The Emery County public lands council meet for their monthly meeting. The chairman thanked the BLM and the forest service for bringing tourism to Emery County. The council is working on a consideration of recommendation to the county commission concerning the MK tunnels. A field trip to the tunnels was planned.
A representative from the Emery County historical preservation commission spoke about the MK tunnels. He said, the commissioners need to review the openings at the top of the tunnels. The Emery County Progress had an article about the tunnels in the March 17, 2009 edition. It updated the work going on at the tunnels. Shortly after the article ran President Obama signed a bill requiring an inventory of all Department of Defense sites related to the cold war era. The county should explore all options available concerning the MK Tunnels and their historic preservation.
The BLM reported a toilet has been installed in the Joe’s Valley area. The forest service has been working with the climbers alliance to improve trails in the climbing areas. The Deer Creek mine filed a petition for stay. It was denied. A group of college students will work on improving the fencing near the Swinging Bridge. We are working on the Temple Mountain camping area. The horse survey has been postponed until next spring.
Laren Huntsmans stated, the design for closure of the MK tunnels was not well designed. It didn’t seem like much planning went into the drainage. The new plans will have a drainage design so the drainage is not going through the tunnels.
Justin Hart reported the cutthroat trout restoration project in Ferron Creek is still going on. We are working on restoring native fish to the creek. The fish limit at Millsite was raised to 16. This will be in effect until March 2018. The Tiger Muskies in Joe’s Valley have been somewhat effective in reducing the number of chubs. Since the introduction of the Tiger Muskies the health of the trout has improved.
SITLA will advertise a gem stone mineral offering east of Castle Dale. We received an email from Energy Matrix LLC they are no longer interested in lot one of the Green River industrial park.
Darren Olsen gave the forest service update. Fire rings have been installed and there are 28 roadside parking areas. Most of the improvement work has been done in Straight canyon. We have been cutting down trees near the Beaver Dam Reservoir to reduce the fire risk. There has been timber activity near the Skyline Mine and the Miller’s Flat area. Washington delegate update. The announcement from Secretary Zinke is about three weeks out. This announcement concerns the size of the recently designated monument. We are working with western states on legislation concerning the Antiquites Act.
Huntsman reported the old bridge in Castle Dale is a safety issue. There are holes in the bridge and some repair work needs to done. It would be nice if it could be restored. The board will look at grants to get the bridge repaired. The bridge may qualify for a UDOT grant for alternative transportation, since the bridge is used for foot traffic.
Public lands hears update on MK Tunnels
File photo of the MK Tunnels.