SJ Commission, Legislation, and Litigation ~~ 2/15/19

News in the West

San Juan County Commission Meeting

Tuesday Feb. 19 -- Monticello

Bluff Town Hall Meeting  

John Curtis is hosting a Town Hall meeting on Thursday, March 21st and wants to hear your perspectives and feedback. Please join him at the Bluff Community Center from 7:00 - 8:30 pm. Follow link to reserve ticket.

Follow Bills in the State Legislature

Lee and Romney See New Lands Bill Differently

State Legislature Considers Bills Impacting San Juan

San Juan Record Live News Coverage Feb. 13

Fired Editor Starts Indian Creek Observer

Canyon Echo Revives

Newest Edition of Canyon Zephyr

==================

Week-long Poll garnered 782 Responses

Asking Should San Juan County Be Divided? Results: 

 68% voted Yes, Divide

32% Voted No

         ==================

~~ Laws/Greyeyes Suit Appealed to Utah Supreme Court

~~Rep. Bishop Confront's Patagonia Falsehoods 

~~Aneth Shuts Down Maryboy's Effort to Change Position on Bears Ears

~~ 4X4 Event Raises Money for Public Land Use Organizations

~~Colorado Commissioners Environmental Lobbying Spurs Recall Effort 

~~States Deserve a Voice When Determining Endangered Species

~~Native Group Fights for Jobs and Wise Use of Resources

"National environmental groups Sierra Club and Grand Canyon Trust are behind the campaign to stop NTEC from acquiring Navajo Generating Station and Kayenta Mine by spreading false information and pitting Diné against Diné. Their desire to close both facilities threatens the lifeblood of our Navajo Nation – our tribal sovereignty."

~~Twitter Senator Mike Lee

~~House Bill Would Expand Bears Ears Monument Back to 1.9 Million Acres

~~Despite $500 Million in State Benefits, Friends of Cedar Mesa Sues Over BLM Leases

~~Oil and Gas Lease Money Pose Contradictory Reactions

" Hypocrisy at work in Bluff? CIB (Community Impact Fund) money has been used by the Bluff Community for years, ALL of which comes from The Utah Permanent Community Impact Fund (CIB) which is 100% directly appropriated from [tainted?] Mineral Extraction on Federal lands and BLM lease royalties.

iRONICALLY, we learned this week that Bluff’s Friends of Cedar Mesa filed a lawsuit against the very federal oil and gas leases that help fund the CIB. Is this an example of "Biting the hand that feeds you? or a game of Extreme Double Dipping? 

Suggestion: Use the lawyer fees now being paid to Advocates for the West lawsuit, to pay for Bluff improvement projects, instead of draining tax payer's money from two directions for extreme no industry agendas. JW"             

Summary of Bluff CIB Projects below: 

~~ More Irony, New Green Deal Won't Allow Mining of Required Minerals

"The Green New Deal proposes a massive expansion in the use of renewable energy technologies that rely on critical minerals we are not allowed to mine in the United States."

~~Conflict over Canal Roads/ vs "Urban Trails" in Colorado

~~LaPlata Commissioners At Odds With Ranchers/ Farmers

~~Vultures: the Emerging Federally Protected Livestock Scourge 

~~ Urban Vultures Use SL Tribune to Attack Representative Phil Lyman

~~ Four Corners Free Press:  Overview on Greyeyes Hearing

Hearings, Hearsay, and Hope: January 23, 2019

News in the West

~~Mitt Romney's First Town Hall Meeting  Jan. 22

Lake Powell Pipeline Project

~~Despite Education and Warnings, Tourists and Bison Don't Mix 

~~ Paradise Lost:  St. George's Unchecked Growth

~~ California Hikers Not Prepared for Winter

~~ When Politics and the News get too much to Stomach  Try some humor

Bill Boyle Back as Editor of San Juan Record

~~ Marathon Hearing Discusses Residency of Willie Greyeyes 1/22/19

~~ Utah Challenges Control of Federal Lands

~~Snow pack on Blue Mountains Continues to Build

~~Recording of 1st Commission Meeting Jan. 2019 

~~New County Commission Prepares Resolution to Undo Will of the People 

Example: 

-Section 1: All prior resolutions or official actions of the San Juan County Commission opposing the Bears Ears National Monument or calling for its dis-establishment or reduction, and specifically Resolution Nos. 2015-09, 2016-08 and 2017-02, are hereby immediately rescinded.

-Section 2: The San Juan County Commission condemns the unlawful actions of President Donald Trump by effectively dis-establishing the Bears Ears National Monument through the issuance of Proclamation No , 9681 in violation of the Antiquities Act of 1906,

~~ KUER New Commission Builds up Old Tensions     

Photo by Judy Fahys KUER

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Some States are MORE Equal that Others

