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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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10b4me, not trying along with assuming serves no purpose.
I appreciate your links Ed Hartouni. I can tackle these. Just hoping that someone who knew the issues for each area could compose a letter. It would be more effective.
We all must press on, take time and tackle these issues. Our land is more than important, not just for us but all the following generations.
From what I understand, Big Ears is the first to come under review. It needs our support immediately. If we are not, as a huge concerned group, working together we may not win the debate. Let's get it on!
Haven't seen anything on ST from the Sierra Club. They are most likely involved. I will check them out tonight.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument
What HORSE SH*T!
A PRIVATE individual CONTRIBUTED *THEIR OWN PRIVATE PROPERTY* to the PEOPLE OF AMERICA on the condition that it be designated as a Monument- so that it would be preserved forever, and this was done.
This was NOT the gov't going out and TAKING anything, you liar.
So here we see what the conservative side is really about: not allowing a private landowner to do what they want with their land. You may think it is your land that you live on, but the GOP considers it THEIRS, if they can make a buck off it!
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
SLO, Ca
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Ken M is correct. The Maine parcel is donated, and will revert to private ownership if its monument status is revoked. But who cares about facts?
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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I'd prefer to see these lands remain under Federal control. I know some of the right wing extremists want these lands turned over to the states. In the Comb Ridge area of the Bears Ears, last Fall the state of Utah sold a 400 acre or so parcel off to a private individual who put up a locked gate, effectively complicating access to a major portion of the southern part of the monument,
I do know that in the 1950s there was extensive exploration for uranium in the Vermilion Cliffs (and other parts of the Plateau). I've no idea the grade of ore found, but with Trumps apparent urge to build up our nuclear arsenal perhaps this is a reason it could be on the chopping block? (It's hard for me to tell with Trump with so much of what he says being lies).
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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I've no idea the grade of ore found, but with Trumps apparent urge to build up our nuclear arsenal perhaps this is a reason it could be on the chopping block?
no need to dig more of it out of the ground, there is plenty enough already processed in the very unlikely case that the stockpile will be "rebuilt"
the only scenario for the future mining of uranium would be a resurgence of the nuclear power industry
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Thanks Ed. I suspect one of the reasons so many of these areas are "under consideration" is the hatred of the Fed government by many citizens of northern AZ and southern UT (predominately of the Mormon religion). Many of them seem to consider monument designation a "Federal land grab".
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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I spent a weekend in the San Rafael Swell a couple of weeks ago, and the ATVs were all flying "Don't Tread On Me" flags.
It's a beautiful place and basically wide open in terms of what you can do out there, I can understand why they might want to keep it as it is. I'd recommend being out there earlier in the spring, and on the weekdays to get a sense of the place without the roar of internal combustion engines, or the bang of rifles.
It would also be nice if the "bubba-glyphs" were on separate cliffs from the archeological sites.
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Hawking has revised his timetable for getting off Earth to 100 years.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Of course, Ed and Lynn are right. It is certainly worth writing. It will do no harm and may do some good.
Interestingly, I heard an interview on NPR the other day. They interviewed someone from the Navajo tribe, who said that the vast majority of the Native Americans support the designation (in contrast to the person who worked in tourist office in Blandings, who opposed it) and that they've been seeking protection for some time.
My quick glance of the statute is that it does not provide create any authority to revoke a prior designation. However, this administration has a dim view of the law. It may try, fail, and then blame the judiciary for doing its job.
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JerryA
Mountain climber
Sacramento,CA
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Looks like the newest plot to double the membership of the Sierra Club since James G. Watt served as Sec.Interior in 1981-1983 .
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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For what it's worth, my first letter is almost done. I encourage others to not sit back and gripe but at least write a letter. If everyone that is not in favor of the current admin. wrote a letter it would make a difference. Complacency.....can we afford it in any important part of our lives?
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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The Freeman Grove stands in the Freeman Creek Drainage, between The Needles and Hermit Spire. This is the largest grove of Giant Sequoia trees outside of a National Park which has not been logged.
From the USFS website:
Freeman Creek Grove (4,192 acres), also known as Lloyd Meadow Grove, is the largest unlogged grove outside of a National Park. This grove is the easternmost grove of giant sequoias and is considered to be among the most recently established. The sequoias are mainly south of Freeman Creek with approximately 800 large trees (10 feet in diameter or more).
Commercial logging in the area came to a stop after President Clinton established the Giant Sequoia Nat. Monument, which was formerly a National Forest.
Giant Sequoia is on the list of Monuments under review.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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An interesting thing about National Monuments:
When the proclamation is issued by a President, the decision is made as to which Federal Department will manage the place. The eligible agencies are: National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or BLM.
