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

~~ Senator Lee Makes Case for State Control of Public Lands

   “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."

~~ Live Press Overview of this week's San Juan Record 

~~ Utah Company Awarded Timber Contract in La Sals

~~ A Letter in Favor of Better Government in San Juan County (SL Trib)

    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

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

~~BEAR ESSENTIALS: Sept 8, 2018 ~~

Read more about the History of Uranium 

and Energy Fuels:

Blue Mountain Shadows has published 4 issues related to Uranium mining
Call Heather  (435) 678.8128 to get copies: 
or e-mail: bluemtnshadows@gmail.com

News in the West

n  Free Range Interviews Logan Shumway Regarding Energy Fuels

n  Three Days to Get Support Letters in for Energy Fuels; Due 9-10-18

1--Via email at uranium232@bis.doc.gov;

2--     Through the link https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=BIS-2018-0011 (click the “Comment Now!” box), or

3--    By U.S. mail to Michael Vaccaro, Acting Director, Office of Technology Evaluation, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Room 1093, Washington, DC 20230.

If you need ideas, or talking points: Follow this link:

n  Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Hearings: KUER

n  Pros and Cons of Lake Powell Pipeline

n  USU Study Shows Large National Parks Neither Hurt nor Help Rural Economies

n  Creating the NEW Rural Utah:  USU Magazine, p. 32 Fall 2018

n  Down-sized Bears Ears NM to have 15 Member Advisory Board

n  To Make Nominations Go Here

n  Alternatives to Overcrowding in National Parks: A Libertarian’s View

n  St. George Initiates: Give Land a Hand  A great Idea!

n  San Juan ATV Safari Coming Sept 13-15, 2018. Register online at sanjuansafari.com

n  Corruption and Cronyism Marks William Woody’s BLM Career

n  Obama Lambasts Trump

n  Ranching in San Juan County Attacked by Sierra Club

n  Huffington Post Still Huffing about Bears Ears Reduction: Jim Carlson Called Out:  (One of our consistent allies in the early days the of battle)

n  Guardian Complains about Mineral Development--Again

~~~~~~~

n Read Past Editions of Bear Essentials at: http://beyondthebears.blogspot.com/

Documenting Bears Ears Controversy and Public Land Issues since July 2016

                                                                                                  

~~BEAR ESSENTIALS: FEB. 24, 2018~~

*March 14 Wallace Stegner Center Symposium:

Public Lands in a Changing West

*Bill Boyle Reporting live: Feb. 21

Top stories: Voting, Shooting, Lawsuit dropped

*Stay in Contact with your 3^rd District Rep:  John Curtis https://curtis.house.gov/contact/email

n  Restore Habitat, Prevent Fires via Chaining Juniper and Pinion

n  Utah House Resolution Passes Exempting Utah from Antiquities Act

n  Time to Move the BLM West  

n  Big Shakeup for DOI Taking Place   High Country News

n  Zinke Working on Decentralizing Agencies/ Public Lands  Az Daily Sun

n  Frivolous Law Suit Settled Regarding Voting Rights in SJC

n  SL Trib Settlement of Voting Rights Law Suit

n  Utah AG’s Office Hints at Public Lands Lawsuit

n  Colorado Legislator Tackles Easement Abuse Legislation

n  Pennsylvania County Thrives with Natural Gas Development

n  Utah and Wyoming Challenges California & Washington Coal Policies

  

n  Ute Mountain Tribe Accused of Laundering Money via Casino

n  Sierra Club Continues to Promote “Monumental” Hysteria

n  Russian ties to Green Groups Under Scrutiny

n  Colorado Congressman Focus of Billboard Reminder on Hyw 160

n  Despite Checkered History of Corruption, Wm. Woody Back at BLM

n  La Plata Commissioner facing Ethics Charges tied to Green Funding

n  Enviro Group Nit Picking Rep. Noel’s Property

“Noel said he told county commissioners his preference was that the monument be cut to 200,000 acres — with half in each county — but didn't propose specific shapes.”

n  SL Tribune & Rolly attack Mike Noel

“The Kanab lawmaker said an American Indian group opposed to shrinking Bears Ears National Monument is funded by the Grand Canyon Trust and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.”

n  Wilderness/ Green Groups Lobby for Bears Ears Via Cat Walk

n  Illegal Border Crossings Cause Environmental Destruction

n  Greens Try to Block Life Saving road in Remote Aleutians/Alaska

Other Articles/ Events of Local Interest

v How Will “Animal Migration Corridors” Affect Utah Sportsmen?
 v How Do Western States Gun Laws Stack up? High Country News

v Dinosaur Fossils Found in San Juan Count

Michigan Landowners Fighting for Rights for 4 years. Victory Close

v Washington Ranches Lock Horns with Fed. Gov. over Public Lands

v Pay attention to Voting Districts:  Things have changed in SJC

v Help Support Free Range Report – Truth in the West

v Best Memes of 2017 from Free Range Report

                                                                 ~~~~~~                                                                   

http://beyondthebears.blogspot.com/          

                     Documenting Bears Ears “No Monument” efforts since July 2016