By Janet Wilcox
The campaign driven by the Conservation Lands Foundation over the past two years to designate the Bears Ears in Utah as a National Monument has promoted Disparity, Discrimination, Deceit, Divisiveness, Disillusionment, Dissembling, and Debt.
The campaign driven by the Conservation Lands Foundation over the past two years to designate the Bears Ears in Utah as a National Monument has promoted Disparity, Discrimination, Deceit, Divisiveness, Disillusionment, Dissembling, and Debt.
Disparity between states:
There is a huge disparity between
eastern states who have large amounts of private land and thus the wealth, and most
western states who have low median incomes and little private land. There is a
correlation between private land and wealth.
Former San Juan Commissioner Bill Redd often stated, “The wealth of a
people, or a country is always linked to land.”
75.2% of Utah’s land is public. Only 24.8% is privately owned. Only two other states in the nation have more
public land than Utah – Alaska and Nevada.
Our neighbors in Colorado have twice
as much private land - 56.7% and their
public land is 43.3%. Federally Fueled Discrimination:
There exists not only discrimination in the United States between those who have private land and those who don’t, it also exists when citizens live in areas where they are prevented from using initiative and free enterprise to earn a better living. Wealthy lobbies have poured millions into Obama’s environmental campaign for more monuments, which increases the disparity between the haves and the have nots. Other rural areas fighting this same “Folly Green Giant” have the same disadvantage. Though San Juan County is rich in land, it is ranked 29th out of 29 Utah counties based on per-capita, annual income. Another layer of discrimination appears when schools become underfunded or under achieving because of environmentally imposed restrictions on lands which can no longer provide funds for school children. San Juan County’s tax valuation which determines budget decisions, is based on roughly 20 companies. All but two are tied to the land. Even Verizon, which is a leading cellphone provider, is tied to the land. That is why sections of San Juan county land must continue to be multi-use.
Ironically,
some areas in the proposed 1.9 million acres do NOT even meet the definition of
“public lands.” This includes 43 grazing
allotments, 661 water-right infrastructures, 151,000 acres of state trust land,
18,000 acres of private property, and hundreds of miles of roads and
infrastructure which are granted a RS2477 right-of-way. These lands are legally private or state owned and must continue to be available for private enterprises and access.
The tribal coalition organized by the Conservation Lands Foundation, is NOT a grass roots effort as advertised, but is planned, paid for, and orchestrated by behind the scenes wealthy millionaires, such as Hansjorg Wyss. According to Dave Skinner a Montana writer, Wyss has done more than any other man in the world to bring rural states to their knees by donating millions to environmental campaigns. The PEW Foundation, Hewlet Packard, and dozens of other foundations get tax benefits for donating to environmental causes. Their $$$ has created a huge slanted campaign for more land. This Green Machine uses scare tactics and hyperbole as it exaggerates what is happening and what will happen if a monument is not designated. Overused phrases such as, “rampant looting” and “desecration of land” has caused environmental hysteria and misled thousands of people who do not see the true picture. By up-playing negativity without giving actual facts, the nation has been led to believe local people don’t care about the land. Nothing could be further from the truth. Good citizens have been protecting this area for generations, but there will always be those who are up to no good, just as occurs in cities on the east and west coast. Establishing a monument will not stop that, and in addition increased visitation will only bring more vandalism while eliminating traditional uses. This has occurred in Grand Staircase Escalante since its designation 20 years ago, and we have no reason to believe it will be different here.
A
recent incident in the Bears Ears area of Comb Ridge was caused by Fort Lewis
College students who were supposedly supervised and educated. They didn’t just
leave footprints, but graffiti. This paradox plagues every preservation effort. In order to
protect special places, advocates must get public support. To do that, they
need to let the public know why the place is so special, to let the masses in
on their secrets. Such a campaign acts as a travel council publicist with many
of the same negative effects.
Whether
it is outright deceit, or poorly studied economics, the Folly Green Giant, has
also promised Native people that there will be new jobs through tourism and “Industrial-strength
recreation” (see recent article in Canyon Zephyr by Jim Stiles.) This dangling
carrot strategy would replace ranching, and fossil fuel industries in SJC, yet
expect people to drive hundreds of miles to get here while utilizing their
smart phones and gear which is at least partially dependent upon fossil fuel
products.
Tourist towns like
Moab and Jackson Hole, Wyoming are too expensive for middle income families to
live in. They are sustained by people who must work 2-3 part time jobs to
maintain a household. People who actually
reside there aren’t able to purchase homes on minimum wage salaries. The median
household income in San Juan County is already 4th from the bottom
in the state, but interestingly both Grand and Wayne county which are adjacent
to National parks and Monuments have an even LOWER median income, yet the
façade of tourism makes outsiders think things are booming because of all the
toursits. (http://img.ksl.com/slc/2607/260770/26077053.jpg)
Read more about the
hazards of Industrial-Strength Recreation in the newest Canyon Zephyr.
Another D goes to Dissembling or pretending to support one idea, when in fact you
support a differing philosophy. Many of us heard Navajo leaders speak
passionately against oil drilling at the Sally Jewell hearing in July, yet ironically
the Navajo tribe is in the process of trying to buy Resolute Oil, the #1 tax
payer in San Juan County. So obviously,
it’s not the issue of owning an oil company or drilling that is the problem,
but who gets the benefits from it. This
certainly sends a mixed message from the Navajo nation. San Juan County Navajos have always been at the bottom of the totem pole of the Navajo Tribe. Why some Utah Navajos would support the Navajo Nation's stance makes no sense, unless they were dangled big "green" carrots.
by Janet Wilcox
