Showing posts with label Jim Stiles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Stiles. Show all posts

Sunday, October 8, 2017

~~ Bear Essentials ~ Oct. 8, 2017~~


Quote of the week: “It is often said we now live in two Americas. Nowhere is that description truer then when it comes to land owned by the federal government. In the United States east of the Rockies, the federal government owns just 4 percent of all land. But west of the Rockies, the federal government owns more than half of all land including almost two thirds of all land in Utah. When an unelected and unaccountable bureaucracy owns and manages more than half the land in your state, that is a recipe for disaster.”               Senator Mike Lee
“Creating too large national monuments — results in agencies lacking the necessary resources to adequately manage sites. The federal government currently has a backlog of $18.62 billion in maintenance projects. A better approach is to right-size monuments and allow for limited economic activity in areas where there won’t be damage.” 
v National Monuments Discussed by Heritage Foundation Washington DC (10-4)  Includes: Senator Mike Lee, Congressman Rob Bishop, Matt Anderson, Ryan Benally, New England fisherman, and Maine sportsman. The Antiquities Act was also discussed.  This was very informative.  Listen and Learn..

 “In the nearly fifty years since it was signed into law, the ESA has done more to impede economic activity, obstruct local conservation efforts, and give federal bureaucrats regulatory control over private property, than it has done to protect endangered species."    Senator Mike Lee

v KUER Looks a Bears Ears Stories   Local interviews with Judy Fahys

v Brief History of Recapture Canyon  A video series compiled by Monte Wells

v Consider Donating to Free Range Report (Majorie is a non-NGO funded, patriot who deserves our support and thanks.  No one has helped San Juan County more.)

                         
Good News Bears
~Mr. Zinke has ordered all his agencies to put a priority on active management against wildfires. “We are spending $2 billion a year fighting fires, money that could be going to far better conservation efforts,” he says, visibly annoyed. ~Such mismanagement is what drives Western frustration, which threatens to become a new Sagebrush Rebellion. “Some of the anger is that our grand bargains have been broken, and those bargains said that you had wilderness, but you also have grazing; you could also hunt and fish,” Mr. Zinke says. Now Westerners “watch these catastrophic fires, and they’ve lost any faith that the federal government is capable of being a good steward.”
“We will hold people accountable when we are informed that they have failed in their duties and obligations,” Bernhardt
There is a reason we allow presidents to undo the actions of their predecessors. A president who could unilaterally set policy forever would have far too much power and be free of political checks and balances.  President Barack Obama designated most of his record-setting monuments during the twilight of his second term, long after the threat of electoral defeat had passed. Free of political checks, he ran wild with this power.”

Federal lands included in Bears Ears and other national monuments need management by local people on the ground , not by judges in black robes. A starting point would be to require approval by state congressional delegations of any national monument designated in their state. Let state wildlife managers have more say in whether grizzlies are removed from the endangered species list. Entrust Indian tribes with management of their antiquities as they already are with Canyon de Chelly National Monument.  Most of Bears Ears is under the purview of the Bureau of Land Management. It is time to return to the BLM motto: “Land of many uses”—not land of no uses.” 
n  Standing in Another Man’s Shoes   by Jim Stiles, Canyon Zephyr editor

