I was fueling up at the Sinclair when I noticed the sign on the truck on the other side of the aisle: Torrey House Press.
It was the first day of the Bluff Arts Festival and Torrey publishes some of the work by local authors. A recording of one who'd commuted from Bluff to Salt Lake City every week to do a radio show was presented at the sunset readings. She died not long ago, but her husband still lets the public access the land along the San Juan River, the land where we all gathered to hear her and the other presenters.
Having cut my marketing teeth in publishing I went over to say howdy. It turned out Mark Bailey, co-founder of The Press, is also on the board of Western Watersheds Project.
One of the presentations that year, given by Mark, was on the Dark Sky Movement. He told how Torrey had converted all their street lights so they wouldn't affect the dark and how the town had become a Dark Sky destination. He told of the incredible telescope he'd inherited from his dad (mentioned in this blog) and how folks now come from far and wide to look through it.
It irks me that they allow cattle grazing in wilderness. I throw rocks at 'em tuh keep 'em from leaving their shit near camp. As you know, where there's shit, there're flies...or soon will be. It's a magnificent view! The road ends at a trailhead where in addition to hikers and mountain bikes, dogs are welcome. There's a lot of traffic.
But I've been getting "revenge" by flagging down the homeward-bound and proselytizing for Western Watersheds Project. I've been surprised by how many have been receptive. Hopefully, they'll send money.
This Spring Chicken (ocotillo) is starting to fluff out (put on leaves) ahead of all the others. But the tall folk are gearing up; they're startin' tuh put on buds.
You can see Whipple Observatory on the peak near Phoebe's upper right edge. I think that's Pete Mountain that the upper "bit" of the ocotillo is lying acrosst.
Whipple has an interesting history. It seems Fred Lawrence Whipple (died 2004, age 97) thought, sometime in the 1930s, the Smithsonian really needed a bona-fide astronomical installation i.e., a telescope. He apparently had the connections. But you may wanna research it further. The foregoing was from memory...a fastly-failing resource.
Perhaps you've noticed? Used to be you'd hear coyotes nearly everywhere. But they're growing increasingly scarce. Ranchers, running livestock on public lands, have convinced the federal agencies to utilize rodenticides to rid the land of mice and other small animals that eat seeds and plants. They claim the "pests" eat the forage meant for the livestock. As the rodents die off, so do the coyotes, raptors and reptiles. Basically, the ecosystem collapses.
Charged with managing our public lands, the BLM sometimes encounters folks who think the land ISN'T public. They, the "rightful owners," use their idea to justify the abuse of it. Below is an article from the 29, November, 2019 issue of The Deseret News (Salt Lake City).
Lawsuit: Guns, threats and illegal grazing at Utah’s Monroe Mountain
Conservation organization alleges U.S. Forest Service is facing intimidation by cattle ranchers
SALT LAKE CITY — A lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service alleges renegade cattle ranchers are intimidating the federal agency to allow illegal grazing on Monroe Mountain with threats of violence, arrests of federal employees, and calling in a militia called the “Oath Keepers.”
The complaint in U.S. District Court for Utah was filed in late November by the conservation organization Western Watersheds Project, asking the court to rescind grazing allotments against a trio of ranching groups the group says is causing environmental damage on Monroe Mountain in Fishlake National Forest.
The mountain is in Sevier and Piute counties and includes sensitive habitat for the imperiled greater sage grouse, critical aquatic species, and groves of Aspen clones that are suffering from excessive and illegal grazing, according to the 57-page complaint.
Specifically, the lawsuit targets the temporary grazing permits issued for the Kingston, Forshea and Manning Creek allotments.
“To placate a handful of bad actors, the (Forest Service) has bent and broken its own laws and regulations and continues to authorize livestock grazing without any reasonable expectation of permit compliance,” the suit states.
It goes on to emphasize that the “specter of violence is not a valid excuse for the (Forest Service) to abdicate its role as trustee of National Forest Service lands on behalf of all Americans.”
Ranchers have repeatedly violated the terms of their grazing permits for years and called the federal agency’s regulations “silly rules” that don’t require adherence, the suit says.
In 2015, the agency received a tip that one of ranchers was “calling in the militia” known as the Oath Keepers, which was involved in conflicts involving Cliven Bundy’s notorious fight with federal agencies over grazing in Nevada, the suit states.
Bundy’s defiance of the federal government for two decades over his cattle led to a 2014 standoff with armed federal agencies and stoked an outcry of support among some anti-federal government sympathizers angry at regulations they assert are choking livestock ranchers out of business.
Bundy contended the federal lands in Nevada are not owned by the U.S. government, but by the state.
This lawsuit claims these Utah ranchers, like Bundy, don’t recognize the authority of the federal government and have snubbed grazing requirements for years.
