Bob Abby Wild Lands Meeting
BLM Director Bob Abbey attended a public meeting in SLC held by the Governor's Balanced Resource Council. Governor Herbert was also in attendance. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the New Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management plan to designate Wild Lands. Please note that this meeting was open to the public with a question and answer session similar to the Secretary Salazar meeting held last April.
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Statue 2477 Round Table Webcast
Kane County Commissioners Doug Heaton and Jim Matson along with Mark Ward from the Utah Association of Counties discuss the recent court decision on RS2477 along with the wildlands order, as they discuss the importance of access to counties for transportation, grazing, and maintenance.
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Renewable Energy Round Table Webcast
Chad Booth pulls together some of the industries to talk about the future of renewable energy, and how it accompanies traditional uses so well. |
Oil and Gas Round Table Webcast
As the nation seeks to become energy independent, the restrictions that are placed on oil and gas industry are making it harder to get the fuel we need out of the ground. Chad Booth talks to an oil industry representative about the issues they face, and Uintah and Duschesne County voice their concern over the potential effects on the economy. The Federal Government is making policies that effect the area, but they aren't seeking input from the local governments. |
Uranium Round Table Webcast
Washington County and Kane County discuss the potential growth this mining would bring to Southern Utah and Northern Arizona with Scott Florence from the Arizona Strip BLM office. Scott describes the process that the BLM is carrying out in order to anticipate all of the potential effects on the area from the proposed withdrawal of mining. |
Emigration of Youth from Rural Counties Webcast
There are a many reasons for the younger population of a county to move elsewhere. Many of the youth are pursuing a higher education so they must go where the universities are located, or they may leave on a mission for the LDS church. The youth don't always leave and never return. But what are the counties doing to provide opportunities for the youth to come back to? What are the pros and cons of the youth leaving? What is required for business to move into a county? How do rural counties remain rural, while growing at the same time? |
Centrally Assessed Taxes Webcast
We have spent the entire half-hour thus far covering this complicated issue of centrally assessed taxes, and it is a complex issue. By now you should have a fairly good understanding of what it is and how it works and some of its problems. For the balance of the show we are going to turn our attention to looking for some possible solutions. To help us with that we have our two guests today, Larry Walters, who is a professor at the George Romney Institute of public management at Brigham Young University. Thank you for joining us. And Mark Altom who is the Davis County Treasurer and they will be joining us for a discussion on where we might go from here to solve the problem. |
Federal Agents and County Sheriff Jurisdiction Webcast
San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman and San Juan County Sheriff Rick Eldredge give some perspective on where there were problems in the past between federal and county law enforcement. They cover some fo the problems that happened in the past in regards to the Native American Artifacts that were being sold and the Federal Raids that caught 23 people who were suspected of illegally dealing the artifacts. The dicussion also covers the current situation and the willingness to work with federal agencies, but the importance of keeping the local government informed. |
Changing the Current Civil Commitment Law Webcast
What happens when somebody commits a crime but they are found not competent to stand trial, usually they are sent to the Utah state hospital in Provo where they are evaluated and the hospital tries to bring them to a state of competency so they can face trial. But what happens when that term of time called a forensic hold expires. What happens to the defendent if they are not ready to stand trial? In the case of Lonnie Johnson, a convicted child rapist, he has basically set free last April. He will have to be re-evaluated in 6 months. Craig Johnson, the deputy attorney for Utah County, saw a gap in the current civil commitment law and contacted Representative Brad Daw or Orem to help fix the current civil commitment law to better protect against sexual assault. |
Bark Beetle in Utah Webcast
Jim Matson, Kane County Commissioner, and Kevin Mueller, Utah Environmental Congress, join us on the show to talk about the bark beetles. They talk about the concerns from both the timber industry and environmental concerns and philosophies for forest management. |
Grand Staircase Escalante Monument Webcast
In 1996 President Bill Clinton used the Antiquities Act to declare the Grand Staircase Escalante Monument in Utah. The monument covers about 80% of Garfield and Kane County and it has created some challenges for the local governments in terms of generating funds to support the services that they need to provide to their counties. Now 15 years later the question is has it created the economic benefits from tourism that the monument was supposed to create, and what direction are Kane and Garfield taking in order to make the Monument work. Terry Wood has the story. |
Proposed Withdrawal of new Uranium Exploration and Mining Webcast
Chad Booth heads South to Kanab to discuss the different perspectives on future uranium mining with Kane County Commissioner, Jim Matson; Scott Florence, Arizona Strip BLM; and Carl Taylor, Coconino County Supervisor Arizona.
