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.

1,  Take it or Leave it:  The New West’s Big Lie:  http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2017/06/01/take-it-or-leave-it-the-new-wests-big-lie-by-jim-stiles/

2.  The Bears Ears Designation, Post Mortem: http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2017/02/01/the-bears-ears-post-mortem-by-jim-stiles/

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/

4.   MOAB IS ASSIMILATED. BIKE BORG MOVES SOUTH. Is Resistance Futile in San Juan County?http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2014/02/03/moab-is-assimilated-bike-borg-moves-south-is-resistance-futile-in-san-juan-county-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

Bear Essentials* APRIL 1, 2017

 n  Plan to Come Monday Night April 3-- Bears Ears Comic Relief –  Donations Appreciated—Arts and Events Center

An evening of humor and fun providing “Comic Relief” will feature Grand Old Broads in Recovery, Lilly Tomblin at the Bears Ears Information Booth; and the infamous Bears Ears Boys 7 PM  April 3. Musical parodies, cowboy poetry, and skits are on tap along with Leonie and Allen Hunt, with a musical tribute to SJC. Please invite your like-minded friends and family to come enjoy this event. Jim Keyes will run the Cake Auction followed by the raffle drawing and pot luck dessert bar at the end. (Please bring something to share if you can). Come and enjoy!   Raffle tickets for a Glock 9 MM pistol will be sold for $5 each or 5 for $20. Donations and ticket sales will be used for No-Monument advertising.  

Event recommended for those 10 and up.

n  Petroglyph Video of Representative Mike Noel speaking at San Juan County’s Republican Dinner March 30.  (Thanks, Monte Wells.)  After the event, Mike drove back to Kanab, arriving about 3:30 AM.  What a road warrior he is!  Want to thank him or communicate? (mnoel@kanab.net)  Thank you, Cody Nielson, Sterling Black, Vint Degraw, the organizers of the Rep. dinner, for inviting him to come Thursday.

n  Sutherland's Institute, in conjunction with Stewards of San Juan has created a new Website and Facebook page to help keep track of the Bears Ears National Monument.   Please Like their/our page  https://www.facebook.com/RescindBearsEars/ and visit RescindBearsEars.com for more information.

n  Sign Petition to Rescind Bears Ears  and get your family/ friends to do likewise.

n  Continue to write or call Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke. He is getting LOTS of pressure from the Green Urbanites as is President Trump.  Please stay engaged with your encouraging words of support and ideas.

Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke: 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington DC 20240
Phone: (202) 208-3100
Email: Email Dept. of the Interior

n  Interested in Old Blanding City Council minutes?   These go back to 1916! 

 Good News Bears

·       American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank at California Berkley, says Trump has the power to Revoke  Bears Ears.

·       Will Trump Relocate Federal Land agencies from DC to the West?

“[Zinke's] view is that we have too many people working in Interior in Washington, D.C., when the work that needs to be done is out in the states and particularly in the West, and he wants to move a lot of the management decisions and a lot of the people from Washington out to the states...”   Yay for Zinke!!

·       Showdown on Government over-reach addressed at Dodge City, Kansas convention.  “A coalition of Navajos and local leaders opposed to the designation of Utah’s Bears Ears region as a national monument traveled from Southern Utah to attend the conference.”  Those participating included Commissioner Bruce Adams, Val Dalton, Wendy Black, Lewis & Donna Singer, Marie Holiday, Wallace and Anna Tom and Betty Jones.  We hope they will have an opportunity for sharing information in the near future.

       One concern we have often seen is stated in the article: “In recent history, federal agencies have conferred upon themselves — through the administrative rule-making process — expansive powers and authorities not present in original statutory law. Through the cumbersome, complex and ineffective public comment/rule-making process, federal agencies create for themselves rules, regulations and policies, imposing them on the public as binding and having the weight of law.

·        BLM 2.0 repealed by Trump.  Governor Herbert and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski were present at the signing March 27.  Herbert said, ‘"We want to optimize the management, the outcome, the results of our public lands and multiple use.  Utah and other rural states were critical of the 2.0 plan saying it added another layer that does not provide a better outcome and actually diminishes the role of the state and local governments. Undoing the regulation ensures that "western stakeholders will no longer be relegated to the sidelines, and once again be able to ensure that decisions are being made locally — not thousands of miles away at BLM headquarters," Murkowski said. (She was one of the sponsors of the bill—Write and thank her)

·      New Zealand reinvents farming when old regulations are thrown out.

·       Wendell Berry quote via Jim Stiles: ”While most environmentalists object to the  impacts from the extraction of natural resources, they rarely connect the dots to the gasoline they keep pumping into their SUVs. They loathe the damage caused by the production of resources but have no trouble consuming them.”

 

Bad News Bears

·       See how Congressman Chris Steward was treated at the Town Hall meeting Friday, 3/31 .  You’ll hear and see the nature of the beast we are battling.

·       KUTV Report on Steward’s Town Hall

·      Dependence upon foreign countries for minerals is troubling.  United States is now import-dependent for 50 different metals and minerals – and 100 percent import-dependent for 20.  Why then are we locking up land with natural resources?

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Coming in April: Beyond Standing Rock. KUED Channel 7

Wed. April 12, noon   and Sunday April 30, 3 PM

Lincoln Day Dinner Thursday, March 30