"Be Nice" Revival -- Following Divisiveness in Meetings Bear Essentials 8/30/2019

Life Beyond the Wasatch Front

~~ Incendiary Provocations Close Doors, Undermine Bridge Building

~~ Election Integrity: America's Biggest Issue

~~ New York Times Trying to Rewrite History to Fit Its Biases

~~ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Loves to Hate the Electoral College

~~Massive Rock Fall in Zions Injures Three Hikers

~~ Commissioners United in Ending Lawsuit Concerning Redistricting

~~ Two Town Hall Meetings held Recently: Monticello and Mexican Water

    The objective and balanced reporting in this KUER article is appreciated.

~~ New Dinosaur Dig South of White Mesa  KUER

"Just south of Blanding, researchers are excavating seven giant dinosaur vertebrae. They are part of a 70-foot-long diplodocus skeleton that will be on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County."

~~ Patagonia Shame Patch/ Public Lands Council 

     The Public Lands Council iron-on clothing patches are designed to cover the logo on Patagonia merchandise and cure “Patagonia Shame.” These patches were developed in response to the profit-driven marketing efforts of multinational retail corporation Patagonia, who promoted false claims about national monuments in the wake of the recent decision to appropriately scale Bears Ears and Grand-Staircase Escalante.

Visit http://publiclandscouncil.org/ to get your patch today!

~~ Gavin Noyes Claims Concerning Cultural and Political Divide: 

 "The issue is that the white people live in the north, and the Native American people live in the south, and those are two different worlds that don’t interact."

~~ Accusations from M. Maryboy Fly in the Face of Open Meeting Concept

  Quotes from Mark Mayboy's rant at Aug. 23 meeting, Mexican Water Chapter House 

Here are a few moments from Mark Maryboy's unprovoked rant at the Mexican Water chapter of the Navajo Nation Aug 23 during a town-hall meeting (comments were directed at a handful of San Juan County residents – of group members only one was male, several were Navajo – who drove down from the northern part of county).

Maryboy was scheduled to talk about water rights at the meeting, according to its agenda (below). He went off script. Two reporters were there – Zak Podmore, from The Salt Lake Tribune, and Kate Groetzinger, from KUER radio in Salt Lake City. Both have access to national media. It's likely Maryboy knew they were there and would report his every word.

Maryboy is a board member of the Salt Lake City-based activist group Utah Dine Bikeyah and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and a long-time advocate of creation of Bears Ears National Monument. He's been quoted extensively as an authoritative source in hundreds of regional and national reports published by the nation's most prominent news outlets.

* Navajos on the BLM's Bears Ears advisory committee are "tame Indians" just trying to get something from "white Mormons."

* To a questioner who suggested she and Maryboy might be related through an aunt: "She's too ugly to be related to me."

* “All I can say is that you have an idiot aunt,” Maryboy used that adjective several times.

* A question on November's ballot about possibly changing the way county commissioners are selected came from "racist Mormons from Blanding and Monticello."

* The petition was pandering to "illiterate" Navajos.

* “Red-neck Mormons is what they are … They are probably all members of the Ku Klux Klan.”

* “Which part of the Ku Klux Klan do you belong to?”

* “If they don’t let the Navajos (govern) … all I can say is go back to Missouri where you came from.”

~~ Zak Podmore's SL Trib's Version of the Mexican Water Meeting Aug 21

Response by Nicole Perkins after reading his article: " 

"I didn't know that Zak was a such an adept gymnast. He has really mastered those backflips and somersaults, twists and handsprings as he carefully danced and twirled his way oh so delicately around Mark and his rantings. Fascinating performance with quick turnabouts as he savagely painted a red target on the back of a Navajo lady with such masterly, dastardly precision. I give it a 10 for his fairytale performance but sadly a 1 for actual journalism."

~~ Worsening Road Conditions on the Navajo Reservation

~~ Is Johnny Depp's "Sauvage" Perfume Ad Appropriate Use of Sacred Land?

~~"Facebook Bias Regarding Conservative Views, Alive and Well"

~~ Hikers Have Adverse Effect on Elk

~~ SL Tribune Gehrke Spews Racist Remarks about San Juan County

          Does this look like San Juan County is Racist? We (Hispanic, Navajo, Anglo, Ute) all joined together in 2016 because of what was being done to us and our county because of Pres. Obama's excessive declaration of a 1.9 M acre Nat'l Park...7/27/2016 Senator Lee and other State officials spoke and people from all walks of life, and cultures spoke and were listened to.

