Celebrate and Protect Freedom *****July 1, 2019

Happy 4th of July 2019

     Blanding's Schedule of July 4th Activities

                                    "Best Small Town Celebration in Utah"  Video

Life in the West

~~Climate Change Forecast For The Four Corners 

~~ Property Owners and Nightly Rentals Facing Scrutiny

~~ Opinion: Bluff City Should Rethink Objection to Solar Farm

~~ What's Best?  Ban Plastic Bags or Other Alternatives?

~~ Supreme Court Determines to Stay out of State Political Boundary Issues

~~Letting Fires Burn  VS.  Value of New Growth  Is it Really Worth it?

~~ Agenda for July 2, Commission Meeting--Note new location

SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMISSION MEETINGMONUMENT VALLEY WELCOME CENTER - MONUMENT VALLEY, UTAHAGENDAJuly 2, 2019

9:00 A.M. Work Meeting
1. San Juan County Marketing & Promotion Initiatives Briefing - Natalie Randall
2. Budget Briefing / 2019 Tax Rates Discussion - John David Nielson, John Fellmeth, David Everitt
3. Status of Maintenance for Roads on the Navajo Nation - Ben Musselman, David Everitt
4. County Administrator Appointment Process - David Everitt
5. Public Lands Issues Report - Nick Sandberg

10:00 A.M. Commission Meeting
1. Approval of Minutes - June 10 & 18, 2019
2. Citizens' comments* (Please complete the request form - available at the door)
3. Designate the County's representative at the upcoming NACo conference
4. Ratify BLM Letter confirming participation as a Consulting Party in the Canyon Rims TMA - Nick Sandberg
5. Authorize Chair to sign comment letter regarding the draft Colorado River Management Plan and the draft Green & Colorado Rivers Mineral Leasing Plan - Nick Sandberg
6. Authorize the Chair to sign a Cooperative Agreement with Utah State Division of Parks & Recreation to install vault toilets at Hook & Ladder Trailhead - Ben Musselman
7. Ratify 2019 property tax rates - John David Nielson
8. Approve new hires - Walter Bird
9. Mental Health Board Appointment 
10. Ratify approval of Reimbursement Agreement with SITLA for planning work in Spanish Valley - David Everitt
11. Commission Reports 

~~Uranium Mining in the Four Corners Could See a Revival this Year

~~ Video of June 18 Commission Meeting

~~ Rep. Bishop and Team Introduce RNR Bipartisan Act: Recreation Not Red Tape (RNR) Act

~~ Rural Communities Seek Help through Utah Coal Miners Strike Team

~~ Oregon Pipeline a Possible Boon to Utah's Nat'l Gas Industry

~~ Reintroduction of Wolves into Colorado has Negative Impact on Elk Herds

    ~~ Related video The Devastation to Other Wildlife

~~FEMA and the Dysfunction of Federal Bureaucracy 

"Another bureaucratic fiasco simply reinforces why the nine most terrifying words in the English language are still: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

The number of declared national emergencies—and how much we spend on them—is rising, yet one of the agencies tasked with handling national emergencies has been particularly opaque about its effectiveness."

~~ Recent Supreme Court Decision Looks at Gerrymandering

~~ Nat'l Parks and Monuments Crumbling After Years of Neglect

"Nearly $12 billion is needed to repair infrastructure, mostly crumbling roads, at 419 park units managed by the National Park Service (NPS). The maintenance backlog grew $313 million in 2018 alone, federal figures state."  So why would Dine Bikeyah want to resize Bears Ears back to original designation if the NPS can't even maintain what they already have?    Free Range Report

      "The maintenance backlog goes beyond just NPS-managed lands. In total, the Interior Department faces $18 billion in deferred maintenance when lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies are factored in."

    Editorial Comment:  "Back in 2016 and 2017 when were were actively fighting the 1.9 Obama Declared National Monument, this issue was one of the concerns we had, and it hasn't gotten any better.  In fact, it's gotten worse, because now our country has a 22 Trillion debt!  How can we suppose the Federal Gov. can take care of our Public lands, or Nat'l parks and Monuments when they are indebted to other countries?  Collateral for debt appears to be the confiscation of more public land.  Local and State control is in most cases better; they at least pay their bills."   Janet Wilcox

Battle over Bears Ears~~KUED

KUED Documentary on Bears Ears
Bill Keshlear and Jim Stiles Examine "Battle Over Bears Ears"

Jim Stiles Looks at CNN, PBS and KUED Documentaries on Bears Ears. 
Sloppy Journalism or Glimmer of Hope?  (Includes links to video and other references)

Mail in Voting on the Reservation: Pros and Cons --Sept. 2016

Occult group in Monument Vally -- Escorted out -- Navajo Times Nov. 30

Why the Right to Bear Arms is Important

Kay Shumway: Roots, Recreation, and Reflections of Life in San Juan   A great article by Jim  So over three summers I rode my bike from Canada to Mexico. First year, I went a thousand miles. Then I went back to where we’d quit, and went 800 miles the second year. The third year,  I completed the last 700 miles."

