Archive for category Wilderness
‘Take Back Utah’ Redux
Posted by Richard Warnick in Activist groups, Conservative, Environment, Gary Herbert, Jason Chaffetz, Mike Lee, Public Lands, Rob Bishop, This Blog, Utah Politics, Wilderness on August 28, 2010
Congressional candidate Morgan Philpot speaking at “Take Back Utah” rally
Maybe “Sagebrush Rebellion II” is losing momentum. At 1:00 pm, I counted no more than 300 people at the second “Take Back Utah” rally today at the State Capitol. The Salt Lake Tribune said there were 5,200 participants in an earlier ATV parade up State Street, but nearly all of them were gone by the time the politicians showed up to speak.
The complaint seemed to be how terribly unfair it is that Utah is blessed with millions of acres of uninhabitable but breathtakingly beautiful public lands. Governor Gary Herbert was the keynote speaker, complaining that there aren’t enough places to ride ATVs in Utah. Rep. Rob Bishop alleged that the Obama administration is plotting to proclaim more national monuments. A video from Rep. Jason Chaffetz seconded that suspicion. Congressional candidate Morgan Philpot also spoke briefly.
Lobbyist Don Peay told us of his preference to get rid of wild wolves in the West, before they eat all the game animals that hunters want to shoot (that’s his theory, anyway).
There were more speakers, but they all offered variations on the same theme: the federal government should not protect land but give it away — to state governments, to ranchers, to the mining industry, to the petroleum industry, to the timber industry, and to irresponsible off-roaders. That’s taking Utah back, all right — to the 19th Century.
More info:
Salt Lake Tribune: Thousands of off-road enthusiasts ride to the Capitol
Deseret News: 5,000 rally to ‘Take Back’ Utah’s public lands
KSL-TV: Thousands of outdoor enthusiasts set out to ‘Take Back Utah’
Related One Utah posts:
Back in the Sagebrush Again (August 8, 2009)
The Sagebrush Rebels Are Back Again (July 28, 2009)
Mike Lee vs. The Constitution
Posted by Richard Warnick in Mike Lee, Public Lands, Tea Bag Party, The Constitution, This Blog, Utah Legislature, Utah Politics, Wilderness, utah on August 9, 2010
U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2:
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
The Constitution’s Property Clause has always been interpreted to mean that Congress has the sole power over federal lands. This is why wilderness areas can only be designated by an act of Congress.
Mike Lee, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, thinks he has found a loophole that gives states the power to block public land policy. “Before Congress passes any law declaring wilderness,” he said, “the state Legislature should sign off on it.”
Doug Kendall and Matthew Cagle of the Constitutional Accountability Center:
One of the most bizarre claims made by a Tea Party-endorsed candidate has come from Mike Lee, who’s running for the U.S. Senate from Utah. According to Mr. Lee, the Constitution’s “enclave clause” gives Utah the power of eminent domain over federal lands within the state’s borders. Recently, the theory was incorporated into Utah law.
To which the only plausible response as a constitutional matter is: what is Mike Lee talking about? If you’ve never heard of the “enclave clause,” don’t feel bad, neither had we, and we make a living studying the Constitution…
Actually the “enclave clause” appears in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. It applies to land ceded to the federal government by the states “for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings.” On such transferred land, the U.S. Congress has the power of “exclusive legislation,” just as it does in Washington, D.C.
Nearly all the federal lands in Utah have always been owned by the federal government and, accordingly, are governed by Article IV’s Property Clause. Because the “enclave clause” only concerns state transfers of land to the U.S. government for a limited number of purposes, it does not apply to the vast majority of federal lands in Utah. After all, Utah never had the chance to consent to federal control over these lands because they were property of the U.S. government before Utah’s statehood. Utah “disclaim[ed] all right and title” to them in order to join the union.
Lee has the endorsement of “Take Back Utah,” a group of people who claim they are running out of places to ride their ATVs, but basically are just neo-sagebrush-rebels who hate federal land ownership and jurisdiction. It’s a project of USA-ALL (they want it all) Executive Director Mike Swenson.
