indeed, the standard sales pitch — for the New West in general and Bears Ears in particular — amounts to a sort of secular prosperity gospel in which economic prosperity inevitably follows from the proper, enlightened appreciation of nature. One form or another of this argument is made time and time and time again!"  read more in the Canyon Zephyr

~~ BLM Photo Rotation Creates Environmental Controversy

~~ Is Agri-tourism a Viable Option for the West?

~~ Public Land Leases Sold Too Cheaply by BLM?

~~ Softening the Impass with Some Satire:  Canyon Zephyr

~~ What Collaboration Looks Like -- A Good Start  By Bill Keshlear

Mack MacDonald, new County Administrator, introduced himself at Town Hall Meeting Oct. 9.
Read detailed article in this week's San Juan Record.

About 40 people attended the Town Hall Meeting

A Town Hall Meeting was held in Blanding Oct. 9. Panel members and local citizens addressed the issue of “B” roads, and the ballot initiate to study possible changes in SJC government.  Panelists included Cheryl Bowers, Charlotta Lacy, Nicole Perkins, Kim Henderson, Shannon Brooks, and Gail Dalton Johnson.   Perkins emphasized the point of holding Federal, State and locally elected officials and judges accountable to Citizens.

Many people from the audience asked questions and shared ideas.  Kim Henderson, organizer of the event expressed a desire to take Town Hall meetings into communities on the reservation, if there are those who will help make it happen. Davina Smith and Mary Benally were two who attended who will hopefully help.

New County Administrator, Mack MacDonald told of his experiences in Afghanistan, helping different tribes/ groups to work cooperatively as they set about to create a workable government.  A detailed article of his experiences is in the new San Juan Record.

 The main topic of discussion related to the condition of “B” roads in the county.  Past history shows since 1988 San Juan County had maintained BIA roads, but in June of  2018, the Navajo Tribe told them to “cease and desist”.  Unfortunately, those without the historical background and facts have used this as racism” propaganda against San Juan County.  Phil Lyman noted, “A lie can travel ½ way around the world, before truth can get its pants on.” He gave credit to former Commissioner Benally, who had started the cooperative wheels on road repair going again, “before the carpet was pulled out from under her.”.

The next discussion led by Cheryl Bowers emphasized four possible governing styles that are approved by State guidelines as listed:
1. 3-member Commision (current form)
2. 5-7 member commission
3. Elected County Council with appointed county manager with executive powers
4. County council with elected mayor with executive powers

If the initiative passes, a study group will be organized who will make recommendations.  Ballots have been mailed out, and voters should mail them back quickly.

~~ What are the Pros and Cons of Changing SJC Gov:  Read SJ Record Article: 

~~ CO2 a Crucial life Sustaining Nutrient, Needed More Not Less 

Free Range Report: "Co2 is not a pollutant that threatens human civilization as has been ridiculously claimed by global warming doomsday pushers. CO2 actually increases plant yields, accelerates “re-greening” and improves reforestation of the planet." 

~~ Subsidizing Electric Cars Doesn't Help the Environment.  The Independent

~~ NPS Hosts Arches Congestion Meeting Oct. 15 

~~ Women Against Gun Control, video interview

~~ Children Raised Around Livestock Have Stronger Immune System

~~ Utah Dine' Bikeyah: Protecting Bears Ears and Environmental Strategies 

~~ Digging Deeper: Utah Dine' Bikeyah, Agenda 21 and the UN Connection

"UNDP Projects will recognize that indigenous peoples have collective rights to own, use, and develop and control the lands, resources and territories that they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired, including lands and territories for which they do not yet possess title.