~~ Old News in case you missed it: Conservation in the West/ Nat'l Geographic Article: 

“It is encouraging and inspiring to see Congress renew America’s long, bipartisan tradition of conserving lands, wildlife, and waters, bolstering rural economies, and guaranteeing public access to the outdoors for the enjoyment of all,” said Molly McUsic, president of the Wyss Foundation, whose founder the Jackson Hole, Wyoming-based businessman Hansjörg Wyss announced last autumn that he was giving $1 billion to the cause of conservation. Wyss and McUsic are hopeful that strong support for the Dingell Act might serve as a wakeup to the Trump administration in realizing that environmental protection is a winning position. This passed in March, and affected several parts of Utah

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Description/Agenda: SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING Sept. 3, 2019

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING - COMMISSION ROOM
AGENDA

  9:00 A.M. Work Meeting

1. San Juan Stampede Update - Karah Nay, Rodeo Director
2. Review of Draft Agreement between the Bureau of Land Management and San Juan County regarding law enforcement services - Sheriff Torgerson
3. Briefing regarding a possible request for a Library Fund tax increase for 2020 - Pat Smith, Library Director
4. Review a request to purchase a truck for the Public Works Department - Ben Mussselman, Public Works Director
5. Discuss contract modifications with the U.S. Forest Service regarding cattle guard installation and certain road treatments - Ben Musselman, Public Works Director
6. Discuss a resolution authorizing outside legal counsel to file cross-appeals to 2019 appeals filed by taxpayers subject to central assessment - Kendall Laws, SJC Attorney
7. Discussion of a possible employee compensation study - David Everitt, SJC Interim Administrator
8. Follow up Discussion of a resolution regarding oil and gas leasing on Bureau of Land Management lands near Hovenweep National Monument - David Everitt, SJC Interim Administrator
9. Updates - Jerry McNeely, SJC Liason
10. Public lands updates - Nick Sandberg, SJC 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. Accept the 2018 financial audit findings - Jon Haderlie, Larsen and Company
4. Approve new pay schedule for sworn officers in the Sheriff's Office - Jason Torgerson, SJC Sheriff
5. Approve the Public Works Department truck purchase -Ben Musselman, SJC Public Works Director
6. Approve contract modifications with U.S. Forest Service regarding cattle guard installation and certain road treatments - Ben Musselman, SJC Public Works Director
7. Out of State Travel - Paige Wray, USU Extension
8. Approve a letter of support for a SITLA range improvement project - Nick Sandberg, SJC Planning
9. ADOPTION BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF SAN JUAN COUNTY, ACTING AS THE GOVERNING BOARD OF MEXICAN HAT SPECIAL SERVICE DISTRICT, OF A PARAMETERS RESOLUTION RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE BY MEXICAN HAT SPECIAL SERVICE DISTRICT OF A WATER REVENUE AND REFUNDING BOND IN AN AMOUNT OF NOT TO EXCEED $200,000 AND CALLING FOR A PUBLIC HEARING RELATING THERETO
10. Approve a resolution authorizing outside legal counsel to file cross appeals to 2019 appeals filed by taxpayers subject to central assessment - Kendall Laws, SJC Attorney
11. Approve a resolution regarding oil and gas leasing on Bureau of Land Management lands near Hovenweep National Monument - David Everitt, SJC Interim Administrator
12. Commission Reports
13. Executive session to discuss pending or imminent litigation
14. Approve resolution designating individuals to participate in mediation on behalf of the Commission with regard to attorneys' fees owed to the Navajo Nation

Bayles letter to Energy Advisor

Dear Brian Deese, Senior Energy Advisor

The residents of San Juan County, which include the Navajo and Ute tribes, strongly oppose the designation of a Bears Ears National Monument as proposed by the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition. Emotion aside, there are lawful, valid reasons why we oppose this monument. The proposal itself is severely deficient and requests actions by the President that are contrary to law.