Related One Utah posts:
Mike Lee: Taxpayers Ought to Bail Out BP (June 25, 2010)
Back in the Sagebrush Again (August 8, 2009)
The Sagebrush Rebels Are Back Again (July 28, 2009)
Weekend Trip to the San Rafael Swell
Posted by Richard Warnick in National Parks, Public Lands, This Blog, Wilderness, utah on July 19, 2010
Dutchman’s Arch
Last weekend, I went to the San Rafael Swell because I hadn’t been there in a while, and it’s close enough to the Wasatch Front that you don’t need to take time off from work. In the summer, the San Rafael is free from the annoying swarms of ATV riders — even on weekends.
I once spent three seasons running the BLM visitor center at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in the northern Swell. I’ve spent a lot of time up there, so it made sense to go south this trip. We spent Friday night in Green River, then headed west on Interstate 70.
First stop was the oddly-named Head of Sinbad. There are some great Barrier Canyon style pictographs there. On my first trip, more than 20 years ago, I rode in the back of an old Toyota Land Cruiser with some rock art experts. Years later, I went back and couldn’t find the location among so many similar cliff faces. This time, I looked it up on the Web. You have to drive under I-70 in a tunnel to get there. There’s a neat natural arch nearby, Dutchman’s Arch.
Head of Sinbad is a big area, and there are lots of other pictograph sites, some marked by the BLM and others unmarked. And a visit to Swasey’s Cabin at the head of Eagle Canyon is a must.
Didn’t have much of a plan, but the empty roads of the San Rafael have a way of leading you on. Going further south, pretty soon we were only 15 miles from Tomsich Butte and Hondoo Arch, so why not go there? Luckily an afternoon thunderstorm didn’t make the switchbacks too slippery, and it was a good time to check out Muddy Creek and the entrance to The Chute. Usually ankle deep, Muddy Creek can be kayaked in the Spring.
From Tomsich, we headed east to Temple Mountain, a ghost town founded in 1910, abandoned and re-occupied in the 1950s during the uranium boom. It’s now a BLM picnic area. This is the San Rafael Reef, the spectacular eastern edge of the Swell.
The Behind The Reef Road heads south from Temple Mountain, and forms the west boundary of the Crack Canyon Wilderness Study Area. This road leads to trailheads at Crack Canyon and Chute Canyon, and also crosses Wild Horse Canyon. This was not a hiking trip, so we didn’t look for the pictographs in Wild Horse that I’d like too find someday. I once did a one-way hike down Chute Canyon, an easy walk. Further south along the Reef are Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyons, a popular loop hike.
The next day, we backtracked to Temple Mountain and the paved road through the Reef, stopping to look at the beautiful Temple Wash pictograph panel. Then a visit to Goblin Valley State Park. South of Goblin Valley, the road parallels the Reef and turns into a 4WD route. A BLM sign warns that it’s “not maintained and may be impassable.”
The 4WD route follows Little Wild Horse Canyon, then abruptly climbs onto Little Wild Horse Mesa and heads toward Factory Butte and Highway 24. There was an easy (at this water level) crossing of Muddy Creek downstream from where it exits the Reef in a towering gorge. On the highway, we turned west and made some stops in Capitol Reef National Park, then for lunch in Torrey. And that’s what I call a quick trip.
More pictures…
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Rafting Desolation and Gray Canyons
Posted by Richard Warnick in Energy, Environment, Public Lands, Racism, This Blog, Wilderness, utah on June 15, 2010
Gathering storm – Desolation Canyon
The first adventure in any river trip down Desolation and Gray Canyons of the Green River is getting to the put-in at Sand Wash, on a pretty rough route through Uinta Basin gas fields that often results in flat tires even if you’re careful. We pulled over to let a couple of trucks from Wyoming pass, one emblazoned with “Deso or Bust.” They took off in a cloud of dust, but guess who we saw again later putting on a spare by the side of the road?
Rumor has it that some scientist once declared Sand Wash to be one of the five most mosquito-infested places on the planet. Fortunately, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) provides screen shelters for those staying overnight. Each is named for a member of the 1869 John Wesley Powell expedition- we stayed in “Bradley,” (after George Bradley, a soldier at Fort Bridger who agreed to accompany Powell in an exchange for a discharge from the United States Army that Powell arranged for him). Light rain sprinkled the shelter roof after dark, a reminder the weather forecast wasn’t that good.
