Angst in August Generates Involvement; Bear Essentials 8/17/2019

Be sure to come: Listen, Ask, Learn

~~ Agenda for Aug. 20 SJC Commission meeting in Bluff: 9 AM & 11 AM 

Bluff Community Center(3rd and Mulberry)

9: 00 AM 

1. Discuss potential changes to interlocal agreement between Bluff & San Juan County - David Everitt, SJC Interim Administrator
2. Discussion about a future trash drop box site in Bluff - Randy Rarick, SJC  Landfill Manager
3. Briefing on the countywide special election taking place this November - John David Nielson, SJC Clerk
4. Discussion of other issues in the Bluff area - David Everitt, SJC Interim Administrator
5. Public lands updates - Nick Sandberg, SJC Planning

11:00 A.M. Commission Meeting

1. Approval of minutes - August 6, 2019
2. Citizens' comments to the commission* (Please complete the request form - available at the door)
3. Consideration of the referability of an application for a ballot initiative submitted by San Juan County residents - John David Nielson, SJC Clerk
4. Approve new hires - Walter Bird, SJC HR Director
5. Discussion & possible approval of a sole source procurement for engineering services for cell closure for the County Landfill - Randy Rarick, SJC Landfill Manager
6. Discussion and possible approval for the Chair to sign a letter to the Bureau of Land Management with comments on the Canyon Rims Area Travel Management Plan - Nick Sandberg, SJC Planning
7. Discussion and possible approval of the Chair to sign a letter to the U.S. Forest Service regarding proposed rule changes - Nick Sandberg, SJC Planning
8. Discussion and possible approval of a resolution urging caution regarding oil and gas leasing on Bureau of Land Management lands near Hovenweep National Monument - David Everitt, SJC Interim Administrator
9. Discussion and possible approval of a resolution authorizing the Chair to enter into an employment agreement on behalf of San Juan County with the future San Juan County Administrator - David Everitt, SJC Interim Administrator

~~ SUWA's Frivolous Law Suit, Followed by Appeal to Ut. Supreme Court

~~ Utahans Say They Want the SL Tribune to Survive but Only 25% Read It 

~~ Looking for Common Ground With No Common Compass

~~ Fire Warnings in Colorado and SE Utah: Don't Burn Anything

~~ (Note to SL Tribune: Stop Bullying

~~SECRETARY BERNHARDT TRANSFORMS INTERIOR’S ETHICS PROGRAM 

~~ Accomplishments: Bernhardt's first 100 Days as Sec. Of Interior -- Video

~~ Canyon Zephyr Digs out Recapture Protest info: Spring 2014 Parts 1, 2, 3

~~ Secretary of Agriculture Announces: Changes to Heavy Handed Sage Grouse Controls  Aug. 1, 2019

    "Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Paul Gosar (AZ-04): "The Obama administration imposed one of the largest land grabs in American history under the guise of protecting the Greater sage-grouse, a species that isn’t even threatened or endangered. Their real motivation was to lockup as much land as possible, preventing multiple-use activities like oil and gas production, mining, and grazing in the process. The Greater sage-grouse was simply the means to their end as the bird’s habitat comprises 173 million acres in 11 Western States. Secretary Perdue’s announcement is welcome news as it is the third and final piece of the puzzle in terms of reining in the sage-grouse overreach of the previous administration. I applaud President Trump and his administration for treating Western states as partners instead of forcing their political agenda down our throats like the Obama administration."  

~~ Unrest with Adakai Leadership 

~~ Follow: San Juan's Monumental Divide - By Bill Keshlear

~~ Tourism Only Part of a Diverse Economy: Letter to the editor by Bill Haven

~~ Legal Fees Continue to Mount in Litigious Environment 

"The roosters at the Tribune would like to take credit for the sun coming up in the morning – 18 months after the sunrise!" They finally run a related story. The San Juan Record has been consistent in reporting the cost of defending freedoms in San Juan County. 1) From February, 2018 2)From January, 3) 2019 Read full story

~~ Free Range Report: SJC Commissioners, Face $500 A day Fine For Stonewalling GRAMA Request

~~ Nothing Obama Declared Was About Co-Management

~~Democrats’ Plan To Nationalize Land, Using Land and Water Conservation Fund

~~ Tourism Over-runs Antelope Canyon/ Page Arizona

~~ Navajo Nation Council in Gridlock over Renewable Resources

~~ Hurricane City Council Discusses the Lake Powell Pipeline Project

~~Trail of Tears Damage by Forest Service in Coker Creek still not fixed

~~ Black Market in Siberian Dinosaur Skulls?

Support Free Range Report

Digging Deeper for Solutions/ Bear Essentials 8/1/2019

Impacts on the West and San Juan County

San Juan River at Sunset by Jeri Maryboy

~~ San Juan County Fair Starts this Friday, Aug. 3

~~ Commissioners Vote to End Gerrymandering Appeal

~~ No Futher Action on Redistricting Appeal  KUER

~~ Supreme Court Decisions and Local Implications        

~~ Utah to Take More Prominent Role in Managing State    Forests

~~ Moab Bans New Lodging

~~Fowlks to lead Western Fish, Wildlife group

~~Bears Ears Summer Gathering

~~ Transfer of Fed BLM Office to the West: An Idea Whose Time Has Come 

"The BLM has never belonged in Washington DC. It manages 247 million acres, almost half of all public lands, and 700 million acres of mineral rights, with a unique mission. The National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Forest Service, for instance, all have very specific uses, but the BLM is tasked with managing its lands for multiple uses, in numerous categories and under a wide variety of laws.

