Bear Essentials: Feb. 19-25, 2017

Remember what we’re fighting for

Graphic Design by Mark Bradford

“This will be our Best Chance to Make a Difference. . . Something as important as this deserves our best efforts.”  Joe B. Lyman  

----Feb. 25 is the deadline for final comments related to the county planning survey  http://sanjuancountyplan.org/  You can make comments on any of the specific categories that concern you

--If you have even the least inclination to do so, write and let your voice be heard.  We must support State and County Rights and management of public lands.  The media is being inundated by radical lefties from the “progressive” environmental community. Counteract their falsehoods.  In the Moab paper alone there were 3 such articles this week. I know it’s happening in every state with rural areas.  Step up, gather your facts, write, edit, and send. Just a handful of people cannot do it all.  If you need information, look at my blog there are ideas there to utilize in some way: https://beyondthebears.blogspot.com/ 

The article under “Good News Bears” also has good data to use.

--Newspapers to write to: Include your name and contact information

·                  Cortez Journal: news@cortezjournal.com

·                  Deseret News: letters@deseretnews.com

·                  Emery County Progress: editor@ecpross.cgreom

·                  Four Corners Free Press: freepress@fone.net

·                  Navajo Times: editor@navajotimes.com

·                  New York Times: letters@nytimes.com/editor

·                  Price Sun Advocate: editor@sunad.com

·                  Salt Lake Tribune: letters@sltrib.com

·                  San Juan Record: sjrnews@frontiernet.net

·                  skiggins@thespectrum.com

·                  Southern Utah News: sunews@kanab.net

·                  Moat Times Independent: editor@moabtimes.com

• Grand Junction: http://www.gjsentinel.com/opinion/submit_letter

--If you have not already done so, email our elected officials, letting them know you appreciate their efforts and remind them of the importance of State Sovereignty and our desire to rescind the Bears Ears National Monument designation.  On each email,, PLEASE 'cc'  Stewards of San Juan at SOS@stewardsofsanjuan.org. We will compile all emails sent and will be able to show the amount of support to anyone that says otherwise. Thank you!! 

Starting Tuesday Feb. 21, we encourage you to call our beleaguered Congressmen and elected officials.  We need to let them know how we are supporting them. They continue to be attacked by those who think “you can buy anything with money.”

Governor Gary R. Herbert
constituentservices@utah.gov

 801-538-1000

Utah Senator Mike Lee
mike_lee@lee.senate.gov

(202) 224-5444

 Utah Senator Orrin Hatch

 (202) 224-5251
john_tanner@hatch.senate.gov
(this is his Chief of Staff who delivers messages to Hatch

Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz
Chaffetz@gmail.com

202) 225-7751

House Speaker Greg Hughes
greghughes@le.utah.gov

Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox
spencercox@utah.gov

New State BLM Director: Edwin Roberson

Share some of your specific concerns, and your love of the land with him.

He’s new and doesn’t know much about San Juan from “real” people

801-539-4010

eroberso@blm.gov 

Good News Bears

“Public policy should never be made in response to boycotts and threats, especially when it won’t have any real impact. [i.e. Outdoor Retailers]

Utah will still have a strong outdoor economy. Tourists will still come. We’ll have a stronger energy economy. We will protect Bears Ears. We are protecting and will continue to protect Utah’s iconic land and landscapes. We will continue to collaborate with the federal government, which certainly has a role in public land management.”

The outdoor retailers say they are leaving Utah because we don’t care about our public lands. Here is a list of items put together by the Governor’s Office outlining Utah’s commitment to public lands: 

§  Utah has the largest active watershed and wildlife habitat restoration program in the United States. The Utah Legislature has partnered with local hunters and the federal government to invest approximately $14 million annually for conservation, and we have restored more than 1.3 million acres since 2005. As of 2016, nearly 500 agencies, organizations, and individuals had contributed to these projects through funding or in-kind assistance.

§  There are currently 253 additional conservation projects underway, which include the rehabilitation and restoration of more than 265,000 acres. Six current and three proposed projects (over 9,000 acres in total) are within the new Bears Ears National Monument area. Another 139 projects and 185,000 acres have been proposed for treatment.