“If the Project involves activities that are contingent on establishing legally recognized rights to lands, resources, or territories that indigenous peoples have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired, an action plan will outline the steps and timetable for achieving legal recognition of such ownership, occupation, or usage (see paragraph 14 below).
“In such cases, UNDP, with the consent of the relevant authority or Implementing Partner, will support such activities aimed at delimiting, demarcating and titling such lands, resources, and territories with due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the indigenous peoples concerned.”  (UNDP= Standard 6 of the United Nations Development Programme)

~~ Trash on the Reservation, a Continuing Problem

~~ Trump Loses Bid to Dismiss Monument Lawsuits

~~ Shrinking Water Levels at Glen Canyon Dam Triggers Fed Lawsuit

~~ Zions Park in the Top 10 "Most Popular"  (i.e. Most Crowded) Park

~~ Saudi Oil Field Attack, Points Out Need for Domestic Energy Dominance 

~~ Pueblo Tribe Vows to Keep Fighting for Enlarged Bears Ears

~~ Moab Sun Time Writers Disagree with Kelly Green

 Beyond the Bears Responds: In reality BENM was orchestrated by one of the nation’s strongest environmental lobby groups, The Conservation Lands Foundation. (All quotes below come from the Conservation Lands Foundation Minutes held San Francisco, CA 24 October 2014)

The Conservation Lands Foundation intended to control the dialogue and efforts of all players in the drama. The illusion they perpetuated was that this was a “bottom up” effort driven by indigenous people.

In reality native leaders were targeted by CLF organizers. This was a Top Down masterplan and they were carefully watching all players from Secretary Jewel, down to each tribe as illustrated in their Oct. 2014 board meeting minutes. “Struggles with Secretary Jewell, she is not being a strong advocate for the Antiquities Act, but continues to show gradual improvement. With strong leadership from the White House this has become less of a roadblock.”
Another CLF member admits to relying on the Navajo Nation, but asks, “What happens if we separate from them or disagree with them? Without their support the White House probably would not act.”

They were using coalition leaders as kings in a grand scale game of chess, and tribal members as pawns. For more information go to https://beyondthebears.blogspot.com/2016/11/big-money-environmentalists-and-bears.html

~~ BLM Environmental Strategies Fail to Improve  Devil's Canyon 

"Ultimately, and for years, I’ve wondered why public land management agencies feel the compulsion to “improve” Nature. No matter what grievous damage human activity imposes upon the environment, it always seemed like a safer and wiser strategy to–of course— stop continued degradation, but then to just leave the land alone and let it recover on its own. Too often the best of intentions can backfire and only exacerbate the problem."  Jim Styles, Canyon Zephyr  Oct. 2019

Conflict, CRA's, Commission: Bear Essentials 2/8/2019

What's New In San Juan and the Rest of the West?

Should San Juan Be Divided into Two Counties?

Possibility of Dividing County Studied 20+ years ago

San Juan Election Battles Continue by Jim Stiles

Commission Meeting: 2/5/19

Discounts for Sr. Citizen Camping, Likely to End

Pros and Cons of TIF/ CRA Financing for New SJC projects   by Stacy Young

"To date, San Juan County has formed a Community Reinvestment Agency (CRA) and invited applications for tax increment financing. (Blanding has formed a separate CRA; however, since it is the county that assesses the lion’s share of local taxes, most TIF action is likely to occur within the county’s CRA framework.) So far, two projects have applied for tax increment financing from the county-wide CRA. Both projects are seeking a property tax abatement of up to 75% and 20 years.

One proposed project is a 54-unit boutique resort hotel called Bluff Dwellings, which is already well under construction at the mouth of Cow Canyon. That project is seeking tax increment financing of $458,000, which consists of a $300,000 turn lane into the property from Utah Highway 191 plus $158,000 in other utility improvements serving the project.

The second project proposing TIF is a 70-room limited-service flag hotel identified specifically as a Marriott Fairfield. That project location is targeted for a vacant parcel on the north end of Blanding and is currently in the pre-construction feasibility stage of development. The investors in that project are seeking $1,250,000 described as general site improvements like parking, utilities, and storm drain facilities.

Kudos to School Board: article continues...

"Postscript. At the end of January, the Board of the San Juan School District voted unanimously not to participate in either the Bluff Dwellings or Blanding Fairfield CRA. I personally think this was the right decision, but what was probably even more positive than the result was the independence the board demonstrated in reaching their decision and the seriousness with which they took their fiduciary duty to all of the county’s schools. As outlined above, a sound TIF process is one that closely analyzes “but for” and “opportunity cost” concerns prior to implementing a TIF incentive.