In the morning, the BLM ranger on hand to inspect our boat and gear turned out to be Paul LaFontaine, who I first met back in 1984 when he was the river ranger at Westwater Canyon and I was a Student Conservation Association volunteer. He gave us a thorough rundown on the rapids ahead, several of which have become a lot bigger since I last saw them 22 years ago. I wish I asked more questions about campsites, because it turned out a couple of the ones I had in mind were impossible to land at during high water. And the Green was running high at 20,000 cfs (cubic feet per second).
I traded my permit papers for a boat tag, and we were off. Fast. My planned 14-mile day turned into 18, because that’s how far we had to go to find a campsite that wasn’t under water. The river flowed quietly, and the buzzing of millions of mosquitoes could be heard. Caught a glimpse of four wild horses, before landing opposite Stampede Flat. We barbecued a steak, partly to justify the required (and heavy) fire pan. More light rain overnight.
The second day we made it to Mushroom Rock, one of the rock art sites I remembered well from before. It was a nice lunch spot under a gnarled old cottonwood tree. In the afternoon clouds rolled in, but we spotted a deer in the trees close to the left bank of the river, and a group of bighorn sheep scrambling down a rock slide– dislodging some small boulders that clattered down the steep slope. We found a nice beach to camp on at the foot of a minor rapid.
On our way to the next day’s first stop at Flat Canyon, we spotted an elk among the trees. The Flat Canyon area apparently experience a wildfire a few years ago, which replaced sagebrush with bunch grasses that make good elk winter range. Hiked over to see the petroglyphs, probably the most artistic panel in Desolation Canyon. Then we ran Steer Ridge Rapid, which at high water has a fairly awesome wave train. An unavoidable big wave broke over the raft, which I’m happy to say is self-bailing (and everything was tied down). The sun came out in the afternoon, but there was more rain at dinner time. Our umbrella was pressed into service as a rain shelter.
Day four began with a stop at Rock Creek Ranch, and a hike up the creek to another petroglyph panel with scenic views of the canyon. The American flag at the ranch marks the halfway point of Desolation/Gray. It reminds me of the flag that waves proudly at Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon. After days of comparative solitude we caught up with quite a few other groups, including one from Outward Bound. Now we started seeing some really dark, menacing clouds that made us break out the rain gear. The storm caught up with us at Snap Canyon Rapid and delivered high winds and a stinging barrage of pea-sized hail. Ouch. Found a good camp after some searching, because all the landing spots were taken for miles. Hard rain overnight.
Next up– Joe Hutch Canyon Rapid, which became a big deal in 2008 when the canyon delivered a huge flash flood that chucked house-sized rocks into the river. This one involved a mandatory scouting, landing on the right and going down to see the waves from below. But we got through just fine, then ran Wire Fence and Three Fords Rapids in quick succession. The latter has to be scouted at low water, but now all the rocks are inundated.
Below Three Fords, there were lots of normally tame rapids (and some riffles) that turned into roller-coaster waves. We made good time, only to discover that the landing at the camp below Coal Creek Rapid was impossible. And the rest of the camps were either drowned out or taken. The beach at Nefertiti was the only option, with three groups already there.
The run to Swasey’s Beach was easy except for some powerful eddies that almost qualified as whirlpools, sending the boat upstream until we could punch through the eddy line again and regain the main current. For some reason, this last stretch of Gray Canyon was a terrific place to spot Great Blue Herons. And that was Deso/Gray, June 2010.
See the continuation for more pictures.
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Desolation and Gray Canyons
Posted by Richard Warnick in Energy, Environment, Public Lands, This Blog, Wilderness, utah on June 8, 2010
I’m planning another escape from the blogosphere and the 24-hour news cycle. I’ll be floating Desolation and Gray Canyons on the Green River, followed by the traditional stop at Ray’s Tavern for cheeseburgers.