§  Read more about Utah’s commitment to public land and use in your letters.

--House Oversight pushes for probe of ethics breaches, possible crimes of BLM bully Dan Love

The investigation of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) agent, Dan Love, has been ongoing and complex. With a history of complaints against Love of bullying, overly-aggressive tactics, ethics violations, and now, tampering, lies, and cover-ups, it appears that the most infamous figure in recent BLM history is now under the scrutiny of Congress’ most powerful investigative arm. The House Oversight Committee, headed by Jason Chaffetz, cites extremely serious, potentially-criminal activities, that go beyond Love’s ethics breaches related to the Burning Man controversy of 2015, or his extreme mishandling of the Operation Cerberus and Bundy Ranch cases. Love’s possible criminal activities include; destruction of federal records, witness tampering, and obstruction of a congressional investigation.  Read More

   Bad News Bears

--Environmentalists Leave ‘Ecological Disaster’ At Protest Camp in North Dakota – Gov. Declares Disaster

“The environmental activists protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline have created such an “ecological disaster” at their protest camp that the North Dakota governor has ordered an emergency evacuation.   When thousands of protesters gathered at the Oceti Sakowin camp to protest the pipeline left in December, they left behind enough trash to fill up 2,500 pickup trucks, LifeZette is reporting.

The activists were there for months, first arriving in April to protest the pipeline’s construction. Their objection that a peak or spill could contaminate nearby waterways. But it appears their own protests have jeopardized the environment far more than any pipeline.”  Read more

--A Look at the Opposition:   An group called the Resources Legacy Fund
(www.resourceslegacyfund.org/<http://www.resourceslegacyfund.org/>) Is
pouring money into the Bears Ears National Monument with funding largely
provided by:

*         The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

*         Wyss Foundation

*         Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation

*         Wilburforce Foundation

The money pot being used for the purpose is called the Bears Ears National
Monument Community Engagement Fund at Resources Legacy Fund.

(For e-mail recipients) I'll attached the Resources Legacy Fund's Consolidated Financial
Statements for the years  2015 and 2014 so that you can see what kind of money we are talking
about here. I hope someone will dissect it and write an article related to the millions used, to fund such things, probably at taxpayer’s expense.
Consider this is in in combination with previous foundation funding, and factoring in the number of outdoor equipment manufacturers that are announcing boycotting of the semi-annual outdoor show in Salt Lake City in protest of the opposition to the Bears Ears National Monument and we can see how critically important BENM is to the environmental/progressive community as a whole.  Bears Ears is sizing up as the linchpin of the day for the public lands battle between the left “progressives” and the citizens of the rural American west. This explains their goals. http://resourceslegacyfund.org/programs/bears-ears-fund/

The attack is mounting because the adversary has millions to put into this campaign against truth. We only have agency and truth to fortify us. Stay Informed, write and call often. Encourage others to do so also.  Share this e-mail with others.   Thank you for all you have done and your commitment to help.  If you can’t help, let me know and I’ll take you off this email group.  I only have room for 500, and we need warriors.

Patagonia, and other Fun-hoggery Outdoor Retailers Boycott Utah; Yet Utah Remains the Supreme Outdoor Public Lands State

The 2017 Outdoor Retailers Boycott sounds like spoiled children lost in the wilderness and crying about it!  There is not a state that cares more about public lands, than Utah.   It is ironic that outdoor retailers are boycotting Utah for our failure to support lifestyles of the rich, and sometimes famous.   Bears Ears (temporarily) National Monument is the focal point of this boycott.  Most people in San Juan County are against the heavy handed and very expensive, media driven promotion of this new public "playground."  Utah's position against yet another huge monument, is not for lack of public land support, but distrust of a debt-ridden Federal Government that cannot care for the land.  

"Public policy should never be made in response to boycotts and threats, especially when it won’t have any real impact on those most affected.

Utah will still have a strong outdoor economy-- with or without Patagonia, et al.  Tourists will still come --  sometimes to the detriment of Public Lands. We’ll continue have a strong energy economy. We will protect Bears Ears. We are protecting and will continue to protect Utah’s iconic land and landscapes. We will continue to collaborate with the federal government, which certainly has a role in public land management.

