Nice editorial, Mike!

[mbryson]

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_2854784

There's a decent debate on KUER that we should all listen too.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=792188

 

[James K]

good read

 

[ace]

Nice interview Mike. She obviously thinks that any motorized public access is bad and should be banned. She mentioned that SUWA has done many cleanup activities. Is this true?

 

[utahmike]

What do you think?

I can’t say for sure what they have or have not done by way of clean up projects. But I can tell you that there is no way it is even 1/10th of what all the motorized clubs and organizations have done.

Also there are a few things you should know about that interview.
1- I found out I was going to do it 2 hours before it was to happen.
2- Due to the late notice I was on the phone not in studio
3-I have never done live radio before and it was difficult especially over the phone I couldn’t see body language, etc.
4- The issues we were discussing would be better discussed by State Officials and BLM. Both declined to participate due to pending legal action. I was asked questions that would have been better addressed to county officials.
5- I have some very strong opinions about RS 2477 but I wasn’t sure how solid they were from a legal perspective. I have since discussed my opinions and ideas on RS 2477 had those opinions upheld by a number of attorneys at the Attorney General's Office. So I would be more aggressive if I were to redo the interview today.
6- I was on a radio station that is predominately listened to by enviros, I didn’t want to play into many of the lies and generalizations suwa has asserted our organization is all about. I wanted to show we weren’t radical.
7- Many of the callers were planted by SUWA. Not one was planted from us, unfortunately. The first caller is “slide show” Bob. He is the guy that does their slide show tour. I know him and his voice is unmistakable. I almost said something about it on the air but decided to be too nice. The guy from Moab was planted, it seems like one or two others were as well. You can tell, suwa’s people use certain catch phrases and know terminology that the average Joe doesn’t use.
8- There were many missed opportunities to debate and counter her lame claims, but I wasn’t sure what to expect, I didn’t know if I would have a chance to rebut, I would have felt awkward to revisit something after the topic had moved on. I was trying to be respectful to all the participants and to the host.

I hope I have the chance to do it again, next time I will be more aggressive.

 

[utahmike]

Here is the letter in unedited form. I think they took out a few lines.

This letter ran in the Deseret News, SLTrib, Ogden Standard Examiner, Daily Herald, Emery County Progress, Richfield Reaper and other small newspapers.

We need to keep letters like this in the press, but most papers limit individuals and organizations to one per month. If you want help writing a letter or need help distributing it to EVERY (might as well send it to all of ‘em) paper in the State give us a call we have it down to a science and we would be VERY glad to help you in any way we can, even with writing it.

Dear Editor,

Regarding Emery County's and the State of Utah's lawsuit to quiet title to seven roads in the San Rafael Swell, BLM spokesman Don Banks claims that the county agreed to the BLM plan that resulted in closure of the roads. However, what Banks did not say was that BLM's planning process deliberately ignored Emery County's R. S. 2477 roads and refused to address the issue. Under BLM's planning scheme, the county was never given the opportunity to disagree. BLM cannot be surprised that a planning technique that overlooked obvious legal issues has resulted in litigation. BLM has attempted to use the same "ignore and close" technique in its current land plan revisions throughout the state. However, counties and the state, having learned the hard way from BLM's San Rafael plan and the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument plan, are now compelling BLM to consider, rather than ignore, R.S. 2477 highways. Federal law requires that vested rights be considered, not ignored, during Federal land use planning. Federal law also requires that Federal plans be consistent with local land use plans to the maximum extent possible. BLM must follow the law or expect litigation. Governor Huntsman, Attorney General Shurtleff, and the Emery County officials are simply reminding BLM of these realities. Utahns overwhelmingly support these officials' actions.

Michael Swenson

Executive Director

Utah Shared Access Alliance



Utah Shared Access Alliance is Utah's oldest and largest non-profit organization dedicated to the responsible use and the defense of motorized access on public land in Utah.

 

[mbryson]

Here is the letter in unedited form. I think they took out a few lines.

This letter ran in the Deseret News, SLTrib, Ogden Standard Examiner, Daily Herald, Emery County Progress, Richfield Reaper and other small newspapers.

We need to keep letters like this in the press, but most papers limit individuals and organizations to one per month. If you want help writing a letter or need help distributing it to EVERY (might as well send it to all of ‘em) paper in the State give us a call we have it down to a science and we would be VERY glad to help you in any way we can, even with writing it............

I'd be glad to write a few letters. Do you want to set up a 'coaching clinic' or something (sometime when you have time?--if there is such a thing) or is it something that can be done online or through e-mail? I've sent a few editorials to DesNews and SLTrib and none have been printed. Mostly rebuttals to one sided editorials.

 

[utahmike]

Via email would be best. But we can and will accommodate anyone. We desperately need to get more letters into ALL of the papers. By shear odds if we flood the papers with letters we will get more printed. We were told by the editorial staff that a large number of letters don’t get printed because people forget to put name, address and phone number on the letter. They don’t print that stuff, they use it to call you and verify that the letter is indeed from you. I guess if a club got enough people together we could come and do a clinic on letter writing, we would even be glad to give you our media email and fax list. One mouse click and the letter is sent to every paper in the State. The last letter I sent in was in reference to a statement made by Don Banks BLM. It ran in the Trib but many other papers picked it up because I sent it to them. That's the way to go.