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

GRAMA, Governor, Growth, and Global Environmentalists: Bear Essentials 6/17/2019

News in the West

  Two New Republican Candidates for Utah Gov. in 2020

~~Greg Hughes Running for Gov.

~~ Jeff Burningham Tosses his Hat in the Ring

 ~~N. San Juan County Support and Concerns about Love Truck Stop

~~ History of Democrats and the Electoral College

~~It's Time to Defend the Electoral College

~~A Democratic Society or Constitutional Republic? 

~~ Parowan Gap: Interpretations of a Unique Petroglyph 

Documents for Next Commission Meeting 6/18/19

• 06-18-19.pdf - 6/14/19 3:17 PM
• Ryan Stuart Letter of Interest.pdf - 6/14/19 3:29 PM
• 2019 Area Plan MH part 1.pdf - 6/14/19 3:30 PM
• 2019 Area Plan MH part 2.pdf - 6/14/19 3:31 PM
• 2019 Area Plan SA.pdf - 6/14/19 3:36 PM
• 2019 Area Plan Prevention.pdf - 6/14/19 3:36 PM
• Authorize.res.pdf - 6/14/19 3:37 PM
• County.res.pdf - 6/14/19 3:37 PM
• Conflict of Interest Policy - 6-14-2019.pdf - 6/14/19 3:37 PM
• Interlocal Agreement- trail management, Grand County 6-14-2019 .pdf - 6/14/19 3:38 PM
• San Juan County T3500ps.pdf - 6/14/19 3:38 PM
• SJC CIP Application - EMS Vehicles - May 31, 2019.pdf - 6/14/19 3:39 PM
• SJC Personal Use of Public Property Policy.pdf - 6/14/19 3:39 PM

~~ GRAMA REQUEST APPROVED: DOCUMENTS FROM DEMOCRATIC COMMISSIONERS' ATTORNEY MUST BE PUBLIC

~~ Bears Ears Advisory Council Meets for the First Time

~~Dan Love's Mentor, Wm. Woody Ousted from Dept. of Interior 

"Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Office of Law Enforcement Services (OLES) director William Woody seems to have followed a path similar to that of his corrupt protege, Dan Love. Woody has been under investigation for numerous apparent abuses of power and mishandling of government funds since the time he retook the position in 2017. According to our source, on Thursday, June 13, Director Woody’s gun and badge were stripped from him and he was escorted out of the Department of the Interior headquarters in Washington D.C."  Free Range Report

~~Lake Powell on the Rise

~~ Growth in Utah Triggers Need for Tax Restructuring 

~~ Consumers, Cobalt, Controversies and Compromise by Bill Keshlear

~~ Free Event: Agriculture/Legislative Convocation: Red Acre Center

Location: Monticello College: 1849 North Creek Road, Monticello
Date: Saturday June 22, 2019
Time: 7:00pm Red Acre Center (RAC) advocates for local food economies and for small farmers in Utah. RAC has an impressive track record getting bills passed and building bridges that support food freedom. Online: redacrecenter.org and monticellocollege.org Phone: 435 590 1661

~~ Global Environmentalists Targeting Beef Industry for Destruction

"The American beef industry has long been a tasty target of the environmentalists and their allies in the animal rights movement. To understand the reason is to know that protecting the environment is not the goal, rather the excuse in a determined drive for global power. Their selected tactic is to control the land, water, energy, and population of the Earth. To achieve these ends requires, among other things, the destruction of private property rights and elimination of every individual’s ability to make personal lifestyle choices, including personal diet." 

~~ Only 3% of Nation's Energy produced via Sun and Wind, Despite $50 Billion in Subsidies  

(How can a Nation $22 Trillion in Debt justify such frivolous spending?)

~~ SL Tribune: Gerhert Opinion Claims Rural Utah Spawns Violence

~~More Decisive Forest Management Needed: Catastrophes Forecast

"The USFS says since 1994, bark beetles have wiped out over four million acres in the southern Rockies. The trees turn red, then brown, then become fuel for catastrophic fires."

~~Oak Foundation, Subsidizes Environmental Agendas

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San Juan Record Photo

 Remember San Juan County is Snake Country

Like the Music Man said, "You've got to know the territory." 

