Conflict, CRA's, Commission: Bear Essentials 2/8/2019

What's New In San Juan and the Rest of the West?

Should San Juan Be Divided into Two Counties?

Possibility of Dividing County Studied 20+ years ago

San Juan Election Battles Continue by Jim Stiles

Commission Meeting: 2/5/19

Discounts for Sr. Citizen Camping, Likely to End

Pros and Cons of TIF/ CRA Financing for New SJC projects   by Stacy Young

"To date, San Juan County has formed a Community Reinvestment Agency (CRA) and invited applications for tax increment financing. (Blanding has formed a separate CRA; however, since it is the county that assesses the lion’s share of local taxes, most TIF action is likely to occur within the county’s CRA framework.) So far, two projects have applied for tax increment financing from the county-wide CRA. Both projects are seeking a property tax abatement of up to 75% and 20 years.

One proposed project is a 54-unit boutique resort hotel called Bluff Dwellings, which is already well under construction at the mouth of Cow Canyon. That project is seeking tax increment financing of $458,000, which consists of a $300,000 turn lane into the property from Utah Highway 191 plus $158,000 in other utility improvements serving the project.

The second project proposing TIF is a 70-room limited-service flag hotel identified specifically as a Marriott Fairfield. That project location is targeted for a vacant parcel on the north end of Blanding and is currently in the pre-construction feasibility stage of development. The investors in that project are seeking $1,250,000 described as general site improvements like parking, utilities, and storm drain facilities.

Kudos to School Board: article continues...

"Postscript. At the end of January, the Board of the San Juan School District voted unanimously not to participate in either the Bluff Dwellings or Blanding Fairfield CRA. I personally think this was the right decision, but what was probably even more positive than the result was the independence the board demonstrated in reaching their decision and the seriousness with which they took their fiduciary duty to all of the county’s schools. As outlined above, a sound TIF process is one that closely analyzes “but for” and “opportunity cost” concerns prior to implementing a TIF incentive.

Unfortunately, in far too many instances and in far too many jurisdictions, the participating government entity merely goes through the analytical motions when it comes to such questions. But the School Board in San Juan County treated these questions with great care and concluded that the proposals on the table did not satisfy this more rigorous standard of review. To the credit of the Board, the members spent a good deal of time and effort to become well-informed about the pros and cons of TIF, which enabled them to ask difficult, pointed questions and independently evaluate the answers they were given. Prior to the vote, Board President Steven Black produced a solid conceptual and financial analysis, which concluded that both proposals fell short for “but for” and “opportunity cost” reasons."  Stacy Young

~~ Senator Mike Lee Works to Protect Utah and San Juan County 

Against Aggressive Monument Designations:

  Lee's response: "Very honored to receive this letter of support from State Senate and House Majority Caucuses. Limiting the power of the federal government in Washington to unilaterally restricting how Utahns can use our public lands is one of my top legislative priorities. We all have heard from many constituents about the profound negative impacts monument designations can have on some communities in our state.   I am honored to continue the fight with my Utah legislative colleagues against this unjust law."

~~ Preliminary Budget for San Juan County

~~Get to Know your Navajo Neighbors

~~Executive Order on Managing US Forests

~~Navajo Tribe Negotiating to Purchase Generating Plant and Coal Mine

~~ Retired Mine Inspector: Info Provided by Environmental groups is Wrong

~~ Emery County Supports John Curtis Public Lands Bill

~~Ted Cruz and ChucK Norris: How to Pay for THE WALL

~~ Could be Good, Could be Bad: Larry Echohawk as State Counsel on Indian Affairs

~~ A Little Satire Now and Then is OK:  So I'm Sharing this Video  Enjoy!

Facts Speak Louder Than Opinions

~~ Maryboy Pressuring Aneth Chapter 

Aneth Chapter Meeting: Feb 13 @ 3:00 PM * * *

Commissioner Maryboy is currently lobbying the Aneth Chapter for a return to the original 1.9 M. Acres for Bears Ears.  In the past the Aneth Chapter courageously voted TWICE AGAINST BEARS EARS MONUMENT.

Their strong Independent Voting Membership is needed again Wednesday February 13th, 2019 @ 3:00 pm, chapter meeting.

Aneth Chapter understands the true nature of NOT allowing the monument to expand, cutting off resources like firewood to Navajo people who need to use the resources that public land provides. Free thinking Navajo people who are against Expanding the Monument currently in place need to exercise their right to vote, and not be controlled by outside puppeteers. Protect our local public lands via state and county action, not through a debt ridden Federal Government that operates with a $21 Trillion cash deficit.

"The Aneth Chapter also requested that No More National Monument designations be established in the State of Utah (2017)"
#NoMonumentalExpansion #VoteAgainstExpansion

--Alliances with Rich Environmental NGO's Taints New SJC Commission

"Here’s the $64,000 question: 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, see sidebar), 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?"

