Comments about ‘Letter: National monuments’

Thank you, Jim, for a great letter.

Gov. Herbert and Rob Bishop won't be satisfied until they have turned Utah's beauty over to those wishing to profit from destruction of Utah's beauty.

I visited Dinosaur land in 1995 and there was a sign there showing what land of Utah was government owned. It was over 80%. I find that shocking. It seems socialistic for that much land to be held in common.

What if the federal government seized all of the historic lands on the east coast? Philadelphia, Manhattan, Boston, etc. Then the federal government tells the people who live there they can no longer do business or there live there. It is government owned and residents are interfering with the government needs to preserve the historic nature of those areas. There would be mass rebellion, for good reason.

It is no better when they tell us what we can and can't do with our lands in the west. We Utahans are intelligent adults. We are the ones who live here. We can manage our lands better than the clueless bureaucrats in the federal government.

Grand Staircase National Monument has not been an economic boon to Kanab.

Christian 24-7 said: We Utahans are intelligent adults. We are the ones who live here. We can manage our lands better than the clueless bureaucrats in the federal government.

I disagree strongly as your post demonstrates the inability to grasp the simple concept that it belongs to all of US not the Fed's who are also US, not the local yahoo's in office who are interested in short sighted real estate gains.

Nobody is seizing anything it was never YOURS it was always OURS get over your conservative selfishness, not everything should be privately owned for profit.

Re: "National Monuments are useful tools to stop threats."

Yeah, threats. That's what nameless, faceless, motherless, back-East bureaucrats consider us.

Threats. To lands we have cherished, and preserved, and wisely used for 160+ years.

Now out-of-state back-East and Left-Coast liberals, like the writer, and, in particular, Obama regime bureaucrats, feel a need to step in and save them.

From us.

It's just sad.

Christian, perhaps you should do some research. There are national monuments and other historic sites in Philadelphia, and in Manhattan and in Boston and many other places.

Flash, have you checked any numbers to support that claim? It's false.

Happy Valley, your post was fine except for one thing. I really wonder how many Utahns are intelligent enough to understand what you say. After all, they keep voting for people like Rob Bishop.

And Procura, someone has to protect Utah's beauty from folks you covet only dollars and can't recognize beauty. And that certainly is sad.

There are some in Kanab who believe that the only important thing to them is, as Cowboy Ted stated a couple years ago, "Heads in beds". Never mind that in paving, drilling, roughshod riding, the Natural Beauty that no human can restore, ever, will be destroyed. Some in Kanab understand that taking care of what we've been given for FREE is important. The odd epithet
of "out-of-state... East or Left..." is a coverup used by those who don't want to understand that they cannot restore beauty once gone. Nor do they understand that fresh, clean water
is important to them and all the lives it supports or that clean air is important to human life. That without all the life forms around humans , humans would be dead as well. The good folks in Utah working to help others understand don't get the press those do who believe that name calling is more important than working toward some sort of common good for the benefit of themselves as well. Thank God some men and women have clear vision!

Great letter!

Old Man,

I did some research before I posted. There were conflicting numbers on the amount of federal land, and the sign, which was part of the monument so it was the government's info, had the number I gave. 80% did include state owned lands, but most of that was federal.

Yes there are small pockets of monuments back east, but not 80% of the land area. I can see the government having ownership and control of 20%. It is the gross amount of government land I object to. I also object to the mismanagement, and the lack of sensitivity and understanding for the needs of those who live in the west.

Christian, when you wrote: "I also object to the mismanagement" Did you really know what you were saying? Or were you referring to the constant overgrazing of privately owned ranchland? Or the flow of pollutants into our waterways from Utah farms, ranches and manufacturers?

And when you wrote, "understanding for the needs of those who live in the west," didn't you use the wrong word? Shouldn't "needs" be replaced with "greed?"

"It's just a shame Bishop is so poorly informed..."

Yep. That's pretty much it right there.

I attended a meeting at Weber State University last year at which Rep. Bishop was asked, "Isn't it one of NASA's jobs to provide expert scientific testimony to congress on science policy issues?" Bishop's response was, and this is a direct quote, "Yeah, but it doesn't mean we have to buy it."

That's more than being poorly informed, that's downright willful ignorance.

Yeah I guess I am greedy. I think we can run some fantastic state parks, and have the state benefit from that. I think we can better utilize the forest land while still preserving it. I want resources developed responsibly and have the taxes help support our schools. I want the water usage decided on local and regional boards with consideration of farmers, instead of having the feds tell us we have to send it all to Las Vegas so all their swimming pools can be full. I think we should be able to decide whether or not we want dams in Utah to provide electricity for Los Angeles.

I guess I am selfish enough to think that Utahans have great hearts and are more in touch with local realities and should be able to self determine more. Weird huh?

Or maybe I just see how messed up things are on the national level and how much better off Utah is in spite of national issues, and I am nervy enough to think that in Utah we are more likely to get it right with less federal interference.

Christian we are not an Island, former Utahns and politicians who knew better like yourself, signed deals about how best to Share our water and electricity, for a few bucks and now it's not enough, now you think like Chavez we should take back all those treaties?

We're down stream too, look at a map.

What about those 100,000 holes still open in Utah from the last century of mining, and the supersite clean-ups, guess Utah can pick-up those tabs too.

We are a Nation - The United States of America not the Individual States of America when our guy isn't in the White House.

Dear Mr. Baca, Please consider moving to Utah and running for office here. We could really benefit from a more balanced and informed perspective, unlike the myopic views of the boorish morons who run this state now.