The outdoor retailers say they are leaving Utah because we don’t care about our public lands. Here is a list of facts put together by the Governor’s Office outlining Utah’s commitment to public lands:

• Utah has the largest active watershed and wildlife habitat restoration program in the United States. The Utah Legislature has partnered with local hunters and the federal government to invest approximately $14 million annually for conservation, and we have restored more than 1.3 million acres since 2005. As of 2016, nearly 500 agencies, organizations, and individuals had contributed to these projects through funding or in-kind assistance.
• There are currently 253 additional conservation projects underway, which include the rehabilitation and restoration of more than 265,000 acres. Six current and three proposed projects (over 9,000 acres in total) are within the new Bears Ears National Monument area. Another 139 projects and 185,000 acres have been proposed for treatment.
• Many of our 43 State Parks could be national parks in other states. Based on their management alone, it is abundantly clear that Utahans greatly value these beautiful areas. Per acre, our state parks get more visitors that our national parks, but they do not run the maintenance deficits that occur with our national parks; they are financially much more stable.
• Utah State Parks runs grant programs such as Rivers Trails Projects and the Land Water Conservation Fund. They also have a review committee that includes a diverse group of land managers and outdoor industry professionals. These projects enhance trails in and around our federal lands. Gov. Herbert’s latest budget proposal includes $1 million for the Utah Outdoor Recreation Grant.
• 67% of Utah land is federally-owned, and that doesn’t include our 43 state parks. All of these areas are supported by exceptional employees and gateway communities, who dedicate countless hours to enhancing outdoor recreation. More than 35 million acres are open to the public.
• When the federal government shut down in 2013, no other governor in the country stepped up like Gov. Herbert did to reopen the national parks. His actions demonstrated his support, not only for the rural economies that rely on parks but for the visitors coming from around the world. To date, Utah taxpayers have not been reimbursed by the federal government for the full cost incurred to reopen our national parks.
• Gov. Herbert was the first governor in the nation to create an Office of Outdoor Recreation. A state full of outdoor enthusiasts, Utah continues to lead the way in community, city, county and national involvement when it comes to recreation planning—whether on private, state or federal lands.
• We recently expanded our annual Outdoor Recreation Summit, which now hosts three regional summits across the state in Ogden, Moab and Cedar City, to address the outdoor industry, regional concerns, and create a welcoming atmosphere for everyone from manufactures to land managers to build relationships. The result is better working relationships and improved close-to-home outdoor recreation.
• With a $21 million budget, the Utah Office of Tourism plays an integral role in supporting and branding Utah’s federal lands. These efforts have promoted outdoor recreation like no other state in the nation, resulting in double-digit growth for both state and national parks year over year for the last three years.
• The State of Utah has provided more than $3 million in post-performance tax incentives to outdoor recreation businesses located or with business operations in Utah.
• Utah created the Outdoor Recreation Advisory Board, the first of its kind in the nation, and filled it with state and federal land managers, local advocacy groups of all types, retailers, and manufactures.
• The state works monthly with all national park superintendents to help create plans that provide the best possible visitor experience. We also partner with advocacy groups that do everything from helping underprivileged youth get outside to partnering with federal land managers to build sustainable trails.
• Utah State Parks has private business ventures and partnerships with over 230 contractors to provide goods and services that enhance the outdoor experience at our 43 state parks
• On the other hand if you want to know whose products not to buy?  Start with:  Peak Designs. Polartec, Arc’teryx, Chaco Sandals, Wigwam, and Patagonia.  They're in it for the money,
  
   often to the detriment of 3rd world countries where labor is cheap.

Bluff proposing to Incorporate --Three times the size of Blanding

"The size of Bluff's service area is proposed to be approximately 38 square miles and takes in the Bluff Bench. It runs from Recapture to Comb Ridge. In comparison, Blanding has 2.4 square miles of build-able area and another 8 square miles of open space for a total of approximately 11 square miles. Anyone know any legitimate reason Bluff needs the property on the Bluff bench and such a wide expanse of "city" space?  

http://www.sjrnews.com/view/full_story/27364775/article-Bluff-collecting-signatures-for-incorporation-process?instance=home_news_left

Suit Against Editor of Canyon Zephyr Jim Stiles Dismissed

Stewards of San Juan representatives supported Jim Stiles and his wife yesterday at court in Moab. He was accused of defaming the former Moab City Manager. We were relieved when the suit was dismissed by Judge Anderson. Jim has been a huge help to us via his articles in the Canyon Zephyr regarding Bears Ears and its future.  Here are some of the articles in the newest issue: 

Bears Ears Post Mortem

The Unspoken Bears Ears Goal: Creating an Urban New West

Shakey Ground for Journalists and Freedom of the Press: But is Anything New?