Stiles capturing milestones and events in the life of Patsy and Kay Shumway including: family, education, development of a college campus in Blanding, orchards and biking. "
Green House:  "I believed in solar power. Photovoltaics and water heating. And so, the kids and I built a greenhouse. About 70 feet long and 18 feet wide and the slope of the glazing to get maximum sun in the wintertime. And we grew tomatoes and cucumbers. We had these barrels full of water. The sun would shine in there, heat up the water in those barrels, keep it from freezing at night. So we’d walk in through 2 feet of snow, walk in and be warm, all these lush plants, our tomatoes up 6 feet high. "

Cross Still Stands Following Horrific California Fires

Free Range Report Needs Your Support

As you reflect upon those who have helped the cause of freedom and Public Land Use please  consider making a donation to Free Range Report :  Majorie Haun has stuck her neck out and dedicated her time to exposing falsehoods, and promoting freedom for years, and she was instrumental in keeping SOS informed and San Juan County in the broader loop of westerners who supported us as well.   Donate Through this Portal

How the Monumental Bad News Started in 2016:  
Bears Ears Brinkmanship: With Friends Like These, Does Cedar Mesa Need Enemies?
…by Stacy Young

"One such nugget comes about an hour into the (fall 2016 John Hopkins) presentation, when Tommy Beaudreau, Chief-of-Staff of former Interior Secretary Jewell, explains that the decision to launch the monument directly into the current political thresher was done with full knowledge that what has happened would happen. He acknowledges that the administration knew in late 2016 that the monument proclamation would be received as an act of provocation if not a declaration of total war. They knew there was no chance that the monument as designated would be properly funded or any other constructive steps taken toward its implementation. They knew the ensuing controversy would be protracted and the outcome of the fight uncertain. They knew this chain reaction would negatively impact the landscape and its cultural resources. And still they set it in motion."

Beware of "Wolves at the Door" in Utah's Dixie by Senator Orrin Hatch

Mexican Wolves Do Not Belong in Utah!
"As part of their proposal to “reintroduce” 750 Mexican wolves, these scientists want to have a self-sustaining population of 250 wolves in southern Utah and northern Arizona – places that fall well outside the predators’ historic range. How can you “recover” Mexican wolves in areas where they have not been?"

_____________

Though some of our ABC friends (i.e. Judy Mueller) 

feel that the Canyon Zephyr articles are too long with too many details, 

those interested in news with facts and research, find the Zephyr very refreshing. 

In a world of fake news, superficial research, and 30 second news briefs, it's a miracle that any of us know anything close to truth.    This is why "non-beholden" news outlets like the Zephyr need to be supported.  I hope you take this opportunity during this season to

Donate to the Canyon Zephyr

Help The Zephyr and, for as long as our supplies last, receive a free signed copy of Jim Stiles' book: Brave New West: Morphing Moab at the Speed of Greed

One year membership: $100 Three years: $275 Lifetime: $1000 You can use your credit card through PayPal at our web site: http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/advertise/indexnewz.htm Or they still take checks: PO Box 271 Monticello, UT 84535 Thanks!

~~ Bear Essentials ~ July 4, 2017 ~~

Thanks, Joy Howell!

~~~~~~~

San Juan County Utah Information & To Do List

n  Phil Lyman & Wendy Black to speak at Mayor’s Breakfast July 4, 7:30 AM

n  Cooperative effort to stabilize Shumway Cabin in Fiddlers Green

n  Friends of Cedar Mesa provide add’l photos on Cabin project

n  Manti-LaSal Forest Service Hearing Blanding July 13, library 7-9PM

n  Public comments on the White Mesa Mill will be accepted through July 31.      E-mail to dwmrcpublic@utah.gov

n  The Department of Interior is accepting comments relative to National Monuments until July 10.  The opposition has amped up, and we must as well. Consider writing again.  https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOI-2017-0002-0001

n  Bears Ears:  A Tale of Two Towns: Bluff and Blanding  by John Doughtery

n  Libertarian Ecology Looks at Possible Fix for Bears Ears

                                                                 

 

Good News Bears

n  A Better Path Forward for the Department of Interior

n  Fox News looks at Brian Head Fire

n  Support for Thinning Forests Grows Washington Times

n  Senator Hatch Discusses Need for Citizen Civility (Time Magazine)

n  Cows Vindicated in Panguitch because of Autumn Buttercup  [Reminds me of Ferdinand the bull, who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights.]

n  New Mexico Ranchers Seek to Shrink Organ Mountain NM.

n  Mass. Fishermen Challenge Obama’s Marine National Monument

n  Dan Love Further Investigated for Criminal Conduct

n  FBI Agent Involved in LaVoy Finicum’s Death Indicted for Lying

n  More FBI Agents investigated in Finicum Death

n   So when are Environmentalists Going to Help Fight Forest Fires?           

                                          

 

Bad News Bears

n  Environmental Lawsuits cost Taxpayers Millions

n  Federal Land Grabs have Let to Declining Condition of Public & National Lands

n  Audit shows Navajo Tribe Give Millions in Bonuses  Navajo Times

n  Brian Head Fire Caused by Mismanagement Rep. Mike Noel comments

n  Grasping at Straws, ticks and tortoises; justifying a Million Acre Monument

n  Ranchers and Livestock need Protection from Wolves

n  North Dakota Rancher Fighting for his Business

n  Environmental NGO’s Continue to Cripple America  Shake, Rattle, & Troll: “Arizona is plagued with “environmentalist NGO’s, the CBD, Sierra Club, Lobo of the Southwest, Guardians of the Earth”

                                                                 ~~~~~~

http://beyondthebears.blogspot.com/

                                     Documenting Bears Ears “No Monument” efforts since July 2016