 
Bad News Bears         
~~~~~

                                     Documenting Bears Ears “No Monument” efforts since July 2016

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Letter to Blanding City Council Relative to Bears Ears

Dear Mayor and City Council members,

      There are several things I neglected to say last night at City Council; primarily, thank you for allowing input from Blanding citizens in two open forums, and even an opportunity for an out-of-towner to speak last night.  Anna Tom from McCracken Mesa is a person we have worked very closely with, as well as her mother, Betty Jones.  They have been fire brands in the battle, as councilman Lyman sometimes alludes to.  I don’t know if you attended the arena theater meeting in June 2016, where state Representative Mike Noel spoke?  If you didn’t then, you probably don’t understand the passion that was generated that night.  When I entered the arena theater there were at least 30-40 Native Americans on the East side.  Anna was one of them and I wondered then, what their position was.  I even said to Dara Bayles (who is also Navajo), “What side do you think they are on?“

Well, as the meeting progressed, I learned that they knew a heck of a lot more about government regulations, and false promises that I did.  It was an eye opener, and a motivational event, which threw a lot of unlikely people together, and we’re still together a year later with a long list of parades, meetings, SLC trips, rallies, and hearings behind us. If you were there, then you would understand why we were so upset with the “cave in” suggestion regarding Bears Ears Tuesday night.

I share that, because some of you may think Bears Ears is just a Blanding issue. It is not. The overreach of the Antiquities Act has affected at least a dozen states.  We have allies throughout the nation, and especially in the west.  This is much more than just a battle over a monument. As a county we drew a line in the sand, that says we are against federal overreach via EPA, Environmental lawsuits, threats, rampant bureaucracy, government decisions based on global goals, not on local needs.  When states no longer have state's rights, and counties only have 8% private land, we are only a facade of freedom.  Constitutional illegalities affect multiple states, and those states also look hopefully for what may happen with Bears Ears following the Review Period.  I hope all of you wrote and shared your concerns and ideas.  If you haven't, you should.  This is NOT over yet.    

In my remarks, Tuesday, I referred to an article by Jim Stiles; in fact, he has written many well researched articles about Bears Ears.  There are a few by him that would “Bear” reading as they apply to our current and future situations.  Though an unlikely ally. Jim has gone out of his way to help Stewards of San Juan on several occasions and he is a journalist I actually trust to tell the truth. (Which is why his name has been in the Moab paper a lot). I hope you will read these, so you understand why this controversy, has larger ramifications than just Bears Ears and a possible promotion plan for Blanding.

3. Public Lands History and Future: Good background info if you don’t know what’s happened in the past. http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2016/12/05/bears-ears-chronicles-a-public-lands-history-the-future-by-jim-stiles/
5.  With the help of Jim I wrote this expose of Environmental NGOS last year and where their money comes from. https://beyondthebears.blogspot.com/2017/03/oh-what-tangled-web-we-weave-when-first.html

Each week I read anywhere from 15-25 articles related to some facet of Bears Ears, Government agencies, Public Lands, or Environment.  Some of you have received a weekly Bear Essentials newsletter from me, which focuses on things we need to do, plus a dozen or so of the most relevant articles: broken down into Good News Bears and Bad News. Of course, you have to push the link, and then read the article to be informed.  I’m sorry you may not have gotten them. I should have sought out all city council members early on, but went with e-mails of people who signed up at the Mike Noel meeting last June and the Senate Hearing in July.  I often hear from Mr. Ogle and Mr. Lyman.  I have counted on family members to share information, as I'm limited to 500 emails.  I also maintain and keep current a Bears Ears Blog, https://beyondthebears.blogspot.com/. So there are plenty of ways to stay informed on this issue, if a person cares.  On the Save the Bears Ears secret FB page there are over 2500 members, who have kept this issue alive, and have had the passion to write, read, speak, and do.  These are not people who enjoyed fighting, but who care deeply about this country and San Juan County. I am so thankful for their efforts.  Were it not for technology, combined with a just cause, this issue would have been dead in the desert long ago, and we’d be looking at those brochures you want to design, wondering what happened to Blanding.

Sincerely,
Janet Wilcox

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Bear Essentials April 26, 2017


                 Beyond Standing Rock. KUED Channel 7 ~~ Sunday April 30, 3 PM

n  Senator Hatch’s Presentation to the Senate.  Look for big things to start happening.
n  Senator Orrin Hatch visited Bears Ears April 20 and met with county leaders, and local people.  Follow his FB page to see what happens next.
n  Trump to order Review of Bears Ears, SL Trib Article  (now’s a good time to write)
n  Dodge City takeaway information:  Kansas leads the way in protecting private property  Since it was formed in March of 2013, KNRC has had an impact on local and national natural resources policy. The member counties of KNRC use scientifically-based insight and knowledge of existing law to impact policies which are of interest to property owners, ranchers, farmers, and rural communities across the country. KNRC is not afraid to take on federal policies, such as the Endangered Species Act, or the aggressive and well-funded special interests which abuse such policies to exert control over land and resources.
n  Notes from conference are attached to this same e-mail.  Thanks Donna Singer!
n  The Real Danger to Bears Ears  by Jim Stiles in Adventure Journal.  Lots of comments following the article. Add yours.
n  Please let the Department of Interior know your concerns and the issues that Rural America faces, (especially as it relates to San Juan County, Utah)  Rescind Bears Ears and why.
~~Write a concise, factual e-mail to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. Edit carefully, then paste into e-mail.  Next copy and paste the following e-mail addresses as BCC (blind carbon copy) and you can send then all at the same time. Please e-mail the following and get your family and friends to do likewise:   Zinke’s e-mail   exsec_exsec@ios.doi.gov
 Good News Bears
n  New way to look at Natural Resources from Forbes     …”nature gives us very few directly usable machine energy resources. Resources are not taken from nature, but created from nature. What applies to the raw materials of coal, oil and gas also applies to every raw material in nature—they are all potential resources, with unlimited potential to be rendered valuable by the human mind.
Ultimately, a resource is just matter and energy transformed via human ingenuity to meet human needs. Well, the planet we live on is 100% matter and energy, 100% potential resource for energy and anything else we would want…
The amount of raw matter and energy on this planet is so incomprehensibly vast that it is nonsensical to speculate about running out of it. Telling us that there is only so much matter and energy to create resources from is like telling us that there is only so much galaxy to visit for the first time. True, but irrelevant.”



Bad News Bears

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Suit Against Editor of Canyon Zephyr Jim Stiles Dismissed

Stewards of San Juan representatives supported Jim Stiles and his wife yesterday at court in Moab. He was accused of defaming the former Moab City Manager. We were relieved when the suit was dismissed by Judge Anderson. Jim has been a huge help to us via his articles in the Canyon Zephyr regarding Bears Ears and its future.  Here are some of the articles in the newest issue: 

Bears Ears Post Mortem

The Unspoken Bears Ears Goal: Creating an Urban New West


Shakey Ground for Journalists and Freedom of the Press: But is Anything New?