Desolation Canyon has a rich history. People of the prehistoric Fremont culture inhabited the canyon and the surrounding Tavaputs Plateau from about 200 to 1300 CE. They might have been the ancestors of the present-day Ute Tribe, which owns the land along the east side of the river.
The canyon was named by John Wesley Powell. During two river expeditions in 1869 and 1871, Powell’s men mapped the Green River for the first time before heading down the Colorado to the Grand Canyon.
Desolation Canyon is the largest wilderness study area in Utah, which makes it probably the greatest un-designated wilderness in the lower 48 states. Despite the popularity of this remote and beautiful stretch of the Green, Congress has not gotten around to giving it a wild river designation. The “Deso” trip from Sand Wash to Swaseys Beach is 84 river miles and includes about 50 small to medium sized rapids.
The Tavaputs Plateau is also loaded with oil shale, which means the corporations want to open up strip mines.
Next time: pictures and a river trip log.
More info:
“Green River: Divided Waters” KUED documentary
Desolation Canyon BLM wilderness study report and map (PDF)
The Right: ‘Avatar’ Is ‘Super Mega Ultra Left-Wing’
Posted by Richard Warnick in American History, Conservatives, Entertainment, Environment, Foreign Policy, National Politics, People Are Nuts, Rachel Maddow, Racism, Space, This Blog, War, Wilderness on December 16, 2009
James Cameron’s Avatar
One of the most-anticipated movies of the year is James Cameron’s “Avatar.” The story is set on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system, 4.3 light years from Earth. Humans want to: (1) eradicate the blue-skinned natives and their civilization, which thrives in harmony with nature, and (2) open up strip mines.
Perhaps not surprisingly, right-wing commentators have immediately leaped to the defense of genocide and the rape of natural resources.
AllahPundit: “Super mega ultra left-wing… A three-hour lecture on imperialism starring Smurfs.”
Breitbart.com: “Think of ‘Avatar’ as ‘Death Wish 5′ for leftists. A simplistic, revisionist revenge fantasy where if you freakin’ hate the bad guys (America), you’re able to forgive the by-the-numbers predictability of it all and still get off watching them get what they got coming.”
Jeffrey Wells: “Not right-wing friendly… Call it the most flamboyant, costliest, grandest left-liberal super-movie anyone’s ever seen… totally pro-loincloth, pro-native, despise-the-greedy, hug-the-earth, worship-the-earth, down with the soulless short-end, down with the us-first, masters-of-the-universe thinking behind the Goldman Sachs/Timothy Geithner culture and up with the eternal/spiritual in all cultures and all corners of the globe. The tragedy of the Vietnam War echoes all through this film. Somewhere Ho Chi Minh is smiling.”
John Nolte: “Set in 2154, “Avatar” is a thinly disguised, heavy-handed and simplistic sci-fi fantasy/allegory critical of America from our founding straight through to the Iraq War.”
Wow. Do you think some of these people have guilty consciences? It’s a science-fiction movie about humans trying to wipe out a race that exists in James Cameron’s imagination. Maybe it’s a heavy-handed allegory, or else it’s action-adventure entertainment. Did they say “Titanic” was an anti-capitalist screed because the third-class passengers didn’t get lifeboats? Not everything is partisan politics, you know.
See below for a hilarious clip from Kent Jones of “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
Everett Reuss Disappearance Returns to Mystery
Posted by Richard Warnick in American History, Wilderness, utah on October 22, 2009
Some mysteries are better left unsolved. I wasn’t sure what to think when we were told that DNA evidence had identified an old skeleton found along Comb Wash as Everett Ruess. You have to sympathize with the family members who searched for an answer for so long. On the other hand, what is wilderness if not a place to disappear forever? From what we know of Reuss, he might have wanted it that way.
This morning’s Salt Lake Tribune carries an AP story that re-boots the mystery that began in 1934.
Brian Ruess said he accepts the analysis of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology lab as a pre-eminent authority on DNA testing. [Utah state archaeologist Kevin] Jones believes the first researchers mixed DNA from Ruess’ four nephews and nieces with that of the discovered bones, contaminating the results.