The BEIT Coalition claims that they are “local by residence to the Four Corners Country.” However, the “Four Corners Country” is not an institutional entity that creates law and policies that govern land use – it’s simply a region. Members of the Coalition are not residents of San Juan County. They are not even residents of Utah. They do not have legal jurisdiction over the Bears Ears area, and by claiming they are “local” via Four Corners Country they are trying to move an already established goal post and define their OWN goal post of what it means to be “local”. That’s fine, they have the right to believe and express how they feel. However, that does not give them actual rights to the land; only political bodies can make policy decisions about this land. “Four Corners Country” is not a citizen, or even a member, of any of those actual functioning jurisdictional entities. The proposal itself disregards no less than 18 land use planning efforts. A non-government organization such as the Coalition should never have the power to trump sovereign State rights, nor duly elected officials, no matter how much money they have been given from outside special interest groups.

Local tribes realize that their own tribal leaders have been bought out by outside special interest groups. Recently, the Ute tribe from White Mesa – one community that will be directly affected by this monument – voted out three of their representatives who are a part of the Coalition. The community was never made aware that a Bears Ears monument was even being discussed and subsequently, they never had the chance to voice their opposition until recently. Evidence of this is provided in the following video with a comment made by Suzette Morris, a Ute resident of White Mesa, to Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, former Ute Mountain Ute Chairwoman, at a recent tribal meeting in White Mesa, Utah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa_TyQzLKiI.

In the proposal, the Coalition makes claims of “rampant looting” and “grave robbing” and states that “more than a dozen serious looting cases were reported between May 2014 and April 2015.” However, those claims were never cited, much less verified. In fact, those claims are in stark contrast with reports from local law enforcement, the US DOI briefing on looting activities, and the BLM.

The most important point, albeit upsetting and downright disturbing, that I want to address is the dishonesty that the Coalition has shown since day one. They claim that the seeds of their proposal were planted and nourished by local Navajos, when in reality, it was in fact environmental groups that planted the seeds of this monument into the soil of these tribes. In 2014 a meeting of the Conservation Lands Foundation was held in San Francisco where board members discussed the progress of what was then known as the “Cedar Mesa campaign” (later it would be known as the Bears Ears proposal). Chairman Ed Norton was quoted in official minutes questioning if their group was “hitching our success to the Navajo and if so what would happen if we separate from them or disagree with them. Without the support of the Navajo Nation, the White House probably would not act; currently we are relying on the success of our Navajo partners.”  

The Coalition does not have the local tribes’ best interest in mind. They proved that by ignoring the entire Aneth Chapter of the Navajo Nation by submitting the chapter's 2010 resolution in support of the monument as part of their October 2015 official proposal, when in fact the chapter rescinded in August of 2015 and officially announced their opposition to the monument.

Many surveys have been generated regarding public opinion on the proposed monument. The one that the Coalition most often promotes claims “55% of Utahns support a Bears Ears National Monument.” This poll in particular was conducted by Mike Matz from Pew Charitable Trusts organization. It should be noted that Matz headed the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA-one of the major financial proponents for the monument) from 1993-2000.  He used Public Opinion Strategies and the Benenson Strategy Group whose motto is “BSG is a strategic research consultancy that marries language expertise with innovative research to frame choices so that your brand is the only answer.” http://www.sltrib.com/news/4224034-155/poll-most-utahns-favor-a-bears. The poll included a phone survey of only 600 registered voters in Utah, yet not one San Juan County resident nor one Native American, was surveyed. Those two populations are the ones that will be most affected by this monument. http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/analysis/2016/08/11/new-poll-utahans-support-protections-for-bears-ears-area.

These are just a few of the reasons that locals, myself included, are so against this proposed monument. If it was the right thing to do, there would be at least some support from local Navajos, Utes, Anglos, and Hispanics alike - but there is not. If you want this land to continue being protected, because it is protected by BLM, Forest Service, and the good stewards of San Juan, please work with local county residents and elected officials.

A National Monument should be an honor to an area, not a punishment – and it should not be done TO the residents, but rather WITH the residents. I am attaching a copy of a conversation I had with a Navajo man who is a life-long resident of Bluff, Utah. Whether Bears Ears becomes a monument or not, the U.S. Department of Interior, the Council on Environmental Quality, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the President of the United States himself needs to see that the Bears Ears National Monument proposal is nothing but a Trojan Horse that will undoubtedly destroy this area.

Jami Bayles