Officials think Emery County bill will move forward

By Patsy Stoddard
Editor

The Emery County Public Lands council heard about Pres. Donald Trump’s visit to Utah from the Washington Delegation. Pres. Trump reduced the size of the Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Ron Dean from Sen. Orrin Hatch’s office said the presidents visit has given everyone hope that things will get done with Natural Resources. There are other areas with their eyes on projects. While Pres. Trump is in office, Dean said he believes something will be done with the Antiquities Act in Congress that will stabilize the act and things won’t bounce back and forth according to who is in office. Sen. Lee has some things planned for the Antiquities Act which he will introduce. There is a window of opportunity. “It was good to have the President here, it was good he did what he did. We expect your county proposal to go in as soon as possible. It is a nice piece of legislation that shows Utahns are not opposed to conservation. Your bill is ready to go,” said Dean, “Utahns have been conservationists for decades.
Ryan reported people are saying the monument reductions haven’t been done before, but in fact there have been 18 such reductions over time. He sees with the reduction in size of the monuments, they will be able to defend the case in court when the environmentalists sue which they will.
Council member Sherrel Ward asked if Sen. Hatch is going to run for re-election. Dean said he hasn’t decided yet and Sen. Hatch is keeping his options open.
Ed Geary said Cong. Stewart is proposing a national park. Dean reported Stewart has a lot of support and has done his homework on the project. Dean said Sen. Hatch has no opposition to national parks or wilderness, Sen. Hatch would like to see local input and buy-in on projects. A national park would allow Grand Staircase Escalante to advertise better and see some benefit to their area.
Council chairman Rod Player said Dec. 5 was World Soils Day. Ninety-five percent of food comes from soil and 33 percent of soil globally has been degraded in some way. Ed Geary council member said there’s a soil marker in Kansas that shows how much of their top soil has blown away.
The two commissioners Lynn Sitterud and Kent Wilson accompanied Randy Johnson, public lands consultant to Washington DC in November. “It was a good trip. We watched the new Congressman (Curtis) be sworn in, it was an impressive process,” said Johnson. The Utah delegation is supportive of the Emery County Lands bill. They were positive about the bill moving forward as quickly as possible. Rep. Curtis has hired staff members and they are looking at the maps for the Emery County bill. Their chief of staff over public lands is very familiar with these types of bills. Rep. Rod Bishop is supportive and will help move the public lands bill forward. They met with Sen. Mike Lee and his staff. Everyone thinks its a good time to move forward with the positive environment in Washington.
Council member Laren Huntsman wondered if the environmental groups will attack the Emery County bill. Johnson said he thinks they will be supportive because the Emery County bill has been a collaborative process.
Johnson said, “We’re not going to wait around to see who they might hook us up with, it will move sooner than you imagine. The commissioners were really good back in Washington, they spoke up when they should.”
Sherrel Ward, council member wondered about the equal access to justice act and if law suits will follow the reduction in the monument sizes. Ryan said, that is one of the most corrupt codes and this would be a good time to try to get that act addressed. A party only needs to win on one of their points in a lawsuit to get the money. He thinks yes there will be law suits against the monument reductions. They also think there will be new legislation which will make it more difficult in the future for a President to do what Pres. Trump just did with the monument reductions.
Ray Petersen, public lands director said he has met with the Bureau of Land Management on the MK Tunnels. He is developing alternatives for the BLM to consider. One takes in a smaller area and the other would take in the entire area. “It’s obvious that this council and the citizens would like to see the preservation of this resource,” said Petersen. The BLM is considering turning the management of the MK Tunnel area over to the county.
Petersen said he met with the BLM on the public land access issue on Long Street. Where the county road ends now, there has been historic use of that road. The research shows in the late 1970s the road was the boundary. Mapping of the area had shown the boundary of the WSA to be the river. Petersen said because of these findings, the county will apply for a right of way for that road. The county will work with the property owners for the best location for the road. Petersen said the route for the road has not been determined at this time.
Kim McFarlane, council member said he would like to see the road go across SITLA property and as close to the butte as possible to avoid as much private land as they can. Bryan Torgersen from SITLA said they do issue right of ways and it could be purchased with OHV funds.
McFarlane said he sees the issue might not be resolved without a lawsuit, and he thinks staying on SITLA will help avoid issues with the Holyoak property. There has been vandalism on his property and people leave the gates open and his cattle get out and onto BLM land which causes issues with the landowner and the BLM.
Petersen said there will be discussion on these issues. McFarlane said access there is important and the WSA is a good place to ride horses.
