02-11-2017, 02:14 AM
[quote FatBiker]Bovineowner, there's a fish cleaning station at Willard Bay's south marina that has been broken for at least 18 months. Willard Bay is one else of the state's most popular state parks. Despite the efforts of many people on this site we have not been able to get any action on this issue. Utah collects $10 from everyone who drives through the gate yet won't put any money into maintaining the facilities. I've personally made three trips to SLC on this issue and the only answer I can get is, "the parts on order." This is just one small example of state mismanagement. Range management might be a different issue, but as a fisherman, I'm opposed to the state taking control of federal lands, any federal lands. I've got a daughter who lives in NYC. BLM and forest service land belongs as much to her as you and I. If federal land managers aren't responsive to your needs we have elected officials to hold them responsible. If the elected officials aren't doing their job, fire them. Rob Bishop is my Congressman. I've made hundreds of calls, sent letters and emails to his office on matters that concern me. Not once, have I received an acknowledgment from his office. Yes, every two years I do my best to fire him.
Larry[/quote]
Larry, I sure appreciate the frustration you feel over a broken fish cleaning station. Can you imagine if your livelihood and the ability to feed your family hinged on getting that fixed? The fish cleaning station in a nuisance and is surely inconvenient, but will you miss a house payment if they don't fix it? But that is exactly like the problems ranchers face every year from the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Unlike the south marina at Willard Bay, I own the right to graze the federal land that my permit is on. NO ONE ELSE CAN GRAZE IT BECAUSE I OWN THAT RIGHT. And our family has owned that right since the inception of the Taylor Grazing Act in the late 1930's. But instead of it being an inconvenience when a government agency refuses to hold up their end of the bargain, it becomes a threat to my livelihood. Here is just one tiny example of that.....
The BLM has done range studies to determine the carrying capacity of each area they manage. They figure out how many deer and other game animals, how many non-game critters, how many cattle or sheep and how many wild horses each area can handle WITHOUT DAMAGING THE RANGELAND. This is done using very scientific methods including "clip and weigh" as well as historical data, long range weather forecasts, ect. The BLM has determined that our area has sufficient rangeland to handle 450 head of wild horses. And their own count puts the wild horse numbers at over 800! Almost double what they KNOW the habitat can handle. Can you imagine how much trouble I would be in if I turned out twice the amount of cattle the grazing right I OWN states I can? And yet when the horses damage the grass and overwhelm the meager water sources of our desert landscape, the BLM does nothing! They are afraid of being sued by "friends of horses groups" who have no idea how damaging too many horses are on the grass and water resources but think how pretty wild horses are on the open lands of the American west. I have watched horses die of thirst and starvation. I have called BLM managers and reported the suffering multiple times only to be ignored or brushed off as clueless. I love wild horses! And to see them suffer makes my blood boil and a black rage settle upon my attitude. Even though those horses are competing directly with my livestock, I would never allow them to suffer like the Federal government land managers do!!!! And when they finally get off their butts and decide to do something, guess what they try to do first? They TRY TO CUT MY CATTLE NUMBERS BECAUSE THAT IS EASIER THAN LITIGATION FROM "SAVE THE MUSTANGS" OR THE SIERRA CLUB! Suddenly that broken fish cleaning station looks kind of silly to me! I have worked my entire life to be a great steward of the land I own and the land I am permitted to graze on federal land. NONE OF THAT COUNTS TO MOST BLM AND FOREST SERVICE MANAGERS! They are sent out into their districts with a federal agenda that simply doesn't make sense. It's based on political decisions and not on sound science or historical data. It's based on fear of litigation. And it's based on whatever textbook some rookie ranger learned from at Delaware State! This is one example my friend! And it happens over and over again to myself and countless other ranchers throughout the west! When I lease a private pasture, I have total control of the amount of cattle in can graze there, how to improve water to benefit the range and the animals, how much access the public gets and a bunch of other things which makes it worth paying $25 per head per month. When I pay the BLM my fee of $1.85 per head per month I get nothing like that. I get campfires left unattended and human waste in streams. I get gates left open and fences cut. I get cattle chased by 4 wheelers and even shot with arrows (Happened twice so far in my lifetime). I get mismanagement from someone who cares not for me or the land they manage. I get red tape and stupidity and bureaucracy from my local ranger district up through the Dept of the Interior. I get heartache and worry over how my kids will continue in the tradition and livelihood I treasure like the air I breathe. It's much more than being irritated I cannot clean my fish! Should the state of Utah fix that station? ABSOLUTELY!!! Is the state of Utah perfect at managing its own lands? NOPE! But when I have a problem on the state trust lands I lease, I pickup the phone and call Richfield Utah. I talk to a person who knows the range, knows my family, and truly cares for the land they manage. I do not always get exactly what I'd like, but I get respect and have a great working relationship with the folks who have stewardship over the areas I lease. It's night and day different from dealing with the federal government. And that is just one small example folks.
