Showing posts with label Nat'l Parks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nat'l Parks. Show all posts

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Halloween 2019 Brings More Tricks, Fewer Treats Oct. 31, 2019



What's New In the West and San Juan County

~~ Concerns regarding Nov. 5 vote:  "Illegal electioneering is a class A misdemeanor and SJC election administrator should be scrupulously neutral."

Better get out and vote "Yes" before Nov. 5 
or you'll have yet another thing to complain about!

~~ Questions Arise Over Nov. Ballot Follow up by San Juan Record 10/28/19

~~ Solutions for Wild Mustangs? Japan and Mexico may Have the Answer  

~~ Utah Fire Fighters Head to California

~~ Nov. 5 Commission meeting Agenda

SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING - COMMISSION ROOM
AGENDA
November 5, 2019

  9:00 A.M. Work Meeting

1. USU Extension Update / Personnel - Paige Wray, USU Extension Agent/County Director
2. Halls Crossing - Cal Black Airport Capital Improvement Plan - Kirk Nielson, Javiation
3. Halls Crossing - Cal Black Airport Development  Opportunities Discussion - Natalie Randall, San Juan County Economic Development and Visitors Services Director
4. Briefing on Proposed Zoning Ordinances and the Spanish Valley Land Use Status - Walter Bird, San Juan County Planning and Zoning Director
5. Aging Contract - Tammy Gallegos, San Juan County Aging Director
6. County Health Insurance Renewal increase - John Fellmeth, San Juan County IT Director/Deputy Auditor
7. Y.E.S. for Dine Bikeyah Sponsorship for the Naatsisaan Ultra and Monument Valley Kids Marathon - Mack McDonald, San Juan County Administrator
8. Eastern Utah Television and Technology Association Board Member Assignment - Mack McDonald, San Juan County Administrator
9. South Eastern Utah Regional Transportation Plan Cooperative Agreement - Mack McDonald, San Juan County Administrator
10. Letter to Bureau of Land Management Concerning La Sal 2 Well APD - Nick Sandberg, San Juan County Planning
11. Spanish Valley Updates - Jerry McNeely, San Juan County Liaison
12. Public lands updates - Nick Sandberg, San Juan County 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. Board of Equalization Adjustments - Greg Adams, San Juan County Assessor
4. Aging Contract for Approval - Tammy Gallegos, San Juan County Aging Director
5. New Hires - Walter Bird, San Juan County Human Resources Director
6. USU Dinosaur Museum Partnership Support Letter - Natalie Randall, San Juan County Economic Development and Visitor Services Director
7. Approve and Execute County Health Insurance Renewal Increase - John Fellmeth, San Juan County IT Director/Deputy Auditor
8. Letter to Bureau of Land Management Concerning La Sal 2 Well APD - Nick Sandberg, San Juan County Planning
9. Federal Partners Appreciation Letters - Nick Sandberg, San Juan County Planning
10. Ratify Purchase of John Deere Articulated Dump Truck - Randy Rarick, San Juan County Landfill Manager
11. Approve and Execute South Eastern Utah Regional Transportation Plan Cooperative Agreement - Mack McDonald, San Juan County Administrator
12. Y.E.S. for Dine Bikeyah Sponsorship of the Naatsisaan Ultra and Monument Valley Kids Marathon - Mack McDonald, San Juan County Administrator
13. A RESOLUTION EXPRESSING CONCERN AND OPPOSITION OF THE UTAH DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY NOTICE OF INTENT TO APPROVE THE SPANISH VALLEY AGGREGATE AND HOT MIX ASPHALT PLANT WITHIN SAN JUAN COUNTY
14. A RESOLUTION APPROVING AND UPDATING THE REMAINING REGULARLY SCHEDULED COUNTY MEETINGS AND MEETING LOCATIONS FOR THE 2019 ANNUAL MEETING SCHEDULE PURSUANT TO SECTION 52-4-202 OF THE UTAH CODE

   “States like Utah have a proven track record of successful partnerships with the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management,” Lee said. “These partnerships have resulted in the restoration of millions of acres of high priority watersheds, wildlife habitat and rangelands. We need to continue to expand and encourage these kinds of efforts to allow states to step up and lead.”
Curtis said there are a “disproportionate” amount of public lands in the Western states and that the dialogue in Washington, D.C. often excludes the downfalls, such as a lack of property tax generated by those lands (often the main source of revenue for local governments) and a limited ability for economic development to take place. He called the situation “divisive,” and said the federal government is failing to adequately fund management of those lands, citing “two BLM agents in San Juan County, managing that entire area” as an example of where federal management has fallen short."

    Comments Regarding this letter were most Uncivil, yet the  SL Tribune blinks an eye, despite their policy:  
"The Tribune moderates comments to ensure the conversation is respectful and on topic. We do not allow comments that include personal attacks, threats, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by characters), commercial promotion, spam, fake profiles, multiple accounts, incoherence and shouting.

