BLM Public Hearing On Sage Grouse Protection

BLM Schedules Public Scoping Meetings on Proposed Minerals Withdrawal in Sagebrush Focal Areas and Extends Public Comment Period

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is holding a series of public meetings across the west to gather information on the proposal to withdraw lands determined to be crucial to the survival of the greater sage-grouse from location and entry under the 1872 Mining Law, subject to valid existing rights. The BLM is extending the public comment period on the withdrawal proposal until January 15, 2016, to allow the Secretary of the Interior time to collect additional information relevant to the decision on whether to withdraw these lands from the location of new mining claims for up to 20 years.

SUMMARY: On September 24, 2015, the BLM published a Notice of Proposed Withdrawal; Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs); Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming, and Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Proposed Withdrawal in the Federal Register (80 FR 57635). The notice published on November 13, 2015 (80 FR 70252 - 70253), extended the comment period for both the proposed withdrawal and the initial scoping for the EIS being prepared to consider the merits of the proposed withdrawal and announces the times, dates and locations of public meetings.

DATES: Written or emailed comments for scoping for the EIS and on the proposed withdrawal may be submitted through January 15, 2016. In addition, through this Notice the BLM is also announcing that it will hold public meetings in December 2015 to focus on relevant issues and environmental concerns, identify possible alternatives, help determine the scope of the EIS and provide an opportunity for public comments on the proposed withdrawal. For dates and locations for the scoping meetings, please see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the BLM Director, 1849 C Street NW (WO-200), Washington, DC 20240 or emailed electronically to: sagebrush_withdrawals@blm.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Mark Mackiewicz, PMP/BLM Senior National Project Manager, by telephone at 435-636-3616; or by email mmackiew@blm.gov.

Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to reach the BLM contact person. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM filed an application requesting the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management to withdraw, subject to valid existing rights, approximately 10 million acres of BLM and United States Forest Service (USFS) administered public lands located in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming, from location and entry under the United States mining law, but not from leasing under the mineral or geothermal leasing, or mineral materials laws.

Pursuant to Section 102 (2) (C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the BLM will prepare an EIS and conduct public scoping meetings on the withdrawal. The period for initial scoping, to receive comments from the public, has been extended from December 23, 2015 to January 15, 2016. These public scoping meetings will also meet the requirements identified under 43 CFR 2310 to provide public meetings for comment on the Notice of Proposed Withdrawal that published on September 24, 2015. The dates, times and locations of the meetings are as follows:

Dates & Times	Locations	BLM Contact
Dec. 14, 2015
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM	Harney County Chamber of Commerce 484 North Broadway Burns, OR 97720	Jody Weil, 503-808-6287
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM	Lakeview BLM District Office 1301 South G Street Lakeview, OR 97630	Jody Weil, 503-808-6287
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM	Salt Lake City BLM Office 2370 South Decker Lake Drive West Valley City, UT 84119	Lola Bird 801-539-4033
Dec. 15, 2015
4:00 PM to 6:00 PM	Best Western Vista Inn & Conference Center 2645 Airport Way Boise, ID 83709	Erin Curtis 208-373-4016
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM	Rock Springs BLM Field Office 280 Highway 191 North Rock Springs, WY 82901	Kristen Lenhardt 307-775-6015
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM	The Nugget 1100 Nugget Avenue Sparks NV 89431	Steve Clutter 775-861-6629
Dec. 16, 2015
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM	Great Northern Hotel 2 South 1st Street East Malta, MT 59538	Al Nash 406-896-5260
4:00 PM to 6:00 PM	Shiloh Suites Conference Hotel 780 Lindsay Blvd. Idaho Falls, ID 83402	Erin Curtis 208-373-4016
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM	Elko Conference Center 724 Moren Way Elko, NV 89801	Steve Clutter 775-861-6629

            

The previously announced withdrawal proposal is consistent with the unprecedented effort to conserve the greater sage-grouse and its habitat, and was made in response to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) identifying habitat disturbance and fragmentation caused by certain hard rock mining operations as a threat to greater sage-grouse habitat. This finding was why the BLM and the USFS land use plan amendments and revisions finalized in September recommend that the Secretary of the Interior exercise her authority under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act to safeguard the most important landscapes identified by the FWS within Priority Habitat Management Areas – identified as SFAs – by reducing the threat posed by certain future hard rock mining operations through what is known as a “withdrawal.”

