All ears

Monument swap seen as win-win for almost everybody

by Jonathan Thompson

Bears Ears National Monument –designated in 2016, eviscerated in 2017, restored in 2021 – continues to make news as Congress considers a proposed land exchange aimed at making the national monument whole.

After months of deliberation and negotiations, Utah’s School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) and the Bureau of Land Management have settled on a land swap that would transfer state lands within Bears Ears National Monument to the federal government.

SITLA will transfer 130,000 acres within the Bears Ears boundaries, plus 30,000 additional acres, to the feds. In exchange, the feds will give the state 163,000 acres of BLM land throughout the state, 52,000 acres of which are in San Juan County.

The swap will eliminate the checkerboard of inholdings within the monument and give the state blocks of parcels that are potentially far more lucrative due to their mineral or real estate development potential.

For example, the state will receive nearly 30,000 acres in Lisbon Valley, which is being targeted for uranium, lithium, potash, copper, and oil and gas extraction. Much of the acreage SITLA is acquiring already has active mining claims on it. And SITLA will gain some 7,600 acres in the Shitamaring Creek drainage near the Henry Mountains in Garfield County, Utah. This is another prospective uranium mining area; Anfield Resources and EFR Henry Mountains (Energy Fuels) each have staked dozens of claims on these parcels.

The transfer should make it easier for the companies to permit mines, state regulations tend to be more lax than those on federal land. But it will also make mining more expensive. Miners on federal land pay zero royalties on the minerals they extract (thanks to outdated mining laws). On Utah land, uranium miners pay an 8% royalty, plus severance taxes.

The Bears Ears Commission, made up of representatives from the five tribal nations that originally proposed the national monument, supports the exchange. Environmental groups also back it. Initially, members of the San Juan County Board of Commissioners opposed the swap, because most of the gained state lands would be in other counties. But tossing the potentially lucrative Lisbon Valley parcels into the mix helped ease most concerns.

But not everyone’s happy. Utah State Rep. Phil Lyman, who hasn’t exactly been shy about his disdain for federal land management and Bears Ears National Monument, has come out in strong opposition, telling FOX 13 News’ Ben Winslow that the swap is “of, by and for the environmentalists” and that he intends to sue to stop “this unconstitutional transfer of land.”

And then there’s the young town of Bluff, Utah, which lies right on the edge of the national monument.

SITLA owns a big chunk of land within the town limits. Because of its proximity to the national monument, most Bluffoons (a term of endearment, I assure you) had hoped the SITLA land in Bluff would be included in the swap and would come under federal management. That would help keep drill rigs, gravel pit expansions, solar energy facilities and real estate developments at bay.

But not only is SITLA holding onto most of its Bluff land; it is also gaining BLM parcels within the town limits. One of these contains dozens of cultural sites, including a cliff dwelling and petroglyph panels. The others are along the banks of the San Juan River, and the Bluff River Trail passes through them.

This concerns Bluffoons because SITLA’s mission is to generate revenue from these lands by leasing them for grazing, mining and oil/gas drilling, or selling them to developers. This is how a section of Comb Ridge on the western edge of Bluff was privatized in 2016.

And as if to throw salt in Bluff’s wounds, SITLA has joined a private landowner’s bid to “disconnect” its land – a total of 9,500 acres – from the town of Bluff. If they are successful, the parcels would no longer be subject to Bluff landuse regulations or zoning, which could be detrimental to the community.

It’s not clear why the state agency wants to hold onto land in Bluff, or why it is taking such an adversarial stance against the tiny community. Maybe it’s because Bluff has a reputation as somewhat of an outlier in the conservative state by generally embracing rather than fighting against Bears Ears National Monument. Maybe it’s because Bluff has tried to hold state land tenants – like a giant gravel pit on the sandstone bench above town – accountable.

Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, has introduced a bill that would authorize the exchange. It is expected to move through Congress in the coming months.

Land Desk is a newsletter from Jonathan P. Thompson, author of “River of Lost Souls,” “Behind the Slickrock Curtain” and “Sagebrush Empire.” Subscribe at: landdesk.org

It takes a village

On Sat., June 24, the regional music community gathered at Mancos Brewing to celebrate the songs of local songwriter/band leader/rock ‘n’ roll guy Erik Nordstrom. This celebration served as a fundraiser to help out Nordstrom with the financial burden of his cancer treatments, but above that, it was an event recognizing contributions to the local music scene Nordstrom has been making for more than 20 years.