Unfortunately, in far too many instances and in far too many jurisdictions, the participating government entity merely goes through the analytical motions when it comes to such questions. But the School Board in San Juan County treated these questions with great care and concluded that the proposals on the table did not satisfy this more rigorous standard of review. To the credit of the Board, the members spent a good deal of time and effort to become well-informed about the pros and cons of TIF, which enabled them to ask difficult, pointed questions and independently evaluate the answers they were given. Prior to the vote, Board President Steven Black produced a solid conceptual and financial analysis, which concluded that both proposals fell short for “but for” and “opportunity cost” reasons."  Stacy Young

~~ Senator Mike Lee Works to Protect Utah and San Juan County 

Against Aggressive Monument Designations:

  Lee's response: "Very honored to receive this letter of support from State Senate and House Majority Caucuses. Limiting the power of the federal government in Washington to unilaterally restricting how Utahns can use our public lands is one of my top legislative priorities. We all have heard from many constituents about the profound negative impacts monument designations can have on some communities in our state.   I am honored to continue the fight with my Utah legislative colleagues against this unjust law."

~~ Preliminary Budget for San Juan County

~~Get to Know your Navajo Neighbors

~~Executive Order on Managing US Forests

~~Navajo Tribe Negotiating to Purchase Generating Plant and Coal Mine

~~ Retired Mine Inspector: Info Provided by Environmental groups is Wrong

~~ Emery County Supports John Curtis Public Lands Bill

~~Ted Cruz and ChucK Norris: How to Pay for THE WALL

~~ Could be Good, Could be Bad: Larry Echohawk as State Counsel on Indian Affairs

~~ A Little Satire Now and Then is OK:  So I'm Sharing this Video  Enjoy!

Facts Speak Louder Than Opinions

~~ Maryboy Pressuring Aneth Chapter 

Aneth Chapter Meeting: Feb 13 @ 3:00 PM * * *

Commissioner Maryboy is currently lobbying the Aneth Chapter for a return to the original 1.9 M. Acres for Bears Ears.  In the past the Aneth Chapter courageously voted TWICE AGAINST BEARS EARS MONUMENT.

Their strong Independent Voting Membership is needed again Wednesday February 13th, 2019 @ 3:00 pm, chapter meeting.

Aneth Chapter understands the true nature of NOT allowing the monument to expand, cutting off resources like firewood to Navajo people who need to use the resources that public land provides. Free thinking Navajo people who are against Expanding the Monument currently in place need to exercise their right to vote, and not be controlled by outside puppeteers. Protect our local public lands via state and county action, not through a debt ridden Federal Government that operates with a $21 Trillion cash deficit.

"The Aneth Chapter also requested that No More National Monument designations be established in the State of Utah (2017)"
#NoMonumentalExpansion #VoteAgainstExpansion

--Alliances with Rich Environmental NGO's Taints New SJC Commission

"Here’s the $64,000 question: Will the policies of the new pro-Bears Ears county commission begin to align – to varying degrees – with the goals of a grand alliance whose members include the foundation established by multibillionaire Hansjorg Wyss ($2.2 billion, see sidebar), Utah Diné Bikéyah, Round River Conservation Studies, Friends of Cedar Mesa, the Conservation Lands Foundation, the Grand Canyon Trust, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Earth Justice, The Wilderness Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, Packard Foundation ($7 billion), William and Flora Hewlett Foundation ($9.8 billion), Wilburforce Foundation ($115 million), Pew Charitable Trusts, Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation and some of the nation’s most prominent and politically aggressive outdoor recreation companies?"