As part of the careful consideration of this withdrawal proposal, information will be sought from the states, stakeholders and others on mineral potential, including rare earths, as well as the importance of these areas as sagebrush habitat. These efforts will be undertaken under the leadership of the BLM in cooperation with the USFS and in compliance with the NEPA. At the end of the process, a decision on the proposal may be made.

In addition, the BLM expects to address economic effects of withdrawing these public lands from operation of the mining law, wildlife habitat conservation, improvement and restoration of ecosystem processes, protection of cultural resources, watershed and vegetative community health, new listings of threatened and endangered species, and consideration of other sensitive and special status species.


The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2014, the BLM generated $5.2 billion in receipts from public lands.


--BLM--



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BAR J Wranglers Christmas Concert

BAR J WRANGLERS RETURN TO MONTPELIER
Some folks call it a western music show; some call it a stand-up comedy show with masterful cowboy music; others call it the best musical experience in the west. Call it what you want, the fact remains the Bar J Wranglers from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, deliver some of the purest harmony, best musicianship and funniest ranch humor ever seen on stage.

The Bar J Wranglers will be a performing a special Christmas concert on Friday, December 18 at the Bear Lake Middle School in Montpelier, Idaho as part of the 2015 season of the Allinger Community Theatre. General seating tickets for this 7:30 PM event are now on sale for $22 adults, $15 youth and $10 children and can be purchased at the gift shop inside the National Oregon/California Trail Center, by calling (208) 847-3800 or online at www.oregontrailcenter.org.

The special evening sponsors for this event are Bear Necessities, The Flower Bin, First Idaho Title Company, Insurance Designers, Valley Wide Cooperative, Gundersen True Value, Hunzeker Ford, Bear Lake County Farm Bureau and Diamond H Trailers.

The performing wranglers include Bryan Humphrey, Donnie Cook, Danny Rogers, Tim Hodgson and Scott Humphrey. As soon as the Bar J Wranglers take to the stage, listeners leave behind their busy life and settle into a time long ago, a time of the singing cowboy. The group has performed nationwide with outstanding performers such as Roy Rogers, Randy Travis, Sons of the Pioneers and many other legendary performers.

The Bar J Wranglers will entertain the entire family as they take the audience down memory trail with songs, stories, comedy, yodeling, fiddling and more. For more information about the Bar J Wranglers and the Bar J Chuckwagon in Jackson Hole, visit their web site at www.barjchuckwagon.com.

This event is presented by the 2015 Allinger Community Theatre season sponsors including Zions Bank, Agrium, Bear Lake Memorial Hospital, Monsanto, Direct Communications, KVSI Radio, Rocky MountainPower, Clover Creek Inn, and the Bear Lake Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.

For more information about upcoming theater and center events at the National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho, please call (208) 847-3800 or visit www.oregontrailcenter.org.

For more information, please contact: Executive Director Becky Smith @ (208) 847-3800

320 North 4th Street, P.O. Box 323, Montpelier, ID 83254

Musings Of A Muddled Male

Dimensional Stress

By Bob Stevens, The Muddled Male

       I thought that moving Ann, my wife, down off the mountain and into civilization where someone else mows the lawn and shovels the snow would eliminate all the stress in our marriage.  But I forgot about hanging pictures.  Over our years of marriage Ann has collected an unusually large assortment of pictures, plaques, clocks, mirrors, and oddly-shaped things to be hung as decorations on the walls of any house where we happen to move.  Because each item has a special meaning for Ann, each has to be carefully taken down and nail holes patched and painted in the house we are leaving, then carefully re-hung in the house into which we are moving.  Over our sixty-years together we have moved at least 13 times, for an average of once every 4.61538462 years.  Yes we have lived longer in some places and shorter in others, but even then we just barely patch up the stress in our marriage created by the last move when it is time to move again.

       The stress to which I am referring is created not because of the number of things to hang, (seventy-four plus eight clocks at last count), but because we speak different languages and see things in a different way when it comes to locating things on walls.  Our last move to Sweetwater Hill was easier than most because we purposely designed our new house to be similar in layout to the house we just left, and I spent weeks before the move taking pictures of wall hanging groups and marking the pictures with enough dimensions to let me just walk into our new house, lay out a few dimensions, insert the obligatory nails or screws, and hang things.  In some cases I didn’t even need to be coached.