"In addition, a comment may be removed if it is deemed to be uncivil, inappropriate, racist, sexist, homophobic, bigoted, blatant “trolling” or is not related to the topic at hand. While moderation decisions are subjective, our moderators try to be as consistent as possible. Generally, we will not allow comments to become bogged down with discussions of our moderation policy and activity.

"We encourage opinions and criticisms of our work; however, those criticisms must relate to the articles in question. Personal attacks against Tribune staff will not be permitted.

"The Tribune does not edit comments but it may respond to comments that contain factual inaccuracies."

~~ Nat'l Park Maintenance Falls Far Behind Needs

~~ Latest from the Sierra Club 

~~ Goats in the LaSals Get Grand Canyon Trust's Goat



Sunday, January 13, 2019

New Start for San Juan: Bear Essentials January 2019

News in the West











~~ Canyon Zephyr Editor Found Innocent of Defamation Charges

"We have great news today! If you remember, The Zephyr was sued by former Moab City Manager Rebecca Davidson and Tayo, Inc co-founder Tara Smelt in the fall of 2016. That lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Anderson in February, 2017, but Davidson and Smelt appealed to the Utah Court of Appeals. We had oral arguments in front of the Appeals Court this past September and we have just today received our ruling! The Appeals Court unanimously affirmed Judge Anderson's dismissal. The ruling is a fun read. Enjoy and Celebrate!

~~ CNN  Senator Cruz and Rep. Rooney Introduce Constitutional Amendment with Term Limits 

"The amendment, co-sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and David Perdue (R-Ga.), would restrict senators to two six-year terms and House members to three two-year terms. A similar amendment was proposed by Cruz in January of 2017."

~~Federal Judge Drops Suit Against SJC Auditor/ Clerk: Costs are High

~~ Trump: Pushes to Ramp up Logging on Public Lands

~~ Dixie Area Nat'l Parks Continue to Function with Local Financial Support

~~Federal Government Poor Manager of Nat'l Parks: States Could Do Better

"During the 2013 shutdown, under the Obama administration, the federal government took an especially punitive position. The administration sent armed government agents to shut down the parks. It sent in extra staff to erect barriers around some monuments — monuments funded by private trusts — such as the World War II memorial in Washington, DC."


   

   ~~Who is Funding the Sunrise Movement, and their Anti-Fuels Agenda

"Linking Movements: Newly released information on the deep-pocketed backers of the growing Sunrise Movement behind the "Green New Deal" reveals that the new push in Congress is being funded by the same donors supporting climate litigation. Both the Rockefeller Family Fund and the Wallace Global Fund provide substantial financial support to EarthRightsInternational (ERI), the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit representing Boulder County, Boulder City and San Mateo County in their lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor, as Western Wire reported, and now we've learned that these same foundations provided the initial funding for Sunrise."

~~ Earth Rights International Role Training Indigenous People

~~ Nature Conservancy Acting as Fed. Government's Real Estate Agent?

"The $1.025 million transaction also sheds light on the threat to traditional rural Western communities posed by one of Capitol Hill’s most insidious slush funds, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Created in 1964, the LWCF was originally supposed to help states develop planning for recreation areas and related facilities. But over the decades the LWCF has morphed into a piggy-bank in which deep-pocketed environmental groups collaborate with wealthy, and often, out-of-state landowners flip land to the federal government."

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

2019: A New Year of Hope in the West

In the News


“He has more experience in that building working on these issues than any predecessor,” Jon Hrobsky, an attorney who worked with Bernhardt in President George W. Bush’s Interior Department, told the Washington Examiner. “The uniqueness of David for this job is there has never been anyone more qualified to do it.”

"Trump issued an executive order Friday to allow for active management of forest and rangelands, including thinning and removing debris from millions of acres of federal lands.
The order also calls on federal officials to streamline regulations and permitting processes to allow the harvest of at least 3.8 billion board feet from U.S. Forest Service lands and 600 million board feet from Bureau of Land Management lands."
~~ How Freelancing Can Help Save Rural Life
"Utah is taking advantage of a technological wave that connects skilled workers with work, and increasingly enables people to work from anywhere as freelancers, entrepreneurs, or employees.

~~ Utah in the Top Ten for Mining Industry


~~ Utah Rings in New Year With Toughest DUI Laws in the Country






Socialists still haven't figured out a bankrupt country can't afford more National Parks and Monuments.

"An open records lawsuit filed against the State Department is attempting to uncover whether Russian entities attempted to financially support U.S. environmentalist causes.
The Institute for Energy Research (IER) — a free-market energy group based in Washington, D.C. — filed the lawsuit on Monday. IER has requested that the State Department hand over correspondence concerning hydraulic fracturing, environmental advocacy and Russia that was exchanged to and from high-ranking employees."