Ten bands and more than 40 musicians came together to play songs Nordstrom has written, a full-blown tribute to a gifted songwriter that has been a great part of our regional music scene.

This event was a success because of an active musical community that Nordstrom has fostered and musicloving residents who support said community.

Huge thanks go out to Mancos Brewing, Ska Brewing, Fenceline Cider, sound engineer Brian Willyard, Jim Gillaspy of Jimmy’s Music & Supply, Bill Doherty and the bands The Snowy

Plovers, The Dirty Chords, Horizon, Group Shower, Acid Wrench, The Nathan Schmidt Band, The Crags, Little Wilderness, Farmington Hill and Lawn Chair Kings.

We’d also like to thank everyone that attended in support of Nordstrom and his wife, Shanti. This event proved the Four Corners has a music scene brimming with creativity, talent and a load of love.

On behalf of the organizers of “Nordfest 2023,” thank you.

– Bryant Liggett, Durango

Quite a rap sheet

The legal consequences are circling around former President Donald Trump like a pack of wolves. You almost need a spreadsheet to keep track.

First, the Trump Organization was found guilty of tax evasion charges in New York state. Then, Trump himself was indicted in New York related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. That one is set for trial in March 2024.

Then, there was the recent $5 million civil judgment against Trump after a woman sued him claiming sexual assault in the 1990s and defamation.

In early June, a federal grand jury indicted Trump on 37 federal charges related to him taking a bunch of government records, some of which were highly classified national security documents, refusing to give them back. He tried to hide them, showing them to people who had no clearance to see them and the like. This one is serious stuff.

Still pending is the investigation in Georgia into Trump’s recorded solicitation of the Georgia Secretary of State to commit an election crime and violate his oath of office. And, especially Trump’s instigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, violent coup attempt after he lost the 2020 election.

But, of course, Trump and his GOP lackeys call it just a continuation of the witch hunt and the Biden administration weaponizing the Department of Justice to “get” Trump. They call it a huge abuse of power by Biden. Never mind that Trump did his best to weaponize the DoJ in December 2020 as part of his effort and abuse of power – unprecedented in the nation’s history – to keep himself in power.

House Republicans called the documents indictment a scandalous affront to equal law enforcement for all, as if they actually supported that.

What they actually want is an exemption for Trump. Instead, the indictment is an example of equal law enforcement for all; that not even Trump is above the law. They hate that.

Those of us who want to see Trump in an orange jumpsuit are watching with great interest. There’s no witch hunt. It’s all an appropriate result of Trump’s own actions.

About darn time!

– Carole McWilliams, Bayfield

Boebert’s boondoggle

Last week, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert filed a privileged motion that forced a vote on a resolution to impeach President Joe Biden. Boebert promised to bring the resolution to a floor vote on a daily basis, ad infinitum.

Last year, Boebert delivered federal remittances to Colorado Congressional District 3 (CD-3) of $4.95 billion. The average congressional district in the state enjoyed federal remittances of $6.05 billion. Our district was shortchanged by approx. $1.1 billion, which amounts to $1,452 per man, woman and child in CD-3. That is real money that could have been used to fix our roads and bridges.

I am certainly no fan of Biden. His weak foreign policy, his open borders (with the attendant 107,000 annual opioid deaths), his alleged corruption with ties to Russia and China.

I also did not support his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and his green boondoggle to wealthy donors, which is wilting our public fisc and international prestige.

But, somebody needs to explain to me (I am running for the Republican nomination in CD-3 against Boebert) how impeaching Biden will increase federal spending in the largest nonsingle-state congressional district in the nation.

– Russ Andrews, Carbondale

To Suggest

He always said that people spent too much time worrying over brokered needs.

He always thought that there were those rare events and opportunities that people missed because they were constantly prodded into passing through those perpetual, and pervasive doors of distraction. He held that there were “simpler times” and that they were still to be found in consciously choosing a cooler, more modest shade. He was puzzled to find That even the spiritualists were also diligently fashioning their place in the sun, chasing that elusive hocus pocus mirage. For him to suggest that the real dream had, all the while, been waiting for them outside their door, would have been dismissed as naïve and idyllic.

– Burt Baldwin,