       When I say that we speak different languages and see things in different ways, it is because Ann is a girl who thinks spatially, and I am an engineer who is trying to translate the random spatial arrangement she has visualized into something that has a fixed reference point on the wall from which I can use a steel scale and an accurate level to measure up, down, left, and/or right in an imagined x-y coordinate system that I visualize on the wall to help me determine the exact location where I need to hammer a nail or twist a screw.  And don’t forget that the place for the nail is not the same as the location of the picture.  One has to first determine the location of the picture and then figure out where the hanger on the back of the picture needs a nail located so as to end up with the picture hanging in the correct location.  It is much more complicated than a wife’s instruction of, “Just hang it about there.”

       If you came to visit us in the middle of one of our picture hanging sessions you would be overwhelmed first by the volume of our verbal communication regarding picture positioning, and second by the number of pieces of blue masking tape sticking all over the wall with each piece having been marked with some secret combination of vertical and horizontal lines, X’s, circles, and dots to guide this poor engineer in his feeble attempt to organize Ann’s spatial commands into x-y coordinates that I can used to find where I should hammer the @#%# nail so that I can locate the picture in the exact place requested by the lady giving instructions.  That is the same lady, by the way, who after I drive the nail says, “No, that isn’t what I meant when I told you to move it just a titch up and a titch to the right.”  A “titch,” by the way, is a word Ann made up to mean any distance from one sixteenth of an inch to two feet depending on what her spatial vision just told her was the adjustment that would be needed to make the grouping just right.

       And yes, it isn’t your imagination.  Now that I have completed the hangings caused by this move, I am just a titch daft.  And the thing that drives me really nuts is that after making all my precision engineering measurements Ann will look at a picture and say, “It’s crooked.”  And when I check with my very expensive, very accurate level I find that she is irritatingly correct.  But now that we aren’t speaking I will begin to calm down … at least a titch.

Notice Of Election

COUNTY OF RICH

NOTICE OF ELECTION

I hereby inform you that candidates are to be elected for the following offices at the upcoming General Election to be held Tuesday, November 8, 2016.

The Declaration of Candidacy filing period for qualified political party candidates begins on Friday, March 11, 2016 and ends at 5:00 p.m., Thursday, March 17, 2016.

The Declaration of Candidacy filing period for state and local school board candidates begins on Monday, January 4, 2016 and ends at 5:00 p.m., Thursday, March 17, 2016,

The Declaration of Candidacy filing period for justices and judges of a court of record begins Friday, April 1, 2016 and ends at 5:00 p.m., Friday, April 15, 2016.

The Declaration of Intent to Gather Signatures period for qualified political party candidates begins on Monday, January 4, 2016 and ends at 5:00 p.m., Thursday March 17, 2016.

Candidates must submit nomination petition signatures no later than 14 days before the day on which the qualified political party holds its convention to select candidates for the elective office.

1. FEDERAL

a. President and Vice President for a four (4) year term.

b. U.S. Senate. One Senator for a six (6) year term.

c. U.S. House of Representatives. One Representative for a two (2) year term in the following U.S. Congressional Districts:

(i) First District. The First Congressional District consists of Box Elder, Cache, Daggett, part of Davis, Duchesne, Morgan, Rich, Summit, Uintah and Weber Counties.

2. STATE

a. State Executive. The following positions will be elected for a (4) year term:

i. Attorney General

ii. Auditor

iii. Governor

iv. Lieutenant Governor
v. Treasurer

b. State Senate. One member for a four(4) year term

i. District Twenty-five (25) is located in Cache and Rich Counties.

c. State House of Representatives. One member of the Utah House of Representatives for a two (2) year term from each of the seventy-five (75) state legislative districts.

3. BOARD OF EDUCATION
a. Local Boards of Education. Members of the local boards of education should be elected as determined by individual school boards/districts.

Precinct 5

Precinct 2

Precinct 1

4. JUDICIAL

a. District Court. There will be a retention election for twenty-one (21) District Court Judges in the following districts provided that the incumbent (s) whose term is expiring files during the filing period.

i First District. One (1) Judge in the First Judicial District, which consists of Box Elder, Cache and Rich Counties.

b. Justice Court. Any Justice Court Judge whose term is expiring shall be subject to an unopposed retention election in the county or counties in which the court to which the judge is appointed is located.