~~ New "Green" Deal Relies on Minerals Environmentalists Don't Want Mined: Catch 22 Alive and Well

~~~~~~~~~

 Information for Contacting Your County Commissioners

Kenneth Maryboy, Chairman

Phone:

Cell Phone:

kmaryboy@sanjuancounty.org

 Willie Grayeyes, Vice-chairman

Phone:

Cell Phone:

williegrayeyes@sanjuancounty.org

Bruce Adams

Phone:(435) 587-3225

Cell Phone:(435) 459-1351

bbadams@sanjuancounty.org

DOI Faces Future Without Zinke -- Bear Essentials

Opinions 12-19-18

Vote for Utah Citizen of the Year
~~
Rob Bishop and Sean Reyes are on Sec. Interior Short List
~~

America is at a Rubicon Moment in History by By Michael Shannon

(Allusion:  "crossing the rubicon": Julius Caesar's crossing the Rubicon river was an event in 49 BC that precipitated the Roman Civil War, which ultimately led to Caesar becoming dictator for life and the rise of the imperial era of Rome. ... Today, the phrase "crossing the Rubicon" is an idiom that means to pass a point of no return.)
~~

ZviDance will present the world premiere of Bears Ears in NYC

~~ Rollbacks proposed on Excessive EPA Water Regulation

~~ EcoWatch Screams, while Miners with Leases Go to Work 150,000 Acres of Public Lands Available Near Utah National Parks

~~ Benefits of EPA Reduction of Water Restrictions 
  "This means that hardworking Americans will spend less time and money determining whether they need a federal permit and more time growing crops, building homes, modernizing infrastructure, creating jobs and improving the lives of their fellow citizens."

~~ Sean Reyes and Rob Bishop on "short List' for Zinke Replacement

~~ Coal Production Up

     Varying News Reports on Zinke's Resignation

~~Washington Post:   "Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke submitted his resignation to the White House on Saturday, facing intense pressure to step down because of multiple probes tied to his real estate dealings in his home state of Montana and his conduct in office."

~~ Zinke to leave at End of Year: CNN  "Some possible contenders for his position include Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller, who lost his re-election race, sources with knowledge of the situation said.

Zinke said in a statement on Saturday that he was proud of his work as interior secretary and called the allegations against him "false."

~~ New York Times Editorial Attacks Zinke "The New York Times ripped outgoing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Saturday as a cheerleader for President Donald Trump’s “boneheaded” policy of “energy dominance.” The editorial noted that Zinke is leaving his job under the shadow of an” impressive number” — 15 — “ethics investigations.”

~~Pelosi Promises Tougher Gun Laws

~~ Why Wyss plans to buy $1 Billion in land to Save the Planet

       Response from Ben Burr: "You’ll notice that all of the land he plans to buy is in developing countries. This is just the latest instance of imperious Europeans colonizing the planet at the expense of indigenous peoples. History will be just as kind to Mr. Wyss as it has been to Columbus, Cortez, and Custer." 
Hansjörg Wyss was born in Switzerland, founded the medical device company Synthes and          now lives in Wyoming.

~~Wyss and Companies:  Bad to the Bone  2012 investigation 
"The company repeatedly ignored evidence of potential lethal consequences. Interviews with more than 20 former employees and surgeons involved in the Norian project, hundreds of pages of court transcripts, and company documents submitted in the case reveal that Synthes not only disregarded multiple warnings that it was flouting the rules, but also brushed off scientists’ cautions that the cement could cause fatal blood clots."

~~ Back Pack Grand Gulch with Conservation Lands Foundation $2600 in April 2019

"A portion of the trip costs goes to support the Conservation Lands Foundation's efforts to defend America's National Conservation Lands, including Bears Ears National Monument, while building and empowering the Friends Grassroots Network to protect them for the future. "

Jewell Bashes Trump for Monument Review

Written in response to Deseret News

 7/26 news article quoting former secretary Jewell:

A very telling statement by Sally Jewell, "If you are not at the table, you are on the menu." 

Yes, Utah has been on the environmental menu for years, with millions of acres of "public" land being locked up by divisive means and purposes, and it's not to make America Great Again. Quite the contrary, public lands in dozens of states have been on the menu, for decades, until the working man, especially rural Americans have been pushed out of the picture, discredited, and told that endangered species are more important than their lives and their livelihood. 

If state's rights mean anything in this country anymore, we must give credence, and legality to elected officials, not to the clamoring, minions following extremist environmental foundations funded by Soros, Wyss, Bonderman, and board members of the Conservation Land Foundation. They are the creators of a menu which includes global manipulation, personal gain, and weakening of Constitutional rights. There's much more at stake than Monuments. 

Like Patrick Henry, "I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery" (in the form of socialism.)  "The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave." Hooray, for Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Minnesota, W. Virginia, Montana, and other states who are fighting such encroachments legally, and legislatively. Monuments are not about protection, they are about power and weakening America.

  Janet Wilcox

Megabucks Manipulation Involved in Monument Lobby

Learn how Monumental Megabucks are generated and used against rural states as they fight to defend 
water rights, family businesses, and multiple use of land. Swiss billionaire, Hansjorg Wyss has done more to promote the capture of public land in the United States via the creation of new National Monuments than any person on earth. He does this by donating to multiple environmental groups, such as Conservation Lands Foundation.  
Published in Range Magazine, Winter issue 2017. Read the 4 page article by Montana writer,Dave Skinner.