One rancher, it says, told the U.S. Forest Service he had the backing of the local sheriff’s office and, at one point in this protracted dispute, a threatened arrest of the local ranger supervisor influenced grazing permit decisions.
The suit also contends that state agencies have been kowtowing to the renegade ranchers for fear of a Bundy-style confrontation at Monroe Mountain.
Western Watersheds Project has repeatedly sought detailed explanations and justification from the U.S. Forest Service over renewal of these temporary permits, but the agency has not sufficiently detailed the basis for issuing permits in the face of yearslong noncompliance, the lawsuit asserts.
“When the Forest Service tried to do the right thing and suspend these livestock grazing permits for multiple willful violations of the terms and conditions, the ranchers responded with threats of violence,” said John Persell, staff attorney with Western Watersheds Project. “That’s an ugly ultimatum, and it’s unfortunate that the Forest Service has to deal with these folks. But it’s unfair to the Americans who own these public lands to let them be continually degraded by scofflaws.”
According to its website, Western Watersheds Project targets what it says is the harmful effects of livestock grazing on public lands in the West.
The Forest Service could not be reached for comment.
In an effort to discourage environmentalists from gathering photographic/video documentation of environmental law-breaking, the Wyoming legislature passed a law creating penalties, including jailtime, for "data trespass." On October 29, 2018, Judge Scott W. Skavdahl, presiding in the District Court (Federal) in Cheyenne, Wyoming, struck down and, permanently established, the unconstitutionality of the "data trespass" law.
I read a lot of guide books and pore over a lot of maps. There're so many places to see I depend on the weather to help me choose. Drawn to the peace and quiet of the more remote I hope to help keep them that way by not writing about them. But I chanced upon the book Wild Utah by Cunningham & Burke (Falcon Publishing, 1998) in which they argue that the way to save places is to tell people about them so they'll go there after which they'll advocate for their preservation. But I gotta ask -- How many of you have taken the time to advocate? Ah well, even a little hope is better than just leaving it to the developers. I was relieved to find I had the trailhead to myself. C & B's description of this Wilderness Study Area and the fact that it was just up the road from where I was (Moab) made it an easy decision. The trail, which leads to Westwater Canyon of the Colorado River, is well-marked and obviously popular. My vestigial marketeer had me wondering if everyone found it through their book.
This was my first venture into wilderness in several years so I was pleased to feel the ever-increasing sense of safety that accompanies distance from culture. That calm that comes from the falling away of status, appearance or expectations. The instead is sooOOOOo much more diverse, ain't it? Top O' the Trail Pouroff
Age means more time on task with the feet and with that blind eye making depth perception more interesting I use a stick when going down. My pace, still the same after all these years, means stopping frequently to "test the air."
There's something about being completely "away" that brings forth a visceral, almost instinctual "Aahhhhhhhh." I strip to my boots and hat to relish the full-body contact. The lack of water and cows in these places often means few, if any, (annoying) insects. The trail
Most libraries can print your letters for about ten cents a page. The literature indicates "they" are getting the message -- that the time of resource exploitation is past. If, like me, you enjoy the out of doors sans flies and the reek of cowshit, please take a few minutes to write the land management's supervisor and your legislators to let them know. As skeptical as I am I'm encouraged by the recent successes of Western Watersheds Project and Advocates for the West. Like all non-profits, any contribution is helpful. The trailhead. Only a little bareground.
It's been barely more than 150 years since the days of open range. In that time over-grazing has changed the Western Landscape so dramatically it'll likely evolve rather than recover.
As I roam about, I often notice the flies and reek of cow manure. I'm disturbed by how many otherwise beautiful places are compromised by the disgusting odor of cow shit. And when I sit down to enjoy a meal and have to continually wave away flies, it's impossible not to think about what they're depositing on my food.
Photos by Karen Klitz
Additionally, the use of water to grow hay for stock has caused streams to dry up; where trout once were common, they are no more. Nearly every lake in the region has dropped by significant amounts. And many water-tables are only memories. All in the name of producing 3 percent of the nation's beef. The other 97 percent comes from the Midwest where there's lots of water and grass.
"Exclosures" keep the livestock out.
They've been kept from getting at the vegetation on the "near" side of the fence.
There are many organizations attempting to preserve what's left, but two I admire are Advocates for the West and Western Watersheds Project. Both these non-profits file lawsuits (often collaboratively) against the National Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to help mitigate the impact of livestock grazing. Both are renowned for their uncompromising approach to achieving their goals...something, in this case, I consider laudable.
As you enjoy the magnificent grandeur of our lands, please consider supporting either (or both) of these organizations. Your contribution will make a difference for all of us.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65797877/AdobeStock_211473384.0.jpeg)