Cottonwood Uranium Mining: Archaeology Related to Hogans and Sweat Houses

By Janet Wilcox

Last Monday Feb.6, myself, along with 25 other Stewards of San Juan staged a quiet protest at the U of U Dine Bekaya Celebration of the Bears Ears National Monument.  We respectfully listened to all the talks, even the ones we didn’t agree with.  Even though I have often been at odds with Willie Greyeyes, his insights on healing were valuable.  He recommended daily prayer and being in tune with your maker.  He stressed the value of open country and sacred places for spiritual healing and the need to live in harmony.  That message speaks to me, as I also believe in daily prayer and find peace in sacred places both indoors and out.

By and large, most people living in rural America identify with those concepts. However, as I watched mobocracy in action at the Jason Chaffetz Town Hall meeting three days later, I thought how ironic it was that Willie’s message was lost on these folks, many of whom claim to support his cause. Harmony was the furthest thing from their minds, instead they choose to be disrespectful.  Their clamor and shouts only fueled their narrow  ideology with more propaganda and hate. 

Because of those experiences, I feel compelled to dispel some misconceptions that have appeared on Pro-Bears Ears Monument web sites and in articles.  One is the notion that mining is evil, and that Navajos consider it a desecration of the land, and secondly, the assumption that hogans and sweat lodges in the Bears Ears Monument were built hundreds of years ago. That is not the case, ironically, SUWA, Friends of Cedar Mesa and other Pro-monument web sites have used photos of hogans and sweat houses built by Navajo uranium miners less than 80 years ago. There-in lies the double rub.

Fossil fuels have provided jobs for many years in San Juan County for Anglos and Native Americans alike.  Such resources from Mother Earth also provide jobs for Navajos at the Page Power plant, which requires coal. Navajos in Arizona are worried about losing their jobs and don’t want the Power plant to close.  Yet one of the best sources of for clean burning coal was locked up by Bill Clinton’s National Monument at Grand Staircase Escalante 20 years ago.  This also rubs the wrong way.

Rather than viewing mining as a desecration of the earth, consider that ores and fossil fuels are instead a gift to those who live nearby. Some states were blessed with timber and large lakes with fish, others rolling farmland, some gold and silver mines, and we were given uranium and oil. A variety of natural resources throughout the United States have been considered a blessing for over 200 years. Now it seems to be an albatross to be avoided at all costs.  As we become indebted to foreign powers, public lands appear to have “collateral” written all over them, under the guise of National Monuments.

With modern scientific breakthroughs businesses now can more wisely extract those resources, using less invasive strategies.  Mother Earth has always been generous, and ironically, she has proven victorious even when damaged by floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, mining, fires, or paint balls in the desert.  Unlike humans she has the power to revitalize, repair, and comeback better than before.  She is the Comeback Queen, and will continue to befuddle those who claim otherwise. Cottonwood mining area in San Juan County of evidence of such a comeback.

Blue Mountain Shadows, has been publishing the history and culture of the Four Corners area since 1986.  This Blanding based regional magazine has published four issues related to uranium mining plus a small collection about oil drilling in Mexican Hat.  In addition, Doris Vallee’s history in “Looking Back Around the Hat” also contains historical information related to drilling.

According to Darroll F. Young’s article in the 1995 issue of Blue Mountain Shadows, the idea of uranium was first introduced to SE Utah, 98 years ago, when two men from Moab came upon his father who was working on the state road crew in 1919.  The men were prospecting for uranium to be sent to Paris, France to Madam Curie, who made the discovery of radium.  At that time uranium was not considered of any great value.  It was over 20 years before its value became known and jobs came to San Juan.