5. COUNTY

County offices up for election are to be determined by the county’s form of government.

Commissioners B

Justice Court Judge (for retention)

6. BALLOT PROPOSITIONS
H.J.R. 8 (2015): Proposal to Amend the Utah Constitution –Oath of Office Change.


Rebecca M. Peart

Rich County Clerk/Auditor

CERTIFICATE OF POSTING

I hereby certify that I posted a true and correct copy of the foregoing Election Notice at each of the five (5) voting precincts and other postings as noted below:

Garden City Post Office, Randolph Courthouse

Laketown Post Office, Randolph Post Office

Woodruff Post Office, Rich Civic Times

Rich County Website, The News Examiner

East Side Home Burns. November 17, 2015

Photo by Gary McKee

FOX News Photo by drone

Photo by Andy Stokes

This  fire resulted in the total destruction of a new structure on the east side of the lake.  The Laketown department, with 4 firefighters and two vehicles, responded first to the home of Mike Bishop, a new structure.  They were followed shortly by 14 firefighters from Garden City, with at least 4 more engines.  The fire, however, had overcome the structure prior to arrival of fire fighters and most efforts were focused on saving adjacent structures.  With the exception of some siding damage to the house immediately south of the Bishop home, these efforts were successful, but the Bishop home itself was a total loss.  Cause is unknown.

November Fire Board Report

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  November 19, 2015. The Garden City Fire District Board held its regular monthly meeting.   All board members were present.

The board had a short public hearing on an amendment to the 2015 budget.  Primary items covered in the amendment included transfers between the capital improvements fund and the general fund in order to be in compliance with the state guidelines.  Further, the public hearing on the proposed 2016 budget is scheduled for December 4, at 6 p.m. in the fire station. 

Board member Knight briefly discussed the ongoing update of the policy and procedures manual for the department.  He indicated that he had been in contact with the North Logan fire department and had received input on what policies they have, especially with respect to use of vehicles.  Further work will continue.

The board approved gifts for the active firefighters from the general fund for the year 2015, with a limit of $150 per firefighter.  It also approved a bonus for the year 2015 of $1000 for the fire chief, Mike Wahlberg, and $500 for Tiffany Wahlberg, the CPA who handles all department accounting.

While the topic has been announced for some time, there have been no applicants for the impending vacancy in the fire board that will occur when Perry Wakefield resigns.  He has expressed his desire to leave by the end of the year.  Interested persons are encouraged to make contact with any board member or the chief.  

Chief Wahlberg would like to begin a long-range plan for the department, its objectives and goals.  Among these is the acquisition of a much bigger and newer ladder truck, which has significant cost.

Chief Wahlberg announced that by his records there have been more than 2600 hours of work put in by the 21 firefighters in the department in 2015, 2048 of which have been uncompensated.  He expressed enormous satisfaction with the training level, commitment, and achievements of the department.  Included in these achievements were 6 fire responses in the past month alone (one during the meeting being conducted by the board). 

Additionally, the department responded to a grass fire started by hot ashes dumped in a field just north of the stop sign and on the east side of highway 89 in Garden City.  Some siding on an adjacent house was damaged but the fire was contained relatively quickly.  Had the fire burned just an additional 10 minutes prior to departmental arrival it could have become a major structure fire with extensive damage.

There was a small fire that occurred in Garden City due to arcing in a power line and 3 wildland fires that were suppressed, one at Sage Junction, one in Laketown, and one by the Chevron station in Garden City.

November School Board Report

Chris Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

LAKETOWN, Utah.  November 18, 2015.  The Rich County School Board held its regular monthly meeting in Laketown for a change.  All members were present, including newly appointed interim member Andy Stokes, who will serve until the election next November of a new member from district 5, which is geographically Garden City North.  

The board has expanded to 6 members until the election of 2018, when it will revert to the state law mandated 5 members.  Stokes has not yet decided whether he will accept the taxpayer funded family health benefit awarded by the board to itself.  Bryce Huefner is currently the only board member who has declined the benefit.