That includes 18,000 grazing permits, 220 wilderness areas, 27 national monuments, 600 National Conservation Areas, 200,000 miles of streams, 2,000 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers, 6,000 miles of National Scenic Trails, 63,000 oil and gas wells, 25,000 mines, and 50 million acres of forests. Not a square inch of that is in Washington, D.C. It is in 12 western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. It has never made sense for the leadership to work 2,000 miles away, insulated by the inevitably different perspectives of life inside the Beltway."

~~  No Black and White Easy Solutions in San Juan County   Canyon Zephyr

~~ Native Woman Warns of Dangers of Socialism  Video

~~ Conservative Lawyer Named BLM Deputy Director of Policy 

"Pendley is a prolific author. Among his books is “Warriors for the West: Fighting Bureaucrats, Radical Groups, and Liberal Judges on America’s Frontier.” It chronicles the efforts of Western state leaders and residents to fight environmental laws, according to a profile of Pendley from the Property Rights Foundation of America.  Pendley is also wrote “War on the West: Government Tyranny on America’s Great Frontier” and “It Takes A Hero: The Grassroots Battle Against Environmental Oppression.”

~~ Moab/San Juan Needs a Truck Stop

~~ USDA To Help Fund Water System Upgrades in San Juan County

~~New Farm Bureau Agent in San Juan County

~~Photo/ Video Project Focuses on Navajo Shepherds

~~ Reliance on Foreign Mining/ Minerals Must End

~~ San Juan and Commissioners at at Monumental Divide  by Bill Keshlear

~~ Why We Can't Support Patagonia

~~ A "Hole" Lot of Problems with San Juan County Roads

~~ Getting to the Heart of the Recapture Canyon Debacle 

 . . ."I was interested in obtaining public documents related to the controversial “Recapture Canyon Protest Ride” on May 10, 2014. In fact, the story goes back even further, to 2006, when two San Juan County residents were accused and convicted of building an illegal ATV trail across public lands and damaging archaeological sites. The trail was closed by the BLM, subject to review.: Jim Stiles

~~ Grizzlies, Wolves, and Cattle Are a Poor Ecological Mix

~~ Environmental Groups Call for End of Uranium Waste in the West

~~ Federal Government Bungels Chaco Canyon Facility

~~ Environmentalists Blast SJC Bears Ears Management Plan

San Juan Record 7/31/2019

~~BEAR ESSENTIALS: July 20, 2018~~

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v San Juan Record Live: Focus on Pioneer days This weekend

v Pioneer Day Events/ Schedule

v Southern County Gully Washer July 13

v Follow San Juan Weather Guy for More San Juan Weather Activity

v SJC Favorite Phil Lyman Runs for State House of Representatives

v Help Phil Fight the Big Environmental Donors Trying to Defeat Him

v Attention Ranchers with Grazing Allotments:

Ranchers who maintain grazing allotments in the footprint of the previous Bears Ears National Monument or the new monuments, need to know about Rangeland Strategies. As the BLM and USFS update their management plans for these areas, we believe our consultants can help make sure that the interests of those with grazing allotments are protected.  (Benjamin Burr)  More information

v How do you Regulate Respectful Recreation? Outside Magazine

             State Senator David Hinkins. a Great Defender of San Juan County

n  Mike Lee Supports Bill to Protect Rural Utah from Abuses of Antiquities Act

n  Judge Blocks Reopening of Election Lawsuit

n  More Cattle on Rangeland Helps Mitigate Wildfires

n  President Trump Grants Clemency to the Hammonds

n  Hammonds Unjustly Imprisoned as Terrorists

n  Putting The Supreme Court’s Role into Perspective

n  Firing a Bad Federal Employee May Get a Little Easier

n  Senator Mike Lee on Tariffs, Congressional Disfunction, and New Supreme Court Judge

n  Updates from Sutherland Institute

n  “The Sentence” Screens at Capitol; Sen. Lee Comments

n  Diamond Rio Coming to San Juan County

n  Diamond Rio will headline the San Juan County Fair with a performance on Thursday, August 9 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the San Juan County Fairgrounds.

Advance tickets are $18 and can be purchased at BCL Distributing in Blanding (1261 South Main) or the San Juan Record in Monticello (49 South Main).

n  Most Recent Plans for New Bluff Elementary School SJ Record

 n  Charges Against Chilcoat Dropped!  Collusion in AG’s office?

--Did the State AG’s Office side with the defendants?

--Why did the AG’s Office bring unfounded charges against the lead deputy in the Chilcoat case just prior to the preliminary hearing?

--Why is it that the AG’s Office refused to assist the San Juan County Prosecutor due to a “conflict of interest,” and then agree to participate in the appeals hearing where all charges are dropped against Chilcoat, who is the client of an AG’s Office employee?  --Monte Wells

n  Lightening Strike Threatens Homes in Bluff

n  Fire in North Cottonwood Also Caused by Lightening

n  Fracking Can Make You Fat!!

n  LA Times: Bears Ears Awaits Ruling

n  Woman Treed by Wolves; Rescue Delayed

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n Read Past Editions of Bear Essentials at: http://beyondthebears.blogspot.com/

Documenting Bears Ears Controversy and Public Land Issues since July 2016