University of Colorado biologist Kenneth Krauter, who handled the initial DNA tests, said he did a second round of tests that disproved his original results, but wasn’t able to determine how he made a mistake in the first place. He called the Armed Forces results definitive.
“I’m convinced it’s extremely unlikely these are the remains of Everett Ruess,” Krauter said. “I feel badly for making my judgment in the first place, but it’s science, and it’s difficult.”
Previous One Utah post:
The Finding of Everett Ruess: A 75-year-old Mystery Solved (June 10)
Governor Herbert: Blame Wildfire Danger on Development, Not Wilderness
Posted by Richard Warnick in Gary Herbert, Public Lands, Utah Politics, Wilderness on August 31, 2009
Yesterday, Utah Governor Gary Herbert got confused and blamed wilderness preservation policies for the wildfires threatening rural sprawl around New Harmony, west of Zion National Park. The Mill Flat fire started July 25 from a lightning strike within the Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness. Recently it threatened houses built in what land managers call the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Expansion of the WUI via unplanned development is a nationwide problem, and Utah offers some prime examples.
From a KSL-TV report by John Hollenhorst:
Herbert largely blamed the Mill Flat Fire near New Harmony on “designated wilderness.” He claims it prevents federal experts from using machinery or even prescribed burns to reduce excessive fuel growth. Environmentalists contest that point, but the governor says federal agencies are forced to wait for lightning to start a natural fire.
“If our hands are tied behind our back, then all we do is set ourselves up for a tragedy like we’ve seen here today,” Herbert said Sunday night.
In a letter to the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Dick Carter of the High Uintas Preservation Council explained why our governor has his facts wrong (emphasis added):
From what we know of the fire it is abundantly clear the Dixie National Forest has acted with deep recognition of both both wilderness and local urban-interface management concerns. The problem, of course, is not wilderness or wilderness management, but the rapid growth of New Harmony and other subdivisions in and around New Harmony, each moving up the slope adjacent to the Dixie National Forest. The simple matter of fact is these communities have not availed themselves of fire-wise/fire-safe practices. That combined with Forest Service management errors–fire prevention to the extreme for many decades on the Pine Valley Mountain–and a deep and long term drought combined with much shorter winters and longer summers in southwestern Utah have resulted in fire conditions that are are exceptional.
The Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness was designated 25 years ago, long before the expansion of trophy homes into forested areas around New Harmony– apparently without recognition of the fire danger.
The Salt Lake Tribune has more uninformed comments about wilderness by Governor Herbert.
Back in the Sagebrush Again
Posted by Richard Warnick in 4th Estate (Media), Environment, Hypocrisy, Lying, Mark Shurtleff, Orrin Hatch, Public Lands, Republicans, Rob Bishop, This Blog, Utah Politics, Wilderness on August 8, 2009
Protesters trying to “take back” Utah– to the 19th Century
At today’s “Take Back Utah” protest at the State Capitol, I was reminded of what Talleyrand said about the Bourbons. Utah’s sagebrush rebels have learned nothing, and forgotten nothing.
I once lived in Monticello, Price and Moab, which means I understand where these folks are coming from. First, southern Utah is a great place to live. Second, despite the fact rural economies are heavily subsidized by the federal and state governments, making a living has historically been tough for the average person. They have always believed themselves to be victimized and abandoned to picture-postcard penury amid one of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth.
And, for as long as I’ve been involved in public land issues, the complaints have been the same. “The politicians are ignoring us, and the wilderness advocates are trying to destroy us.” Never mind that rural Utahns wield political power disproportionate to their numbers, or that designating wilderness areas always helps boost local economies. This debate was never about the facts.
Even the slogans haven’t changed
UPDATE: Tom Wharton’s story in the Salt Lake Tribune is well worth reading. He picked up on some of the same things I did– and he’s a much better writer. Also, he quoted Swenson saying “gun-clinging,” not “gun-slinging,” and a re-check of the video I shot proves Wharton’s hearing is better than mine. Correction made below. Of course, “gun-clinging” is a snide reference to a remark President Obama made during last year’s campaign.