Please let me also clear up something about prices when running cattle on government land versus private land. Many of you will say that $1.85 is totally unfair to pay per cow per month when it costs $25+ to graze the same cow on private land. THEY ARE 2 COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS! First of all, go re-read what ranchers put up with on public land. Compare that to the almost total control I have on private. And second, remember I own the right to graze that government land. Many of you own your homes. Its paid for and it's yours right? But every year you still pay property taxes right? You no longer have a monthly house payment but you do owe taxes and will for as long as you live. I own my grazing right exactly like you own your home. The $1.85 per head per month FEE is just like paying taxes on the home you own. EXACTLY!!! So please don't come back at me with how unfair that $1.85 is because it will only prove how little you know about the subject. Not talking to you Fatbiker specifically, but to others who may jump on me.
Lastly, Your Daughter in NYC does have the right to use public land. She doesn't own it anymore than you or I own it. We can't sell it or build a cabin anywhere we'd like. We have very specific rules to follow on all public land from where we can legally shoot, off-road, camp, graze, cut firewood, ect. And those rules only increase and get more restrictive as we designate land monuments or parks. I too contact my Congressmen and Senators often. I ask them to protect my livelihood and the future for my kids. I ask them to stand up for private property rights, for water rights and for grazing rights. I ask them to trim back the over reach and mismanagement that seems to ooze from the cesspool that is Washington DC. I vote every election too.
I look forward to meeting you Fatbiker. I want the privilege of shaking your hand and telling you thanks for your service to our country! I want to associate with a guy who has a wonderful heart for complete strangers in need, like the Lauti's! I want to spend a day looking at God's handiwork of creation where I am lucky enough to live and work. I wish you all well in your lives, in catching fish, in retirement and with your family. I hope this long epistle might give ya just a glimpse into my small world of being a rancher. Have a fine evening sir!
Darrell (Really my name and not a bad Bob Newhart show reference)
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Larry[/quote]
Larry, I sure appreciate the frustration you feel over a broken fish cleaning station. Can you imagine if your livelihood and the ability to feed your family hinged on getting that fixed? The fish cleaning station in a nuisance and is surely inconvenient, but will you miss a house payment if they don't fix it? But that is exactly like the problems ranchers face every year from the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Unlike the south marina at Willard Bay, I own the right to graze the federal land that my permit is on. NO ONE ELSE CAN GRAZE IT BECAUSE I OWN THAT RIGHT. And our family has owned that right since the inception of the Taylor Grazing Act in the late 1930's. But instead of it being an inconvenience when a government agency refuses to hold up their end of the bargain, it becomes a threat to my livelihood. Here is just one tiny example of that.....