~~ New "Green" Deal Relies on Minerals Environmentalists Don't Want Mined: Catch 22 Alive and Well

~~~~~~~~~

 Information for Contacting Your County Commissioners

Kenneth Maryboy, Chairman

Phone:

Cell Phone:

kmaryboy@sanjuancounty.org

 Willie Grayeyes, Vice-chairman

Phone:

Cell Phone:

williegrayeyes@sanjuancounty.org

Bruce Adams

Phone:(435) 587-3225

Cell Phone:(435) 459-1351

bbadams@sanjuancounty.org

Jewell Bashes Trump for Monument Review

Written in response to Deseret News

 7/26 news article quoting former secretary Jewell:

A very telling statement by Sally Jewell, "If you are not at the table, you are on the menu." 

Yes, Utah has been on the environmental menu for years, with millions of acres of "public" land being locked up by divisive means and purposes, and it's not to make America Great Again. Quite the contrary, public lands in dozens of states have been on the menu, for decades, until the working man, especially rural Americans have been pushed out of the picture, discredited, and told that endangered species are more important than their lives and their livelihood. 

If state's rights mean anything in this country anymore, we must give credence, and legality to elected officials, not to the clamoring, minions following extremist environmental foundations funded by Soros, Wyss, Bonderman, and board members of the Conservation Land Foundation. They are the creators of a menu which includes global manipulation, personal gain, and weakening of Constitutional rights. There's much more at stake than Monuments. 

Like Patrick Henry, "I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery" (in the form of socialism.)  "The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave." Hooray, for Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Minnesota, W. Virginia, Montana, and other states who are fighting such encroachments legally, and legislatively. Monuments are not about protection, they are about power and weakening America.

  Janet Wilcox

Big money, environmentalists and the Bears Ears story

National Monuments spread

This is old news, but "BEARS" repeating, as it is central to the tangled web of money and deceit woven by the Conservation Lands Foundation during 2016. Their millions of dollars have been channeled into hundreds of media outlets. as they attack states throughout the nation in their wanton lands grabs under the guise of protection. JW

By Amy Joi O'Donoghue@amyjoi16

Published: Aug. 4, 2016 6:15 p.m.Updated: Sept. 22, 2016 12:52 p.m.

                                                                                           SALT LAKE CITY —
 In October 2014, members of the Conservation Lands Foundation sat around a table (in  San Francisco) and discussed their campaign to bring a monument designation to southeast Utah for the region they called Bears Ears.

This wasn't a group of Native American tribal leaders from the Four Corners, but board members from an increasingly successful conservation organization who met to discuss, among other things, if it was wise to "hitch our success to the Navajo."

Many Utah Navajo are against a monument designation for Bears Ears, but the out-of-state tribal leaders behind the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition who support it insist the effort is one that is locally driven, locally supported and grass-roots in nature.

"None of the drivers of this are coming from the environmental community. It is purely Native American led. This is a Native American led effort. Any suggestion otherwise is not true," said Gavin Noyes, the executive director of Utah Dine' Bikeyah, a nonprofit, Salt Lake City organization that works to protect indigenous lands for future generations.

But the campaign is fueled in part with $20 million in donations from two key philanthropic foundations headquartered in California — the Hewlett and Packard foundations — that cite environmental protections as a key focus for the grants they award. Both foundations directed grants to groups like The Wilderness Society for the Bears Ears campaign, or for Colorado Plateau protections to the Grand Canyon Trust or to Round River Conservation Studies, of which Noyes served as director."  

Read the full story here

More recently Range Magazine also reported that the Conservation Lands Foundation stated, "should there be more attacks on the Antiquities Act in 2015, they would lead "a broad coalition of organizations that were increasingly focused on "defense".  The Wyss foundation specifically was mentioned and "had set aside funding sources specifically for that purpose."   Read this article on p. 50

Response to High County News Article

Commentary on this article.  by Johnathan Thompson. published Oct. 16/ 2016 High Country News.

This was a well written and engaging article and the author tried hard to show us a close up view of the controversy, and the varied views of local people as we wrestle with the threat of a possible monument in this place of isolation. I am always surprised at the straws writers grasp at in their comments following such articles, as they justify their position. Fear and bias has a way of generating paranoia and exaggeration. I am also surprised at the name calling and bias that surfaces, as outsiders write about ranchers, rural America, hunters, Mormons, and others not of their inner circle. 