The Sagebrush Rebels Are Back Again
Posted by Richard Warnick in Democracy, Environment, Party Politics, Public Lands, Utah Politics, Wilderness on July 28, 2009
The sagebrush rebels are back in action again. Whenever a Democrat claims the White House, you can count on the anti-wilderness crowd to get all riled up. Right after President Obama’s inauguration, Rep. Michael Noel, R-Kanab, said he’s declaring another Sagebrush Rebellion.
USA-ALL is sponsoring a “Take Back Utah” parade and rally at the Utah Capitol Building scheduled for Saturday, August 8. From their website: “If you care about taking back Utah from those who care little for our state and its citizens then join us…”
You might say, what a great idea. The Bush administration presided over an all-out oil and gas leasing frenzy for years, virtually handing over control of Utah public lands to industry. These leases can be renewed indefinitely, and they carry with them the right to build roads into roadless areas, interfere with wildlife habitat, and inevitably cause pollution and lasting environmental impacts at drill sites. If only there was a way to take those leases back!
But that’s not what USA-ALL wants.
Following the general right-wing paradigm of victim hood, the sagebrush rebels see themselves as the aggrieved party. They actually want sympathy for the poor downtrodden oil companies, the reckless riders of ATVs and dirt bikes, and everybody else who has been tearing up Utah wildlands for decades.
Believe it or not, USA-ALL wants us to believe that their members and corporate supporters are somehow the victims of unfair federal policies:
- “Help put the ‘public’ back in public land.”
- “‘Wilderness’ is the word radical environmentalists hide behind when they are trying to close public lands to recreation.”
- “The time is now, or the west will forever become unfairly subservient to the East.”
This tired rhetoric comes from a outdated privatization philosophy that seeks to return to the 19th century, when public lands were basically up for grabs. During the 20th century, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, a new national policy was put in place to permanently retain the nation’s public lands in federal ownership.
At the same time, Congress enacted laws to promote sustainable uses of the land. Ecosystem management was implemented to prevent degradation of watersheds, forests, etc. Unfortunately, many people decided to ignore the new rules and do whatever the hell they wanted. This irresponsibility has often been encouraged by right-wing politicians.
Integral to the Sagebrush Rebellion myth is the idea that western states are disadvantaged by the amount of public land out here. It’s not true. The most valuable federal lands were privatized long ago. If you consider private land per capita, then it appears there has actually never been a shortage of non-public land in the public land states.
There’s no legal basis for states to try and take control of federal land, either. The U.S. Constitution’s Property Clause (Article IV, Section 3) is pretty clear.
What makes USA-ALL or their political allies think they have the right to grab Utah’s public lands away from the rest of us? They want it all, but they can’t have it all.
San Juan River Trip
Posted by Richard Warnick in Environment, Public Lands, Wilderness on July 9, 2009
My wife and I are back from our first San Juan river trip in 20 years. Heraclitus of Ephesus said, “You can never step into the same river; for new waters are always flowing on to you.” That guy was right.
All my past San Juan trips had the advantage of much higher flows, at least twice the 1,400 cubic feet per second going past the USGS gaging station when we launched on July 3. By the time we took out, the flow was down to 1,000 cfs– barely runnable for the San Juan. And it went down to 700 by yesterday (see graph in the extension of this post).
Looking downstream from Mendenhall Loop, a few miles from Mexican Hat
There are two problems with the slow river flows. One is, the speed of the river is reduced, which means less time for side hikes, lunch stops etc. The other is, many more rocks and sandbars to get stuck on. As you might expect, getting stuck takes time away from more enjoyable activities.
From my notes:
Tamarisk eradication in full swing at Bluff, Utah. Ladybug-sized Tamarisk leaf beetles have been introduced, defoliating every Tamarisk tree in sight. Eventually, the beetles will spread all along the river, turning green thickets of invasive Tamarisk to brown. They haven’t reached Mexican Hat yet.
The Mexican Hat launch site is busy, with a Wild River Expeditions trip departing just ahead of us, and another group pulling in after floating from Bluff. Passed the BLM ranger’s inspection and went to work rigging the boat. On our way by noon.
At Mendenhall Loop, caught up to another group that passed by the launch site earlier. Climbed the trail to look at the old stone cabin.
killed
wounded
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