~~BEAR ESSENTIALS: July 6, 2018~~

Declaration of Independence

As submitted by Thomas Jefferson June 28, 1776

4^th of July Video by Easton Bowring

~~~~~

v USC Student footage ends up in PBS story on SJC Redistricting

v PBS Looks at Water Needs on the Reservation

v PILT Funding for Counties with Public Lands: Is it Fair?

“San Juan County, for example, contains 3.1 million acres of public land — second only to Millard County. But because its population is just a fourth of Tooele County’s, its PILT take of $1.8 million is half that of Tooele, which has 2.1 million acres.”

v Headwaters Economics View on PILT

v More on Lake Powell Pipeline: Dixie’s Pt of View

v Stay Informed About County Events

v Romney Wins Republican Slot for Senator in Primaries

n  San Juan County “NOT” in Contempt of Court

n  Professional Environmentalists and “Sustainable” Tourism.

n  Senator Lee and Brother Thomas  on Supreme Court Nominee List

n  Justice Anthony Kennedy Live on Supreme Court 2018 RadioWest

n  Reyes Works for Venue Change in Monument Reduction Cases:

Judge Chutkan will decide if cases remain in DC or move to Utah

n  It’s Raining in Montana, Don’t Lose Hope

n  Eccles Family Rural West Conference/ Bill Lane Center

n  History of Navajo Oshley On LIne Tells of the early days in Blanding

n  Blanding Hires Full Time Economic Development Specialist

n  Monticello Pioneer Days Coming July 19-21

 

n  Commissioner Benally Loses Race by 42 Votes;

n  Who’s Wearing Blinders when it Comes to the Truth

Escalante resident Simone Shumway Griffin responds: “This makes me so frustrated. Guess what, if you get a flat tire in Escalante on Sunday, there’s still no way to get it fixed on Sunday. New houses and businesses are not going up here and we have a serious housing crisis. Why am I not surprised this was the Trib?

n  Colorado River Reservoirs at Historic Low

n  Bad news on Entitlements Piles up

~~~~~~

http://beyondthebears.blogspot.com/

Documenting Bears Ears Controversy and Public Land Issues since July 2016

~~BEAR ESSENTIALS: June 8, 2018~~

Univ. of So. Calif. Journalism Team Tackles SJC Issues: 
San Juan Record Editor Coordinates Project
Students Research then Write 16 page Supplement

v Journalism Students Create 16 page Insert

v Redistricting Voting Precincts: Fairness vs. Injustice

v Five School Board Seats Up for Vote

v Remarkable/ Unexpected Diversity in San Juan County

v Trust in News is Dropping

v Is San Juan County Being Loved to Death?

v What is Gerrymandering?

-   Welcome to San Juan Opening Social Video Clips

   1-Video with USC jouralist Tommy Brockmeyer

   2-Rachel Parsons discusses views of Rural area

   3-Sofia Bosch goals for two weeks

   4-USC student, Terry Nguyen, Discusses Nuance and diversity 

   5-Jordan Winters Appreciates Beauty and People of the area

   6-Dan Toomey Comments on Diversity and Experiences

        News of General Interest

  v Jeff Sessions and Scott Pruitt speaking at Western Conservative Summit this week
    v Primary Results in California, Surprises Many
    v What Socio-Economic Facts need to be Considered For New Bears Ears Monument? The BLM wants to know.  Give your input   via e-mail:          blm_ut_monticello_monuments@blm.gov
      vSurvey related to Republican Party Candidates  

n  Warning: Designations, Plus Publicity, Equals Destruction  by Bill Keshlear, published in the June Canyon Zephyr

“ Utah Diné Bikéyah, a nonprofit based in Salt Lake City that’s led by Navajo and Ute Mountain Ute tribal members, has aligned itself with companies that promote and profit handsomely from non-motorized outdoor recreation. They include some of the nation’s most prominent and politically aggressive: Patagonia, The North Face, REI Co-op, Black Diamond, Arc’teryx, Sage, OR, küat, Osprey, Yakima, Clif Bar and Mountain Hard Wear…..”

in contrast: “Doodah-No Monument promoters “are NOT beneficiaries of a sophisticated multimillion dollar, multiyear national campaign organized and administered by professionals who make a comfortable living off of creating and now litigating Bears Ears. Here’s a sampling of the salaries received by executive directors of several nonprofits behind BENM, according to their 2016 IRS Form 990s: Friends of Cedar Mesa, Bluff, Utah, $41,000; UDB, Salt Lake City, $86,000; Round River Conservation Studies, Salt Lake City, $98,000;  Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Salt Lake City, Moab, Washington, D.C., $113,000; Conservation Lands Foundation, Durango, Colo., $150,000; and Grand Canyon Trust, Flagstaff, Ariz., Denver, Durango, Moab, $226,000. None of the directors, staff or donors of those organizations is accountable to the people whose livelihoods and lives might be affected by their decisions. Many cannot even vote in Utah.”  (Read the whole article)

n  Senator Lee Targeting BLM/ USFS Overreach

n  Abolishing Federal Law Enforcement, an Election Issue for Sen. Lee

"What happened in Blanding is a symptom of the underlying problem," he said.

The so-called "Kill Book," he added, is "abhorrent. This is the kind of thing that could have or would have been addressed more quickly with a state or local law enforcement agency."

n  Debate between Chris Herrod and John Curtis: House of Rep

n  Debate between Kennedy and Romney: Senate

n  Judge dismisses Superfluous Suit against San Juan County

n  Western David takes on Global Environmental Goliath

n  Judge Orders SUWA to Pay County Attorney Fees

n Time to Abolish Law Enforcement Powers of Federal Land Agencies

n  SJ County Using New Road Equipment on Trial Basis

“With too many roads to fix and not enough money, a southeastern Utah community is testing out a new technique for building roads that has the potential to save taxpayers as much as 80 percent over traditional asphalt.”

n  Federally funded Failures and Fiction of Endangered Species Act

“It turns out that these 18 “recovered” species were never endangered in the first place and were placed on the endangered species list due to poor data. This, however, has not kept the Department of Interior’s Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) from trumpeting their “recovery” as a success.”

n  Recent National Monument Designations Were Surprise Attacks on Local Communities

n  Facebook Group Intent on Picking a Fight: Utah Dine’ Politics

http://beyondthebears.blogspot.com/

                     Documenting Bears Ears “No Monument” efforts since July 2016