With that being said, let me update Johnathan's article, with some facts in this ever dynamic and changing controversy. He quotes Malcolm Lehi, a White Mesa Ute council representative who says, “It’s been far too long that us Natives have not been at the table, he added, " We’re making history.” Since that statement was made, Mr. Lehi has become history himself, as he was voted out of office recently by his own people, as was Regina White Skunk. Part of that happened because neither of them had support of those they represented in this "monumental" issue. Many Navajo and Utes are against the National Monument, because they have land allotments in the designated area and they enjoy the freedoms that they already have on this public land, such as wood gathering, hunting, grazing. They did not like being bullied into a cause they did not support.

I was so happy to see one of our old YSA friends Monte Yazzie, helping his Aunt Anna Tom in this protest. 

Despite the promises made by the Bikéyah coalition leaders, local Native Americans by and large, do not trust a federal government which has a long trail of broken promises. Using a multi-tribe coalition as banner carriers for a National Monument, was a top down strategy initiated by the Conservation Lands Foundation and their satellite environmental groups. They and their deep-pocketed foundations have played Goliath in this battle against the little guys of San Juan County. They didn't take into account the fact that conflicts exists between some of the coalition tribes, as illustrated in the article. Nor did CLF realize that freedom loving Americans, Native and Anglo alike have been taught to think, and to love their freedoms and their land. As Winston Hurst suggests, there will need to be compromise and a willingness to share the land in multiple ways if this is going to work.

Who Plays the Chess Game Best, Conservation Lands Foundation or Rep. Bishop?

Letter sent to Park Record 8/18/16 in response to Jay Meehan's article "Bishop’s gambit declined" (http://www.parkrecord.com/opinion/columns/bishops-gambit-declined/)

I challenge the validity of the polls that Jay Meehan referred to recently.  He stated, " In the wake of statewide polls showing a majority of Utahans favoring a National Monument designation for the Bears Ears region. . ." If he thinks Bishop is off target, he should know that the polling of 600 Utahans was even more askew. The attached map shows where those surveyed live. The counties in blue were not surveyed. Also not one Utah Native American was contacted.  Neither was it mentioned that Pew Charitable Trusts conducted the slanted survey and that the person who is the director is Mike Matz, who headed SUWA from 1993-2000 & spent 6 years with the Sierra Club.

So you may question Rob Bishop's motives, but we question the validity of any poll that fails to survey those most directly affected by a decision. I am sure you know by now that the unbridled power of the Conservation Lands Foundation, headquartered in Durango Colorado, has masterminded this takeover of the West and Bears Ears is their current target.  They use money, manipulation, and the media to push their agenda in every way shape or form.  They and their pre-programmed followers exaggerate, berate, and intimidate those who disagree and they dump millions of dollars into these campaigns. 

Their game of Chess often uses indigenous people, the Antiquities Act, or visions of “desecrated” landscapes to spin the need for National Monuments.   Let’s see how their master plan works by examining their 2014 board meeting minutes. (All quotes below come from the Conservation Lands Foundation or CLF Board Meeting Minutes San Francisco, CA. 24 Oct. 2014) 

The illusion that this is a “bottom up” effort driven by indigenous people who want a monument ​is false.  The Native out-of-State Coalition was organized by CLF associates.  This is a Top Down Organization and they are carefully watching all players from Secretary Jewell, down to each tribe as illustrated in their October ​minutes.  “Struggles with Secretary Jewell, she is not being a strong advocate for the Antiquities Act, but continues to show gradual improvement. With strong leadership from the White House this has become less of a roadblock.”  

​ Utah was duped into thinking she actually had come to listen to local input. Not so, the CLF and the White House had over a year to train her as their chosen Queen in this game.

CLF also uses Native Tribes as pawns: One CLF member questioned the heavy reliance on the Navajo Nation, and asked, “What happens if we separate from them or disagree with them. Without their support the White House probably would not act.”  They are using coalition members as Castles in this game of chess, and tribal members as pawns.

​

Obviously CLF has money. They have spent millions of dollars to fight poor rural areas throughout the nation. Rich people in Park City may not care that 1.9 Million acres is being targeted for a National Monument in San Juan County. But if you live in rural Utah, you know the negative impact that more Federal encroachment has on schools, businesses, and property rights, of both Anglo and Native Americans.

