12-29-2016, 03:30 PM
The Bears Ears and Elk Mountain are some of the most beautiful areas in our awesome state. This monument designation will do nothing to improve that and will do many things to harm it, in my opinion. I fully realize I am in the minority here as a rural rancher. But I will attempt to explain my position in a more professional manner if you will do this little peon the great honor of listening from your throne of greatness[
]? (Kidding and just being a hard headed rancher)
I value open spaces. My life has been spent along the Utah/Nevada border where some days I am the only truck on the two-track road for 100 miles. The desert vistas, the extreme remoteness, the connection with the land are all sacred and part of my being. Contrast that with a trip into SLC. Concrete, crowds, noise, pollution, air traffic, freeways. While I am grateful for the amenities and conveniences in the city, I simply cannot wait to return to the desert. That is not a shot at any of you fine folks who choose to live in a city. I guess we are all wired differently and that is part of who we all are. But hopefully you can understand the differences in our lives on a daily basis?
Making the Bears Ears a monument goes against everything that I find of value. Yellowstone is a perfect example. World class scenery and wildlife and geology completely ruined, in my opinion, by boardwalks and souvenir stands and buses and guided tours and 1000 other things that ruin the wilderness that was meant to be saved. Standing 8 deep at a paved overlook being told by a ranger how beautiful Yellowstone falls are is my definition of hell. Contrast that with a pack trip in the back country of Yellowstone. Far less people, far less hassles and infinitely more enjoyable.
This monument is the end of generations of public land grazing. You will say that I am wrong, but let me explain. Monument status will complicate at best and eradicate, at worst, any improvements needed for grazing. Water lines, water developments, improving springs, installing or repairing water troughs all require backhoes or other equipment. It almost takes an act of congress to do those things on a normal public land grazing permit. Monument status brings those things to an end. This I know from my conversations with my peers, who try to continue ranching in the Grand Staircase monument. Those of you who oppose public land grazing allotments will applaud that. But think about the countless benefits projects like those I mentioned have for wildlife, non-game wildlife and the environment itself. Spreading our the water across the ecosystem have many benefits. It keeps all animals from having to congregate at a single source of water. They can utilize the natural grasses and forbs and browse across the entire area instead of over grazing small areas and leaving other place untouched because of the distance to water. I will always champion the rights of ranchers to use the public grazing allotments THEY OWN and to make improvements to those allotments. And I will champion the benefits of grazing from fire suppression to wildlife habitat improvement. This monument will drastically effect ranchers ability to stay in business and it will harm wildlife as improvements and repairs to water systems are stopped. It will be detrimental to small agriculture based communities just like the Staircase has been.
A small minority of the Native American activists, the SUWA and a few other "wilderness groups" have said that without protection, rampant vandalism and looting will take place? How will a monument stop or prevent that? Can I remind you that vandals still strike all the time in state and national parks? Remember the idiots who toppled rocks in Goblin Valley State park? Or the Hollywood star who carved their name at the Grand Canyon? Or a bunch of other acts of stupidity you hear about every year? NONE OF THAT CHANGES! And this new monument will be promoted and advertised by everyone from the Utah Travel Council to the Ute Tribal Association chasing greenback dollars from camera toting tourists! How will that keep Native American Sacred lands Sacred?
I am passionate about this issue and if my passion came across as unprofessional I am sorry. But if you can name anything that the federal government touches that they don't make worse, I'd be much obliged. From Amtrack to the USPS, from Social Security to Hurricane Katrina, everything they decide to manage is a fiasco. Their management of our National Parks is ridiculous and simply a debt sinkhole. How will the Bears Ears National Monument be any different?
Fatbiker,
You mentioned the Bundy family and then proceeded to lump all ranchers together with them. At least that is how I read your comment. A very small percentage of folks who fish have no disregard for fishing rules and regulations. They surely don't represent all of the rest of us as sportsmen do they? Please do not allow the actions of a few, to over-ride the rest of ranching families throughout the west, who do things the right way, and do their very best to be caretakers and thoughtful stewards of the land!
My comment on Long Island was meant in sarcasm folks. But why do we insist on only "saving" the west? Can you imagine Long Island before Columbus "discovered" America? I bet it was a paradise. Why can't we "save" it like the Bears Ears? Those of us in Rural areas feel like Washingon D.C. and even Utah State politicians have abandoned us with actions like this. It attacks our livelyhoods, it attacks our family, and it attacks a land we have spent generations preserving and supporting. These are my words. They come from someone many will call out of touch or old fashioned. I am all for progress and always try to think outside the box and see things from all perspectives. But I simply cannot see how the Bears Ears National Monument can be anything but another federally managed disaster.
