Public Lands Bill has a Senate hearing

By Patsy Stoddard
Editor

The Emery County Public Lands Council talked about the Emery County Public Lands Bill in their meeting.
Chairman Rod Player read excerpts from an opinion piece in the Salt Lake Tribune which stated many misconceptions about the bill. Various county officials were quoted in the article. Player said the article said Hatch’s phony wilderness bill is a Trojan horse. It was written by a man in Holliday.
Ron Dean, the spokesman from Sen. Hatch’s office said the Emery County public lands use bill had a hearing in the House. It will be marked up in early September. It’s slated for a senate hearing on the 21st.
“The bill will probably be attached to a larger public lands package. Your work was ready to go, anyone reasonable will see it’s a good bill. Orrin Hatch has no philosophical opposition to wilderness. His philosophy is those closest to the ground should have almost total say about what goes on,” said Dean.
Player said in July the lands council went on a field trip with the forest service. They looked at the areas where timber sales are available.
The Arapeen ATV Jamboree will be held on Sept. 5-9. It will be held at the Castle Valley Ranch for $145 registration you get meals, rides and a hoodie. “You get to ride through some fabulous country,” said Player.
Randy Johnson, public lands consultant said he and Ray have put in a lot of hours on the bill. The bill looks to preserve and protect our access, so these issues can be resolved in the best way.
Johnson said it’s likely the Emery County Lands Bill will become part of a package. There isn’t a lot of time left and it looks like there will be other lands bills packaged with the Emery County bill.
The final maps are being looked at now and the bill is ready for a package should that occur.
The National Conservation Area has been changed to a National Recreation Area. Back in Washington they had never seen a NCA with as many roads as the one in the Emery County bill.
A NRA is still a national designation but doesn’t have the same requirements as a NCA.
The Bureau of Land Management road inventory will go on whether or not the bill passes. There are a lot of roads out there not on the maps, so the BLM process won’t harm the Emery County bill.
The lands council is committed to keep the integrity and intent of the process. The council collected data from each of the stakeholders to go into the bill.
Ray Petersen, public lands director said they met with the Farm Bureau and informed them of where the county is in the process. They were very supportive.
The council discussed getting more information about the lands bill out to the public.
Petersen reported there will be a wild horse gathering near the end of August. The animals are starting to die out there. Food is scarce on the desert and many permittees haven’t taken their cows out due to poor grazing conditions.
The BLM has graded the Turtle Canyon road into Range Creek. They are also working on the Elliot road. This road has washed out several times and there are safety concerns there. Regular maintenance would be helpful.
The Bison EA will be coming out soon. The oil and gas lease sales for September and December for the BLM are on track. The MK tunnel decision will be out this week.
Bryan Torgerson from SITLA said they are supportive of the Emery County lands bill. SITLA has sent a letter to large block grazers informing them they may have to take the cows off the range early due to poor conditions.
The Forest Service representative Mark Chamberlain said the rehab work on the Trail Mountain fire has started. Wood mulch will be dropped on the steeper slopes to hold the soils. There will be 1,600 acres treated. It will take a month to complete and the process started Aug. 12.
The Cottonwood Canyon road is closed. No one can be in the area when the helicopters are dropping the mulch. It costs $15,000 to shut down the helicopter. The cows and sheep are in the burn area. The cows will probably stay there, but the sheep will be moved to greener pastures.
Bow hunters who hike into the area won’t be stopped.
The trucks hauling the mulch are taking up most of the road and an ATV rider had a near miss when they ran under a truck and then kept going. The mulch is coming from Fredonia, Arizona and being trucked to Trail Mountain.
Leon McElprang, council member asked if help would be coming for burned fences in Rilda. Chamberlain said the forest service can help with the materials, but didn’t have the manpower to help rebuild fences. It was asked if while the helicopters are working if they could drop the fencing materials. Hauling the fencing materials by horseback up Rilda is very labor intensive. There will be more discussion on this issue.
Seeding will also take place over 1,500 acres with various grass seeds being placed. The forest service is coordinating with the grazing improvement committee to decide which grasses should be used in the reseeding process.
Debris racks are being constructed in Rilda Canyon and Mill Canyon. There have been some rains, but none of any significance over the burn scar.
McElprang wondered if there are any monies available to help with impacts to the irrigators from the fire. Chamberland said the money they have available is tied to the forest. The Emery County Commissioners are working with the NRCS to get funding for other damages caused by the fire.
The air vacs at Elk Springs are being replaced and should be up and functioning soon.
Chamberlain said on the mountain grazing may also be cut short. Below 9,000 feet the grasses didn’t grow much and some allotments will be coming home early.
In public comments, Lance Hurst wondered if the beetle killed timber on the mountain could have the prices knocked down to make it more attractive to harvest. It can be used for wood pellets and other uses. Some logging companies leave a mess when they are done and they should be held accountable. His opinion is wood gathering permits should be free for individuals who go to the mountains and harvest downed timber.
Downed and dead lumber increase the amount of fuels available to burn in a forest fire. He mentioned a case where two ranchers were sent to prison when a fire burning weeds on their property got out of control and went into the forest. They were fined and sent to prison.
“The forest service should be held to the same standards as us,” said Hurst, “The forest service should be held accountable to get the fences fixed.”
Player said when they were on their field trip the forest service had some ideas on fire wood collection.