Times were tough in those days of the Great Depression and San Juan County men -- Navajo and Anglo alike, were happy for any work they could get.  A daily wage was only $4 prior to 1939, but it soon raised to $15 or more a day. This also improved wages in the agriculture community and a glimmer of prosperity began to grow. Soon new roads were constructed.  More businesses were established, and motels, equipment, and trucking businesses were added.  Job opportunities grew and home construction expanded.  

Young emphasized, however,  that the “greatest influence of the uranium industry was demonstrated by the transformation that took place in the schools” of San Juan County. Prior to this, Navajo and Ute students were usually sent to boarding schools by the Federal Government.  As roads improved, one-room schools were eliminated and bus routes expanded. A new hospital was built, recreation facilities added. The positive effects of uranium mining touched every facet of life by the 1950’s.  As important as economics was to our nation and to the State of Utah, most of the work of extraction and refining was carried out before health and environmental costs were understood. But that is another story to be discussed at a future time. 

Fast forward 50 years to the other side of the Mr. Young’s Uranium story:  In 1999 Blue Mountain Shadows was asked to conduct oral interviews of uranium miners who had worked in the Cottonwood area.  These histories were part of the Cottonwood Reclamation project which involved over a dozen government agencies in the initial surveys and planning. It was funded by the Utah Division of Gas, Oil, and Mining, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, Manti-La Sal Nat’l Forest, and the San Juan Historical Commission.

 Archaeologist, Kathy Huppe was the Cultural Resources Coordinator who worked with Blue Mountain Shadows. From those interviews, three magazines were published 2001-2002. These provided both history and insight as to what life was like for both Anglo and Navajo miners as well as other aspects of uranium mining.  

Donald C. Irwin, the archaeologist who conducted the Cottonwood cultural resource

inventory for the project, recalled his first trip to Cottonwood Wash and drove past the imposing mound known as Cottonwood Falls great house.  “I drove further up the canyon and to my amazement, I learned what any citizen of Blanding, or thereabouts knows, you can’t turn around or spit in this country without finding another archaeological site. Everywhere I stopped, I saw the telltale flakes of stone and broken pottery.”

Therein lies both the beauty and the burden of San Juan County: What and how much can actually be protected?  

In issue #27 of BMS, several articles discuss the Navajo miners who worked in Cottonwood, as well as in other locations in San Juan county.  Cleal Bradford tells of his father Vet Bradford who, after completing the tunnel on Blue Mountain, [which brought water to the south side of Blue Mountain] put his skills to work as a miner, supervising a group of Blanding men.  But it was WWII, and as more and more men were called into the Army, Bradford began recruiting men from the Bluff and Montezuma Canyon areas. 

Some of these hardworking Navajo men included Tom Beletso, Old Maryboy and his sons Slim John and John Bill.  David Yanito, his father Addison and brother Richard Yanito were also miners.  John Billy Atcitty, Harvey John Atcitty, John Bill Atcitty and their uncle Sam Long John. Later Kee Mustache and Harvey John were added to the crew. There was a lot of hard work involved in mining, mucking out, and hauling rock. But these men wanted jobs and were willing to work hard. The Navajos working in Cottonwood, had their own vehicles, but most of them would stay at Cottonwood year-round. It was for that reason that it was worth the effort for them to build hogans and sweat houses.  It was part of their culture and the reason why remnants exist at these mining areas.

Huppe documented many of these structures: a hogan and a sweat house at the Laura Mine in Upper Cottonwood, as well as another sweat lodge above the original Cottonwood Mill location on the flats to the north.  They were not built by “ancient ancestors”, but by Navajo Uranium Miners. They like other men went where the jobs were. Hundreds of other Native Americans were employed at other sites scattered throughout the Four Corners area.  During the summer months, there was a large Navajo population at the Cottonwood camp, with wives and children.  During the school year, their children went to boarding schools in Shiprock.

  

Bradford stated, “The thing I appreciated while working with these Navajo men at the mine, was the fact they were a pleasant group, were hard workers, and made sure they earned their days wages. . . I had worked with other men before and since, who come to work grouchy, and leave grouchy.  But that wasn’t the case with the Navajo miners.”

