Dear Editor,
Thank you for printing the late-October letters to the editor from Tory Killian and Ray Peterson. I found both letters very informative.
Ray’s letter said the US Congress is “reluctant” to do what Emery County wishes. No kidding! Judging by Ray’s letter it seems that Emery County has abandoned the idea of pushing what is best for the local people. They now choose to support what is most likely to pass Congress. Of course it’s a give and take, but this year it’s a give and give, at which point they should be prepared to pull the bill.
This is a fool’s errand. It is a huge mistake to change our first bill based on what Congress is “reluctant” to do. I don’t see SUWA or the other radical wilderness groups doing that. I will give credit where credit is due and say the radical wilderness groups stick true to their principles. I just wish our Congressional representatives had the same commitment to the public process that resulted in all the previous Emery County bills through 2017. Compare last year’s bill to the current one by going to https://www.sageridersmc.com/, and you’ll see for yourself how it throws out the baby with the bathwater.
I agree with Ray that Emery County’s bill should protect from any future National Monument. So I did a bit of research and found out that, regarding motorized recreation, the Emery County Public Lands Management Act of 2018 is basically the same as President Obama’s Bears Ears National Monument. Both Emery County’s bill and Obama’s Monument limit motorized recreation to a future planning process. In fact, the current bill is worse because it prevents BLM from building any new routes FOR ANY REASON, which Obama’s Monument doesn’t do. In other words, this new Emery County bill isn’t better than a Monument in the Swell, and it wouldn’t prevent a Monument surrounding the Swell.
I have been involved in the Emery County process for many years. I feel betrayed by Elected Officials (granted some are very new to this) and the Public Lands Council. In June, ten local OHV club members attempted to go and have a council with them, (Emery County Commissioners and Public Lands Council members) but were asked to leave while they counseled AMONGST THEMSELVES. (Keep in mind…..this was a public meeting with All three commissioners present.) Nobody involved believed we could get everything we wanted. We (OHV users) had started out with 10 amendments, and we talked, and met together, and talked, and emailed each other and eventually narrowed it down to 4 amendments. Want to know something? The 4 that we had narrowed our “wish list” down to, WERE ALREADY ADDRESSED IN THE 2017 BILL! At that time, nobody (Emery County) wanted to listen to WHAT we wanted. The bill from 2017 to the bill of 2018 CHANGED SO MUCH that we (as participating shareholders, should have been INVITED to discuss with them) Our local politicians don’t seem to want to fight for what we believe in. They simply created a bill they thought would pass Congress.
I’m currently being labeled as “the bad guy (gal)” by the Emery County Commission. I AM NOT THE ENEMY!!! We all know that RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS are the source of all the conflict. All I want from Emery County Commissioners some assurance in the actual end bill will grant that my grandkids can be out on the desert trails with their MACHINES. (And hopefully, I’m around to go out and enjoy the area with them!)
Many Carbon County folks just rode over to Lindon, Utah to attend a Town Hall, sponsored by the Lone Peak 4-Wheelers, and we came home very disappointed in what the future holds for motorized recreation. Congressman Curtis was there, as well as Ron Dean from Senator Hatch’s office, Emery County Commissioners Lynn Sitterud and Kent Wilson, as well as Ray Petersen. That says a lot about trying to clear up misconceptions about the bill…..but in the end we were given two choices. Take the bill as is, or expect the monument to come into place.
I think…..no, I believe, that it seems to take MANY PAGES of pretty words, (most of which goes around and around in circles) trying to get to a BOTTOM LINE. Most of the time, these words dodge the “task at hand”. The wheels of government turns slow, right? Apparently it’s because someone is always trying to rearrange the words, trying to “confuse” the reader that the bottom line is changed. It’s not. The bottom line is that motorized recreation isn’t wanted in the same sphere as non-motorized. And big money (to radically expand Wilderness) talks persuasion to the world that motorized recreation isn’t a responsible form of recreation. So they need to eliminate it off the face of the earth. Right? Well, I think finally…..the rest of the world is starting to see that there is BIG MONEY in motorized recreation. And I hope somehow, somewhere, someday……someone will wake up and see through the fiasco we are being told to accept.
Joan Powell
Wellington
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