More Collusion and Conflict: Bear Essentials 4/6/2019

What's New in the West

The County Seat: Exploring other forms of County Government

Despicable Behavior Revisited: Division, Demos and the 2020 Elections

"Ironically perhaps, former San Juan County Commissioner Benally also was systematically defamed over roughly the same period. She ran afoul of an insular, male-dominated county Democratic Party apparatus and its single-issue allies — the same kind of structural “patriarchy” many of Miller’s feminist critics believe he represents. Yet Benally found no support among progressives based in Salt Lake City; instead she found well-organized opponents.

That’s not surprising. Benally criticized designation of Bears Ears National Monument; she collaborated with high-ranking Republicans; she didn’t trust the federal government because of its dismal historical record on Native American affairs; and she had ideological disagreements with the party about the importance of local control over county governance and management of public lands. Specifically, she said publicly that:

• Converting sacred lands to a monument will ultimately be controlled by “bureaucrats unfamiliar with Navajo history and traditional ways.”
• The federal government has broken promises of trust responsibilities and formal treaties again and again and again for the past 200 years.
• Promises related to creation of jobs managing the monument are not guaranteed.
• The federal government’s history of managing national monuments on sacred lands has been inconsistent, even disastrous.
• Groups outside of San Juan County — deep-pocketed environmental groups — should not be able to dictate the future of the region’s lands or pretend to speak for Navajos."  
•  Bill Keshlear, Canyon Zephyr  4/1/ 2019

Audio Recording of SJC Work Meeting 4/2/19

Excessive Resolutions, Rebuffs, and best Remedies:  Will they listen?

Audio Recording of SJ Commission Meeting 4/2/19

SJ County Attorney Kendall Laws Explains his Paper Trail of

Communication with Commissioners and Concerns about Lawsuit 4/2/19

~~ April 2 San Juan Commission Meeting Recording

Stand United Petition: Opposes Expansion of Bears Ears  (sign on-line)

~~ Boos Conspiracy Plot to Remove SJ County Prosecutor

~~ Dispersed Camping Takes Toll on Public Lands Near Moab

"These public lands, sandwiched between U.S. 191 and Arches National Park, remain premier places to ride and view dinosaur tracks, but dispersed camping has taken a serious toll on the land and degraded the visitor experience.

Campers drive over soft soils in search of sites to pitch a tent, flatten vegetation, and leave behind mounds of fetid waste, according to the Bureau of Land Management’s environmental assessment of a proposal to consolidate dispersed camping into designated sites." Maffley

~~ Court Pressures Phil Lyman to Increase Monthly Restitution Fee

"The back-and-forth follows a request by the U.S. attorney’s office that Lyman be ordered to increase his monthly payments from $100 to $500 toward some $96,000 in outstanding restitution stemming from his misdemeanor conviction in 2015 for leading a protest ride on ATVs through Utah’s Recapture Canyon."

Chilcoat and Franklin Charges Settled Out of Court 

Don't Bury Your Head in the Snow! March 11, 2019

What's New in the West

Photo by Marci Bothwell -- San Juan Record

Bluff Town Hall Meeting with John Curtis March 21

Congress Passes Massive Lands Bill, Utah will be Affected

"The program uses private offshore oil and gas revenues to pay for conservation of federal lands for outdoor recreation and provide grants for state and local governments to create green space and provide access to natural resources."   ...and where in Utah???  "an area in Utah where a high density of Jurassic-era bones are located."

Finanances, History, and Questions Related to San Juan County Commission

"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), 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?"

Who's to win the Battle for Water: California Fish or Farmers?

Update on Bill to be able to Divide Counties, Sponsor Kim Coleman

How to File A GRAMA Request  

"The Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) provides every person the right to request records from any governmental entity in Utah (Utah Code Section 63G-2-201(1)."

__________

 63G-1-201. Official State Language:

(1) English is declared to be the official language of Utah.
(2) As the official language of this State, the English language is the sole language of the government, except as otherwise provided in this section.
(3) Except as provided in Subsection (4), all official documents, transactions, proceedings, meetings, or publications issued, conducted, or regulated by, on behalf of, or representing the state and its political subdivisions shall be in English."