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Don Paul
Big Wall climber
Denver CO
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From the Department of the Interior News:
Agency suspends advisory panels even as decisions loom
The Bureau of Land Management has told members of its 30 resource advisory councils (RACs) to postpone scheduled meetings through at least September as part of the new national review of Interior's advisory panels, both internal and external. ...
The timing means some land management recommendations — including a high-profile review of national monuments — will be completed without the advisory panels' input. ..
President Trump in the last month has signed a number of executive orders, including one requiring the review of all policies that may "potentially burden" energy production activity on federal lands.
Trump last week also signed one requiring Interior to review the boundaries of dozens of national monuments designated within the last two decades and to decide whether they should be altered or eliminated (Greenwire, April 26).
That executive order is targeted at more than 30 national monuments designated since 1996 that comprise at least 100,000 acres. It will initially focus on the fate of the recently designated 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument but will ultimately include sites like the 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, both in Utah.
That executive order requires Zinke to submit a report with his recommendations on the national monuments to the president within 120 days, before the Interior review of the advisory committees and boards is completed and the postponement of the meetings lifted.
That means the Utah resource advisory council that provides recommendations to BLM on management of the 22.9 million acres of federal public lands in the state will not weigh in on the national monument issue; neither, presumably, will the members of the agency's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument advisory committee. ...
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Looks like the newest plot to double the membership of the Sierra Club since James G. Watt served as Sec.Interior in 1981-1983 .
If so, it's working. Membership in the Angeles Chapter is increasing.
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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This will be jointly run by the BLM and the Forest Service. As I said before, grazing, wood cutting, ATV riding, will all still be allowed.
I know the subsurface geology of the area, and it isn't very attractive.
There are also no coal seams, from what I've read and seen.
Nothing will really change. Those rules have been in effect for much of the area for decades.
The eastern part is pretty close to Blanding. If it were confined to the area west of Comb Ridge, there would be less bitching.
A lot of people in the west just despise the federal government. That's it. During the first Bundy siege, in Nevada, the Blanding locals drove their ATV's down Recapture Pocket (I believe that is the name). It is a canyon that the BLM closed to vehicular traffic due to all of the ruins.
Another time, to prevent a wilderness listing, one of those SE Utah counties took a road grader and put in a dirt road, to stop the Wilderness designation.
Look at Moab. It is booming from tourism. Now I do miss the old days, when it was a sleepy mining bust town, business has gone up a thousand percent since then.
Likewise, the area west of Blanding is some of the coolest country in the whole plateau. The local don't really use it, and now most of the canyon country is now protected to some degree or other. The Bears Ear monument will not hamper any existing activity or use.
That is what most of Bears Ears is. It protects some incredible paleo sites.
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Pete_N
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Thanks for the alert and the information. What can folks who know tell us about the protections that DO come with National Monument designation? It sounds like some hunting, fishing, even grazing are allowed, presumably with the same level of regulation that you'd expect anywhere in the country, but what is the conservation benefit? Frankly, I worry less about mineral extractions and fracking than I do about the OHV use and damage to Native American sites, but maybe I have things backwards.
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
SLO, Ca
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Protections given to monuments vary, and depend on the proclamation and subsequent management plans and regulations established by the managing agency. Typically existing rights are preserved, including mineral, timber and grazing rights. Monuments are not wilderness designations and are not national parks and plenty of people and groups do not think monument status is sufficiently protective.
In my opinion cows cause the most widespread harm. They destroy riparian habitat, knock over ruins and crap out meadows. Making matters worse, there is no real economic benefit to anyone from public lands grazing, including the cattle owners who are essentially on welfare (or are actually on welfare in many cases).
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Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
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I was in Salt Lake City for a few days helping my son work on his house, we went to two rallies on this issue. This picture is from the Saturday event at the capitol, Sunday we were on the street when Zinke came in for a meeting and press conference. There are a lot of people in Utah fired up over the issue, and it's a broad coalition. The inter-tribal cooperation to bring about the Bears Ears monument is nothing less than remarkable. I hadn't realized the review period is bookended by two Utah Monuments: Escalante-Grand Staircase is the oldest monument up for review.
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Jkruse
Trad climber
Las Cruces, NM
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http://www.fieldandstream.com/keep-public-lands-in-public-hands
Good article on the subject that reflects the wide ranging groups and perspectives that are opposed to this bull sh#t. Preserving public lands should be a non-partisan issue. I spend time in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks multiple times a week--climbing, biking, and hiking. Guaranteed Zinke and Trump and most likely everyone else involved in this legislation have never set foot here. The monument has overwhelming support from the local communities. These numb skulls need to leave this issue alone.
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