Everyone has been affected by CLF’s  "love Nature, hate people policies" from important cabinet members, congressmen, all states with public lands, down to the poorest counties and reservations in the nation. The final question:  To whom is the United Stated indebted? Who has been paying our bills?  Why is our national debt at an all-time high of $18 Trillion and rising daily? Who has something to gain by owning more and more lands in the United States when the Federal Government can no longer pay their debts? ​

Read Sutherland Institute analysis of the poll:  http://sutherlandinstitute.org/news/2016/08/15/latest-bears-ears-poll-transmits-a-false-sense-of-security/

​

States Across the Nation Loosing Control of Local Land

Cartoon by Deniane Gutke Kartchner, SJHS alumni, and former layout editor of Blue Mountain Shadows.

CLF=Conservation Lands Foundation, who has donated millions of dollars to secure lands across the nation   http://conservationlands.org/   Main Office. 835 E. 2nd Ave. #314. Durango, CO 81301 
GCT= Grand Canyon Trust   http://www.grandcanyontrust.org/
FCM= Friends of Cedar Mesa   http://www.friendsofcedarmesa.org/
Leonardo Dicaprio Foundation:   http://leonardodicaprio.org/leonardo-dicaprio-foundation-awards-largest-ever-round-grants/
These organizations are using their money and lobby power to abscond with more Utah land.  1.9 million area in San Juan County is targeted next.

Letter to Senator Orrin Hatch

Sent to Senator Orrin Hatch August 16, 2016

Even though we know you visited San Juan County earlier this summer, we haven't heard much from you since, and Rural Utah really needs your support and negotiating skills. In 2014 the Environmental funding lobby, Conservation Lands Foundation, set their target on Cedar Mesa, in San Juan County along with sites in a dozen other states as the “current campaign” for more National Monuments.  If protection truly is their goal, then that is the area where Anasazi ruins abound, and they probably do need greater protection, though we’re not sure that more tourists are the wisest way to do that!

 Now in 2016, we are engaged in a great land battle, trying to escape the greedy grasp of the CLF, who has now expanding their campaign to include a total of 1.9 Million acres.  This involves Forest Service lands of Bears Ears and the Abajo Mountains. Very few sites exist in this area, but it is where Native People and Anglos alike depend on its grass, timber, and water. Hunting, Boy Scout camps, and 101 recreational activities are centered in this area, along with Dine and Ute traditional activities. To abscond with this land, is government overreach. 

Both Cedar Mesa and the Blue Mountain area already have BLM policies, and Forest Service controls established, but both have been underfunded.  If these lands needed protection, why wasn't federal money provided so both agencies could do their job?  Making another National Monument is not going to fix a $18 Trillion dollar debt, nor help improve protection, or economic livelihood of the area.  We feel you are in a position to do something significant to stop this impending disaster.  Utah cannot afford another donation to Obama's National Monument showcase. Why aren't our congressmen fighting for us?  

A group of 2000 local people have been working for 6 weeks, in every way we know how, to alert others, argue our case, bend the ear of our congressmen, and Secretary Jewell.  We have signed petitions, written letters, gone to the State Capitol, built floats, stuffed newspapers with flyers, and argued our cause in every way we know.  None of us are directed by a well-paid CEO, nor reimbursed for our expenses.  We have done it because we love this land, that we today call home.  We say to the Hopi, and Navajo who want to come back to their old Utah homelands, “Come, Enjoy, Visit, Celebrate, and leave it as pristine as you find it.  But don’t take our freedoms and our land away from those who have lived here the past 200 years.”   We hope you will do more than appease listen, and look.  We need a warrior to lead this battle. 

Sold to the Richest Lobby: The Selling of Bears Ears Monument

The Bears Ears controversy could become a best “seller.” – Oh, wait! It already is! The nation has been sold a bill of goods under the name of protection. Lands that are already public and open to everyone, and protected by the BLM, are suddenly being confiscated by the Department of the Interior and changed into National Monuments and Parks. Millions of acres across the nation are turning into trophies for the presidential showcase with 23 already on display and a dozen more pending.  This is a tale of deceit, manipulation, greed, unbridled power and lobbyists gone “wild.”  This theft is being orchestrated in at least 12 states in the name of “protection,” and it is of proportions never seen before in the history of the United States. This insidious “campaign” orchestrated by Conservation Lands Foundation for more locked up land is not about preservation but about power.  As of July 2016 our debt was 18,152,809,942,589. Whoever pays the debt, will have the power.  (P.S. June 2019, that National Debt is now more than 22,000,000,000)

