Letter to the Editor: be Careful for what you wish for

By Howard Hutchinson Executive Director Coalition of Arizona and New Mexico Counties Glenwood
New Mexico

Paul Young suggested in his letter of November 19 that the residents of Emery County had better come up with a plan or “be prepared to get hammered.” Young proposed that the “enviros” would soon move forward with a plan to lock up the area using the Endangered Species Act. Jeff Durrant wrote offering a couple of suggestions following a Public Lands Council meeting.
There is another alternative. In a recent Federal Court opinion, the Judge found that the BLM must achieve consistency with local government land use plans (Uintah County, Utah v. Bureau of Land Management and Defenders of Wildlife et. al.). This means that the County could enact a local land use plan that describes how the Swell should be managed to benefit the residents of the county. The BLM would be required to develop their Resource Management Plan with consideration of consistency with the County plan. There is a national policy of no negotiations with terrorists. There are laws against extortion and we should never conduct our lives in response to extortion. There should be no negotiation with extreme environmentalists. You will never be able to satisfy their constantly expanding demands.
Mr. Durrant reasoned that the editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune, reprinted in your paper, demonstrated that federal monument designation was still threat. My response sent to the Tribune follows:” Your opinion column Nov 10, ‘A Swell Monument’ contained the statement, ‘Federal, state and local officials should move the monument question to a broader stage, one less easily manipulated.
Emery County voters have had their say. Millions of others deserve the same opportunity.’ “There have been calls for the rewilding of the Salt Lake basin. This would mean relocating the citizens of your metropolitan area to somewhere else. Applying the logic of your statement above, such a move should be decided by the people of the other 49 states.
Maybe since you support such an absurdity the rest of the nation can oblige with a grant financed campaign to accomplish returning the area to its “pristine” glory of pre-European settlement.
“The objective of our Constitutional form of government is the protection of our creator endowed inalienable rights against the whims of democracy or more accurately mobocracy. Forsake that principle at your own peril.
The rest of the nation have no more right to dictate to the people of Emery County than to Salt Lake City. Be careful what you wish for.”