The BLM has done range studies to determine the carrying capacity of each area they manage. They figure out how many deer and other game animals, how many non-game critters, how many cattle or sheep and how many wild horses each area can handle WITHOUT DAMAGING THE RANGELAND. This is done using very scientific methods including "clip and weigh" as well as historical data, long range weather forecasts, ect. The BLM has determined that our area has sufficient rangeland to handle 450 head of wild horses. And their own count puts the wild horse numbers at over 800! Almost double what they KNOW the habitat can handle. Can you imagine how much trouble I would be in if I turned out twice the amount of cattle the grazing right I OWN states I can? And yet when the horses damage the grass and overwhelm the meager water sources of our desert landscape, the BLM does nothing! They are afraid of being sued by "friends of horses groups" who have no idea how damaging too many horses are on the grass and water resources but think how pretty wild horses are on the open lands of the American west. I have watched horses die of thirst and starvation. I have called BLM managers and reported the suffering multiple times only to be ignored or brushed off as clueless. I love wild horses! And to see them suffer makes my blood boil and a black rage settle upon my attitude. Even though those horses are competing directly with my livestock, I would never allow them to suffer like the Federal government land managers do!!!! And when they finally get off their butts and decide to do something, guess what they try to do first? They TRY TO CUT MY CATTLE NUMBERS BECAUSE THAT IS EASIER THAN LITIGATION FROM "SAVE THE MUSTANGS" OR THE SIERRA CLUB! Suddenly that broken fish cleaning station looks kind of silly to me! I have worked my entire life to be a great steward of the land I own and the land I am permitted to graze on federal land. NONE OF THAT COUNTS TO MOST BLM AND FOREST SERVICE MANAGERS! They are sent out into their districts with a federal agenda that simply doesn't make sense. It's based on political decisions and not on sound science or historical data. It's based on fear of litigation. And it's based on whatever textbook some rookie ranger learned from at Delaware State! This is one example my friend! And it happens over and over again to myself and countless other ranchers throughout the west! When I lease a private pasture, I have total control of the amount of cattle in can graze there, how to improve water to benefit the range and the animals, how much access the public gets and a bunch of other things which makes it worth paying $25 per head per month. When I pay the BLM my fee of $1.85 per head per month I get nothing like that. I get campfires left unattended and human waste in streams. I get gates left open and fences cut. I get cattle chased by 4 wheelers and even shot with arrows (Happened twice so far in my lifetime). I get mismanagement from someone who cares not for me or the land they manage. I get red tape and stupidity and bureaucracy from my local ranger district up through the Dept of the Interior. I get heartache and worry over how my kids will continue in the tradition and livelihood I treasure like the air I breathe. It's much more than being irritated I cannot clean my fish! Should the state of Utah fix that station? ABSOLUTELY!!! Is the state of Utah perfect at managing its own lands? NOPE! But when I have a problem on the state trust lands I lease, I pickup the phone and call Richfield Utah. I talk to a person who knows the range, knows my family, and truly cares for the land they manage. I do not always get exactly what I'd like, but I get respect and have a great working relationship with the folks who have stewardship over the areas I lease. It's night and day different from dealing with the federal government. And that is just one small example folks.
Please let me also clear up something about prices when running cattle on government land versus private land. Many of you will say that $1.85 is totally unfair to pay per cow per month when it costs $25+ to graze the same cow on private land. THEY ARE 2 COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS! First of all, go re-read what ranchers put up with on public land. Compare that to the almost total control I have on private. And second, remember I own the right to graze that government land. Many of you own your homes. Its paid for and it's yours right? But every year you still pay property taxes right? You no longer have a monthly house payment but you do owe taxes and will for as long as you live. I own my grazing right exactly like you own your home. The $1.85 per head per month FEE is just like paying taxes on the home you own. EXACTLY!!! So please don't come back at me with how unfair that $1.85 is because it will only prove how little you know about the subject. Not talking to you Fatbiker specifically, but to others who may jump on me.
Lastly, Your Daughter in NYC does have the right to use public land. She doesn't own it anymore than you or I own it. We can't sell it or build a cabin anywhere we'd like. We have very specific rules to follow on all public land from where we can legally shoot, off-road, camp, graze, cut firewood, ect. And those rules only increase and get more restrictive as we designate land monuments or parks. I too contact my Congressmen and Senators often. I ask them to protect my livelihood and the future for my kids. I ask them to stand up for private property rights, for water rights and for grazing rights. I ask them to trim back the over reach and mismanagement that seems to ooze from the cesspool that is Washington DC. I vote every election too.
I look forward to meeting you Fatbiker. I want the privilege of shaking your hand and telling you thanks for your service to our country! I want to associate with a guy who has a wonderful heart for complete strangers in need, like the Lauti's! I want to spend a day looking at God's handiwork of creation where I am lucky enough to live and work. I wish you all well in your lives, in catching fish, in retirement and with your family. I hope this long epistle might give ya just a glimpse into my small world of being a rancher. Have a fine evening sir!
Darrell (Really my name and not a bad Bob Newhart show reference)
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