The land grab ploy often uses indigenous people, the Antiquities Act, or visions of “desecrated” landscapes to spin the need for National Monuments.  Let’s see how this was masterminded and is playing out in the words of one of the nation’s strongest lobby groups, The Conservation Lands Foundation.  (All quotes below come from the Conservation Lands Foundation or CLF Board Meeting Minutes San Francisco, CA 24 October 2014)

Lands at Risk: CLF Campaign –targeted for National Monuments Campaign

Targeted Lands:   Includes “ the most recent designations of the San Gabriels in L.A. (Ca), and the Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Monument (Hilo, Hi. Upcoming and on-going campaigns: Beryessa Snow Mountain (CA), Gold Butte, City (NV), Boulder White Clouds (Id), Cedar Mesa (Ut), Coast Dairies (CA), Desert and Browns Canyon (NM).  CLF staff  feels as though we are currently well positioned to secure designation for most if not all of these areas before the end of President Obama’s second term.”  How does that feel to know your state or a neighboring one may be a “campaign” target?

Fallacies not facts: Dick Moe stated, "Cedar Mesa has the most unique cultural sites in the nation and are not protected.”  These lands are already designated and designed to be protected by the Department of the Interior. It has authority to limit harmful activities, prohibit irresponsible uses, and enforce existing laws.  However, the Federal government has not adequately funded National Parks, nor has there been sufficient funding given the BLM to protect public land in San Juan County, Utah. If the Federal government cared about “protection” they already have the power to do so.  If they cannot afford it now, why do we believe they can afford it later?  Hmmm, another National debt issue? 

While visiting the green landscape in the northern part of the proposed monument, Secretary Jewell said, “’This [Bears Ears range] is so pristine; I can't believe it's not protected.’   There lies the oxymoron.  The actual Bears Ears area and mountain range HAS been protected. That IS why it is so pristine! It’s been protected well by Ute, Anglo, and Dine’ while all the time being used for herbs and ceremonies. Wood gatherers, hunters, campers, cattlemen, trail riders, hikers, and those who has enjoyed it the past 140 years, have kept it pristine. Very few ruins dot that landscape.  But most importantly, it provides life giving water to towns below, to Ute, Navajo and Anglos alike.  We protect it because it is our lifeline.  Why should we trust the Federal government to do that? Neither the CLF nor federal bureaucracy is invested or seems to care about the lives of rural America.

Looking behind the smoke and mirrors of media spin
The illusion that this is a "bottoms up" effort, driven by indigenous people is false.  The groups were organized by CLF associates.  This is a Top Down Organization and they are carefully watching all players in the game, from Secretary Jewell, down to each tribe. This is illustrated in their minutes, "Struggles with Secretary Jewell.  She is not being a strong advocate for the Antiquities Act, but continues to show gradual improvement.  With strong leadership from the White House this has become less of a roadblock." Looks to me that we were duped into thinking she was honestly seeking "local input!"

One CLF member admits to relying on the Navajo Nation, but asks, “What happens if we separate from them or disagree with them. Without their support the White House probably would not act.”  They are using coalition members as Kings in a grand scale game of chess, and tribal members as pawns.

Money is Power but does Might mean Right?  (2014) In the event that the Senate turns after the mid-term elections and there are more attacks on the Antiquities Act, CLF is leading a broad coalition of national organizations that are increasingly focused on defense. The Wyss Foundation and other funders have set aside some funding resources specifically for this purpose.  Do we believe as a citizenry that elections, campaigns, and land grabs should go to lobby groups with the most money or with the best spin? 

Obviously CLF has money. They “raised $12 million (60% of goal). One member noted that an additional $6 million will likely be received through foundation support over the next two years, and emphasized that the last $2 million will be the hardest to raise.”  And of course there was the $30,000 (no match) funding they gave to Friends of Cedar Mesa. Knowing this, how would it feel to be the focus of CLF's “campaign” or know your state might be the next target?

Everyone has been affected by CLF policies, plans, and hype: Government officials including important cabinet members, congressmen, all states with public lands, down to the poorest counties and reservations in the nation. The final question:  To whom is the United Stated indebted? Who has been paying our bills? And who has something to gain by owning more and more lands in the United States?

Published in The Navajo Times 8/11/16