“Harry Dutchie, a Ute, also worked with the Bradford crew, but he rode back and forth from Westwater with the Blanding men, but was accepted well by the Navajos.  Other mining operations also employed Navajo miners.  Robert Nat’s father worked for a Colorado operation, as did Ben Yanito and Dan Benally.”

Though conditions at the mining camp seem primitive compared with the conveniences of modern life, the jobs and regular pay provided both Anglos and Native Americans an improved lifestyle. San Juan County was finally able to build top of the line school buildings, as well as roads to transport students and they offered teachers the best salaries in the state at one time; however, times have changed with increased federal regulations and a monument designation which proffers more controls and less multiple use of public lands. 

 These historic hogans and sweat houses, however, stand as witnesses that people who work together, productively using what the earth provides, can find harmony and prosperity, even in remote San Juan.  

(Past issues of Blue Mountain Shadows can be purchased by contacting  Donna Blake bluemtshadows@gmail.com
 $12 each.)

A Monument to ‘Presidential Vanity?’ It’s Time to Rescind Bears Ears

"Earlier this month, Governor Herbert signed a resolution, approved by the state’s legislature, calling on President Trump to rescind the Bears Ears designation. Utah has long fought against Washington’s public-land policies, and in recent years has even called on the federal government to transfer most of its lands in Utah to the state. (In total, the federal government controls nearly two-thirds of the land in Utah.) The latest salvo in that battle centers on the Antiquities Act, whereby with the stroke of a pen, the president can bypass all of those pesky details of conventional lawmaking — the coalition-building, the endless compromises — and impose an unwanted preservationist agenda on far-away western communities, leaving them to deal with the consequences. It’s a tool that Obama was especially fond of; he designated more national monuments than any other president."

Read full article by Shawn Regan

Bear Essentials Feb. 12-19, 2017

 Bear Essentials   February 12-18 

What we did last Monday Feb. 6 

(All blue underlined items are hyperlinks which will take you directly to articles.)

This past week included a marathon trip to Salt Lake with Stewards of San Juan.  In the process, we had lunch with Senator Jim Dabakis.  Well, actually he was directly across the capitol cafeteria but I did talk to his camera crew, while he was flaying his arms animatedly talking to Bill Allred.  I’d never posted on his Facebook page before, but it is quite an experience.  He is probably the most outspoken critic of our State Republican Leaders. We encourage all of you to be brave enough to write to those you disagree with, as well as give support to your state leaders who are being attacked. We also staged a respectful protest at the Dine Bekaya “Celebration” at the U of U that evening.                

We encourage you write to President Trump.  He needs our support and needs to know the causes we support and encouragement to rescind the Bears Ears Monument. 

There were several from our No Monument group who commented on the Dabakis FB page:  Feb. 7.  Here are their comments:

--By Joy Howell: “It's so sad that the majority who live in cities don't comprehend the fact that everything that sustains the city life is produced outside of their little bubble...it all comes from the ground. From food, to wood, paper, glass, wiring, medicine, concrete, steel, plastic, oil, fuel...all of it. Those of us who actually live in the area have worked hard to protect our beautiful and soul sustaining places...we find it offensive (since that's a word everyone seems to understand) to know that we have become the so-called enemy of the world! Why? Tourism is great! I'm in the hospitality industry and appreciate the guests...but, I also like to offer amenities and electricity. We know that there's more to this push than the media, the big money and certain other proponents of socialism say.  We live it, we know the truth. And we will continue to fight for our Constitutional Republic...which protects ALL of us. There's no longer a way around it...no more loopholes, no more lies. No more 'mob rule' that denies inalienable rights. No more.

--By Kelly Mike Green: Tourism brings in money but does not sustain families. Seasonal work. Low pay. Not enough money to afford a mortgage. No discretionary money to raise your standard of living, The opposite of extraction jobs and that is a fact,

  Legislation in the Works

--H.R. 622, Local Enforcement for Local Lands Act,  removes the law enforcement function from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service. Instead, the bill calls for deputizing local law enforcement, combined with block grant funding, to empower existing duly elected law enforcement offices to carry out these responsibilities. The bill, jointly sponsored by Utah’s Rep. Mia Love and Rep. Chris Stewart, also establishes a formula to reimburse local law enforcement based on the percentage of public land in each state.  