Petersen said these issues are not new and the county will help mitigate the issues. McFarlane said, “This will be a well used road.” The staging area will be on BLM land. Mike Leschin reported on Fossil Point. He said the new field manager is supportive of work to that area. The state paleontologist took a crew into the field there and they identified 100 boulders with bones in them. The BLM is developing recommendations to the area which include a series of trails to view the fossils or the alternative of just letting people explore the area and discover the fossils for themselves. Improvements are needed to the road. Petersen said the county has interest in making that a county road to the river. Another river access site along the Green River would be helpful for putting in and also for any search and rescues. Petersen will prepare a right of way application to send to the BLM concerning this road. There’s also a need for better signage in the area. McFarlane said it would be a good idea to pursue the river access point. Leschin said road improvements as well as river access would bring more people in to see the fossils.
Jake Palma from the BLM said there is an opportunity for Emery County to be a cooperating agency on the Fossil Point project. Chris Conrad is the official field manager for the Price BLM office. On Dec. 12 will be the oil and gas lease sale. There are 15 Emery County parcels in the North Salt Wash area near the Molen Reef. This is an online auction.
On June 2 there will be a 50th anniversary of the National Trails Act. There will be tours this day of the Old Spanish Trail and other activities associated with the trail.
The BLM office is working on range allotment renewals. Next year there will be horse gathers at Muddy Creek, this is being reviewed now. There will also be a horse gather in Carbon County. The BLM is completing the NEPA now for these upcoming projects.
Ward reported he thought the looks of the horses on Mackay Flat was changing, there are some palominos and big bay horses in with the herd. Rod Player reported several years ago there were paints brought in from Wyoming.
Leon McElprang, council member reported the permittee for Mackay Flat didn’t take his herd out because the range was in such poor condition there.
Randall Stilson, council member reported there was vandalism on boulders in Cottonwood Canyon.
Palma said they will work to educate people and the BLM will remove the graffiti.
Marc Stilson from the Division of Water Rights reported the Adobe Wash sediment basin is almost complete. Millsite Reservoir dam rehabilitation project is moving along. Work will continue throughout the winter on the spillway.
Chris Wood from the Division of Wildlife Resources reported on the bison coming off of tribal lands. When they cross off tribal lands they become Utah bison and fall under the jurisdiction of the DWR. They come onto BLM allotments and into Range Creek. They are in very remote areas and hard to hunt. Hunting will extend until Dec. 15 on these bison.
The tribal leaders have been herding the animals by helicopter when they come into Range Creek to move them back onto tribal lands. This has worked. The DWR is also considering fencing in some areas.
The DWR is also considering allowing hunting of a bison without losing your bonus points if you do not harvest an animal.
The tribal lands herds are over their number objectives.
The Wildlife Board approved elk hunting in all three seasons for a $150 fee in some areas. They also approved two general season deer hunts, one for a four day hunt before the general season.
Torgerson from SITLA reported the SITLA land within Bears Ears National Monument has shrunk from 109,000 acres to 20,000 acres. They would like to look for opportunities to trade out these lands after the law suits are settled.
SITLA has been working with the BLM making sure access to SITLA lands is always considered within the BLM travel management plan. There was a case in the past where roads were closed leading to SITLA land which made access impossible and a lawsuit resulted with the outcome being you can’t close roads into SITLA land holdings. SITLA is mandated to use their lands to benefit the school children of Utah.
Council member JR Nelson commented the Emery County Land Use bill keeps open existing trails and routes.
Palma said it is within BLM guidelines to provide access to properties.
Troy Suwyn reported for the forest service, he is a fire manager.
Sell of wood permits on the forest is closed for this year. The forest service is selling Christmas tree permits at the Ferron office, Main Street Market and Castle Valley Supply. There have been two controlled burns on Fish Lake.
Aaron Farmer, state parks manager for Goblin Valley and Green River reported visitation numbers are up. They’ve had a very busy fall season. Thanksgiving weekend was very busy at Goblin Valley. On Nov. 27 there was a rope rescue in Goblins Lair, the lady hung there for 8 hours, but she was OK. The Emery County Search and Rescue rope team responded.
The old restroom at Green River State Park has been demolished and work has started on a new one. The 10 sites without electricity will be wired in the coming year.
Tim Smith area manager for state parks is retiring and Megan Blackwelder is taking his spot. She was the manager for Dead Horse Point State Park.
Ian Nemelka was introduced as the rural engagement specialist for the Washington delegation.
Ward reported on precipitation. Buckflat is 16 percent of average, Mammoth-Cottonwood 22 percent, Red Pine 19 percent; basin average is 17 percent. Weather forecast predictions say it will be warmer than average with normal precipitation in the coming months.
Ward reported he was on the desert over Thanksgiving weekend and it was bumper to bumper traffic. There were a lot of people there and it was an unpleasant experience.
The Swinging Bridge campground was full. “We need to take a tough look at management,” said Ward.
Huntsman said he was hiking at Keg Knoll and didn’t see anyone.