You folks have a fine day, whether you agree with me or not. That is America's greatest gift, the freedom to disagree.
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]? (Kidding and just being a hard headed rancher) I value open spaces. My life has been spent along the Utah/Nevada border where some days I am the only truck on the two-track road for 100 miles. The desert vistas, the extreme remoteness, the connection with the land are all sacred and part of my being. Contrast that with a trip into SLC. Concrete, crowds, noise, pollution, air traffic, freeways. While I am grateful for the amenities and conveniences in the city, I simply cannot wait to return to the desert. That is not a shot at any of you fine folks who choose to live in a city. I guess we are all wired differently and that is part of who we all are. But hopefully you can understand the differences in our lives on a daily basis?
Making the Bears Ears a monument goes against everything that I find of value. Yellowstone is a perfect example. World class scenery and wildlife and geology completely ruined, in my opinion, by boardwalks and souvenir stands and buses and guided tours and 1000 other things that ruin the wilderness that was meant to be saved. Standing 8 deep at a paved overlook being told by a ranger how beautiful Yellowstone falls are is my definition of hell. Contrast that with a pack trip in the back country of Yellowstone. Far less people, far less hassles and infinitely more enjoyable.
This monument is the end of generations of public land grazing. You will say that I am wrong, but let me explain. Monument status will complicate at best and eradicate, at worst, any improvements needed for grazing. Water lines, water developments, improving springs, installing or repairing water troughs all require backhoes or other equipment. It almost takes an act of congress to do those things on a normal public land grazing permit. Monument status brings those things to an end. This I know from my conversations with my peers, who try to continue ranching in the Grand Staircase monument. Those of you who oppose public land grazing allotments will applaud that. But think about the countless benefits projects like those I mentioned have for wildlife, non-game wildlife and the environment itself. Spreading our the water across the ecosystem have many benefits. It keeps all animals from having to congregate at a single source of water. They can utilize the natural grasses and forbs and browse across the entire area instead of over grazing small areas and leaving other place untouched because of the distance to water. I will always champion the rights of ranchers to use the public grazing allotments THEY OWN and to make improvements to those allotments. And I will champion the benefits of grazing from fire suppression to wildlife habitat improvement. This monument will drastically effect ranchers ability to stay in business and it will harm wildlife as improvements and repairs to water systems are stopped. It will be detrimental to small agriculture based communities just like the Staircase has been.
A small minority of the Native American activists, the SUWA and a few other "wilderness groups" have said that without protection, rampant vandalism and looting will take place? How will a monument stop or prevent that? Can I remind you that vandals still strike all the time in state and national parks? Remember the idiots who toppled rocks in Goblin Valley State park? Or the Hollywood star who carved their name at the Grand Canyon? Or a bunch of other acts of stupidity you hear about every year? NONE OF THAT CHANGES! And this new monument will be promoted and advertised by everyone from the Utah Travel Council to the Ute Tribal Association chasing greenback dollars from camera toting tourists! How will that keep Native American Sacred lands Sacred?
I am passionate about this issue and if my passion came across as unprofessional I am sorry. But if you can name anything that the federal government touches that they don't make worse, I'd be much obliged. From Amtrack to the USPS, from Social Security to Hurricane Katrina, everything they decide to manage is a fiasco. Their management of our National Parks is ridiculous and simply a debt sinkhole. How will the Bears Ears National Monument be any different?
Fatbiker,
You mentioned the Bundy family and then proceeded to lump all ranchers together with them. At least that is how I read your comment. A very small percentage of folks who fish have no disregard for fishing rules and regulations. They surely don't represent all of the rest of us as sportsmen do they? Please do not allow the actions of a few, to over-ride the rest of ranching families throughout the west, who do things the right way, and do their very best to be caretakers and thoughtful stewards of the land!
My comment on Long Island was meant in sarcasm folks. But why do we insist on only "saving" the west? Can you imagine Long Island before Columbus "discovered" America? I bet it was a paradise. Why can't we "save" it like the Bears Ears? Those of us in Rural areas feel like Washingon D.C. and even Utah State politicians have abandoned us with actions like this. It attacks our livelyhoods, it attacks our family, and it attacks a land we have spent generations preserving and supporting. These are my words. They come from someone many will call out of touch or old fashioned. I am all for progress and always try to think outside the box and see things from all perspectives. But I simply cannot see how the Bears Ears National Monument can be anything but another federally managed disaster.
You folks have a fine day, whether you agree with me or not. That is America's greatest gift, the freedom to disagree.
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