--Lest We Forget:

James Redd, the man bullied to death by the BLM

Hopefully HR 622 listed above will prevent future tragedies from happening.

--Why we must continue to be pro-active by writing, phoning, & talking to others:

Reactions to legislative efforts from Western States have been extreme and angry; thus citizens who care about public land and the disparity that exists between East and West need to stay involved.  Comment on news articles, encourage friends to contact Congressmen in other states, write articles. Attend Stewards of San Juan Meetings  Wed. 7 PM Arts and Events Center.

 Good News Bears

Idaho Statemen article debunked Headwaters Economics survey:

 “The Headwaters Institute study (which is often quoted by Pro Monument Web sites). . .did not examine federal lands’ actual effect today. The study looked only at gross income, assuming that one dollar is the same, whether it is wages, profit from a farm or small business, or a dollar of welfare payments. . .

The only significant effect federal lands have on rural income is an increase of per capita investment income, concentrated in elite counties located near areas of federally protected parklands, such as Sun Valley, Jackson (Wyoming), Park City (Utah), and Aspen. Investment income includes dividends and interest, private pension payments, and rents.

Individuals who have earned their wealth elsewhere bring it to the elite locations when they move or retire near parks paid for by the public. The individuals who move often enjoy lower tax rates on their passive income. The locals who benefit are those who sell or rent real estate — there is no matching, positive effect on local wages.”

-- Trump can reverse egregious Antiquities Acts edicts by doing 2 simple things

--If I Were Chief of the Forest Service by Lyle Laverty

 --Videos Worth Watching

1)   Video: 2-6-17: Senator Mike Lee sticking his neck out for SJC & Utah.

2)   The Nature of Sustainable Development – Environmental catchword

--Bad News Bears

----Opinion: Trump Obama’s Illegal, Job-Killing Monuments

Quote from article above:   “Clinton who among his many Antiquities Act edicts, closed one of the world’s best low-sulfur coal deposits—its mining will create 1,000 local jobs and generate $20 million annually—with the Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument. So passionate was Utah’s opposition to the monument that Clinton deceived political leaders—but not Robert Redford—about his plan until he announced it at Arizona’s Grand Canyon. Today, Garfield County is a self-declared “economic disaster” area.”

--The Bundy Paradigm: Will You Be a Rebel, Revolutionary or a Slave?  Though written over two years ago, this is still relevant today, as we consider the plight of this ranching family and the role of the BLM. 

 --Dan Love, a Cruel and Unusual History by Majorie Haun

Dan Love, the Bureau of Land Management agent now under investigation by the agency’s own Inspector General’s office for egregious ethics violations related to the 2016 Burning Man festival in Nevada, has a history of cruel and ruthless behavior which predates the current uproar over his thuggish tactics. Prior to Love’s involvement in the failed raid on the Bundy Ranch in April of 2014, he lead the 2009 federal antiquities sting, ‘Operation Cerberus Action’ in southeastern Utah. This sting, which took several years and climaxed with federal raids by hundreds of armed BLM and FBI officers on dozens of homes, also lead to the deaths of 4 men involved in the case.  

         

--Why should Ordinary Americans care about what happened to LeVoy Finicum?

--North Dakota Acts to Tighten Rioting Laws

“Protestors against the Dakota Access Pipeline set fire to construction vehicles and piles of tires in a series of violent riots last fall. The protests repeatedly became violent, and cost North Dakota tens of millions in law enforcement costs. Protestors also left a mountain of garbage in their wake that now threatens to contaminate the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers when spring flooding begins.” 

…And most of All, Pray Daily, Remembering God Is On the Side of Truth and Agency

Federal agencies not held to accountable for environmental destruction, wildfires

By Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food.

My theme shall remain in 2017: We have to turn the tide of the federal government and return it to being a government of, by and for the people. As of Jan. 20, we have new leadership but we cannot sit back and expect these things to correct themselves. A government who holds its citizens criminally responsible for errors it makes on a much grander scale should not be considered part of a free society. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. It seems like a few ganders should be in hot water about now.

Read full story.