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Needs to be Carefully Studied  

-- by Stacy Young, Canyon Zephyr

Canyon Echo: Updates from Bluff and Beyond

Bill Keshlear: Observations on Future of San Juan Commission

Part Three: -- "TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, the relationship between the Navajo Nation and San Juan County will determine the success of the new Navajo-majority commission.Many Navajos in San Juan County probably feel like they’ve been abandoned by their tribal leaders in Window Rock, Ariz. It was a concern Maryboy testified to during a hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in 2009.

Maryboy was a delegate to the Navajo Nation Council — the tribe’s legislative body — a San Juan County commissioner and officer of Utah Diné Corporation at the time. He wanted the Utah Navajo Trust Fund, which was set up by Congress in 1933 so Utah Navajos would benefit from Aneth oil and gas royalties, to be administered by Utah Diné Corporation instead of the Navajo Nation and the state of Utah. He believed that given the Navajo Nation’s history of “neglect, unaccountability and malfeasance,” it lacked the capacity to administer the fund.

“San Juan County believes that the Navajo Nation government, which is located in Window Rock, Arizona, and provides few if any government services to Utah Navajos, does not have the best interest of Utah Navajos at heart when it asserts a vague argument of tribal sovereignty to wrestle away control of the Utah Navajo Trust Fund from Utah Navajos."

"The Navajo Nationʼs heretofore disinterest in its own members who reside within the Utah strip of the Navajo Nation is the very reason why San Juan County has stepped up to the plate to deliver essential government services to Utah Navajos. San Juan County has provided law enforcement, fire protection, emergency medical services, senior services, road maintenance, telecommunication and water services to the seven Utah Navajo chapters because the tribe in Window Rock does not.”

Part Four: Discusses Kenneth Maryboy's Involvement in questionable Tribal Government Activities

~~Truth Exposed: Federal Government Lied about who Owns Recapture Road

~~ House Bill 179 Passes; Would Protect County Roads from Illegal Closure

"This bill calls for a Class C Misdemeanor for illegally obstructing a road on public land."

~~ Follow Representative Phil Lyman on Facebook

~~Oil and Gas Leases help Fund County CIB Projects 

~~ Navajo Tribe Lauds Utah for Keeping Navajo Families in tact

~~ San Juan Moves Out of Severe Drought!

~~ Montezuma County Declared "Gun Sanctuary" by Commissioners

~~ Princeton Professor Questioned on Climate Change Position

~~ The Utah Strip before Paved Roads: interview by Phil Hall with Ray Hunt

   "Mineral extraction has been a way of life since the first white men arrived on the Utah Strip, and it was mineral extraction which brought roads into previously roadless areas, electricity to dark places, jobs to people who wanted them. Gold, silver, copper, oil, gas, uranium, and gravel have all been mined here. These various boom and bust cycles have brought men to San Juan County who wanted to make their living while they could, for making a living in this poor country has always been, for most, a difficult thing to do. Some of those men stayed and raised families, and continue to live here today."

~~ Bluff Wants to Shut Down Oil and Gas Leases, yet Benefits from CIB Funds

"A midden of environmental activism, Bluff is undergoing a fundamental transformation with new hotels and restaurants springing up, hoping to get fat off the tourist industry. Friends of Cedar Mesa has been at the forefront of lobbying for increased tourist opportunities in southeastern Utah, most notably, the recent push to reestablish and expand the now-defunct Bears Ears National Monument. Tourism has become yet another rationale for locking up federally-controlled lands with new wilderness area, national monuments, and other restrictive designations.

Corporate environmentalism and industrial tourism go hand in hand, and in Bluff, the same enviros who embrace the anti-fossil fuel policies of the extreme left, are enjoying a financial boon from the very industry they are trying to destroy."

Expansion of Bears Ears Predicts Negative Effects for Native People

Commission Votes to Expand Bears Ears Monument

"In addition to increasing the size of the monument, the Bears Ears Expansion and Respect for Sovereignty Act would, according to Haaland’s office, “restore tribal consultation by requiring federal land managers to use tribal expertise to manage the monument’s lands and protect over 100,000 archaeological and cultural sites in the area.”

New SJ Commissioners Steamroll County With Ghost Writer Resolutions

Sierra Club/ Canyon Echo, Winter Issue