In other business the board ratified the bus policy approved in October, which essentially limits school bus transportation to persons involved in school sponsored activity.  The board heard a report of a health and behavior student survey conducted in 4 districts in northern Utah, the data for which was aggregated.  The districts are Rich, Cache, Logan, and Box Elder.  As presented, it was not possible to identify the responses from Rich District students as the data presented was included with student populations whose totals outnumber Rich by more than 50 to 1. 

The annual audit report was presented and the district given a very positive rating, with no material deficiencies of any kind.   Finally, the board approved a methodology for the testing of students who have been home schooled and are seeking placement in the public school system.  A uniform testing entity was selected and approved.

Purple Clouds

Photo by Amber Christiansen McKee

Bear Lake Corridor Study 2015

Visit http://gis.fehrandpeers.com/bearlakesurvey/

Give To The Foundation Of Bear Lake

To those who would like to help with the development of paths and parks at Bear Lake:

The Foundation of Bear Lake would like to thank the following businesses for their help in getting the Foundation started: Recreation Realty, LaBeau’s, Vista Realty, KOA, Bear Lake Realty, & Bruce Warner, CPA.

We have raised $700 so far. To register for a 1023 (IRS Application for recognition as a tax-exempt foundation) we need to raise another $400. It is $850 for the IRS and another $150 for a lawyer to review the documents.

You may deposit to the Foundation of Bear Lake at any Wells Fargo institution or send a check to PO Box 88, Garden City, UT 84028.

Remember, at this time of giving that your contribution goes directly to the Foundation to help with the startup costs.

 

Bess Huefner  Executive Chair

435-881-3223

dbhuefner@yahoo.com

Cisco Sonar

ED Note: We are having trouble sharing files, so this is a column from 2012..but the bird counting goes on this year.

By Bryce Neilson

I am sure that everyone is getting ready for the Holidays.  That means I will once again be involved in the Bear Lake Christmas Bird Count.  

Over the last ten years, a small core group of birders from Cache Valley come over to participate with a few of us from here.  The annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count is a national event that covers most of North America.  It was started years ago by the Audubon Society in an attempt to develop trend data on regional bird numbers using volunteer birdwatchers.  Different areas were established and people went out, observed, identified and counted birds. 

Dennis Austin, a wildlife biologist from Cache Valley, now retired, started the Bear Lake Count.  He felt that it was important to document what species of birds were wintering here at the Lake.  Trying to get participants has been a challenge over the years.  There just doesn’t seem to be many bird watchers here.  You don’t need to be a member of the Audubon Society, just someone interested in birds.  The count will occur December 27,  regardless of weather.  We have done them in the sun, blizzards and when it is so cold you can barely make it out of the truck.  You count the birds in your area, but nowhere else to avoid duplication. 

I know that lots of people feed birds around the lake and in recent years these numbers have been included.  At the end of the day Dennis collects and tallies the count information and submits it to the Audubon Society.  All of the bird counts from all over are then combined and published in a magazine.

Obviously the species and numbers  change throughout the years with environmental conditions but every year we see new species, don’t see birds we had seen before and generally have a  good time, outside, with our binoculars.  It even helps me with my infamous weather predictions associated with wildlife.  We are always looking for volunteers and we will be happy to train.  Just let me know.

Monte Cristo Snowmobile Parking Passes Available

Willard, Utah – Season parking passes for the Monte Cristo Snowmobile Trailhead are now available for $50. Customers purchasing passes before December 31 receive a $5 discount. Day-use passes are available for $5 a day.

Passes are available at Willard Bay State Park or at the Monte Cristo Trailhead when grooming begins. To purchase by mail, please send a cashier’s check or money order to Willard Bay State Park at 900 West 650 North, Willard, UT 84340.

A Moose On The Mountain

Photo by Tammy Calder

Rich Middle School Student of the Month and Citizen of the Month for November

Student of the Month

Sixth Grade – Brittney Lamborn & Joshua England 

Seventh Grade – Aaron Cook & Kennedy Eastman 

Eighth Grade – Shelby Burton & Sydney Hatch

Citizen of the Month

Sixth Grade - Danny Staheli & Chancie Shafer

Seventh Grade – Teanna Chandler & Travis Gifford

Eighth Grade – Taylor Jacobson & Levi Linkogle

Morning And Evening Over The Lake

Photos by Travis Buys