The panel discusses what the withdrawal means to the area (the withdrawal doesn't end uranium mining completely), concerns over tourism being negatively affected, and what happens to "moth-balled" mines. |
Proposed Withdrawal of new Uranium Exploration and Mining: Webcast Pt. 1
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Proposed Withdrawal of new Uranium Exploration and Mining: Webcast Pt. 2
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Federal vs. State Webcast
Pat Shea, who is a former director of the Bureau of Land Management during the Clinton Administration, Randy Parker, who is the CEO of the Utah Farm Bureau, and John Harja the director of public lands under the governor's office. Who should manage the access to public lands in Utah, should it be managed more at the local level, or is it better that it the federal government makes those decisions. |
Seep Ridge Road Webcast
Work is underway on a road improvement project in Uintah County. The road is called the Seep Ridge Road and it is the main corridor for access for oil and gas development along with agricultural and recreation access in Uintah county. Uintah county has tried to get the road paved in the past, and looked at creating a paved route all the way to I70. That has been the problem of the past project is that it wasn't financially viable for Grand County to complete. The new project seeks to pave 45 miles of existing road all the way to the south end of Uintah county at the Grand County line. |
Emergency Disaster Preparedness Webcast
Continuation of the on air discussion about the role of local government in emergency and disaster preparedness. |
County Planning and Zoning Webcast
The discussion continues online to talk about some of the other details of planning and zoning. |
State Parks Budget Cuts Webcast
Last year the state legislature made drastic cuts to the State Parks budget. As a result they are now looking at possibly having to close or transfer ownership of some of their parks in order to fit into the new budget they've been given. Are these feasible suggestions on how to deal with the shortfall in State Parks? Terry Wood checks in with commissioners in some of the rural areas that would be greatly affected to find out.
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Tourism Economy in Utah Webcast
Is tourism a suitable economy for the state of Utah. Economists have been arguing that more wilderness in Utah could bring jobs to Utah. Garfield County who has three national parks, two state parks, Glenn Canyon National Recreation Area, The Grand Staircase National Monument, 25,000 acres of wilderness and a half million acres of wilderness study areas; argues that the suggested benefits haven't come to fruition in their area. |
Public Lands Transfer Act Webcast
The conversation about HB 148 continues in this section.
The State of Utah is drafting legislation that would require the United States to extinguish title to public lands in Utah and turn them over to the state for management.
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Education and Economic Development Webcast
This is part of the extended discussion that we had with Gary Smith, Kendall Willardson, and Linda Gillmor about the Utah Cluster Acceleration Program at Snow College.
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Senator Orrin Hatch Webcast
Chad Booth continues the conversation off the air with Senator Hatch on additional issues that face our state. |
Emery County Land Bill Webcast
We continue our discussion about Emery County and their land bill that we weren't able to cover on the air.
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Congressman Bishop County Issues at the National Level Webcast
Chad Booth Sits down with Congressman Bishop and discusses the effects of national policies on local government. What does it mean to local governments to have so much federal ownership of land in western states? What is the attitude of people in Washington DC toward the issue of public lands in the West? |
Congressman Bishop County Issues at the National Level: Webcast
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Indigent Defense Webcast
What are the hidden costs of not providing adequate funding for indigent defense? What is the constitutional requirement for providing an adequate defense for people who can't afford an attorney?
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Sheriff's Authority Extended Conversation Webcast
We continue the conversation about the duty of the County Sheriff and the issues that citizens and Sheriffs are having with Federal Land Management Law Enforcement. |
Sheriff's Authority Extended Conversation: Webcast
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Planning and Zoning Webcast
On this week's episode of The County Seat, we take a look at planning and zoning, and how county government fits into building and development within the county. |
Duchesne County Mail-In Voting Webcast
In this week's episode, Chad sat down with representatives from Duchesne County to discuss their recent decision to move to an all mail-in ballot system for that county. In the episode (which you can view by visiting www.thecountyseat.tv) they gave their reasons for making this move, and the impacts that mail-in voting will have across the board.
In this extended conversation, the panel goes more in-depth about the pros and cons, political party impacts, and effects this change will have across the entire state of Utah. |
Duchesne County Mail-In Voting: Webcast
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Invasive Species Webcast
On this week's The County Seat, Terry Wood sits down with officials to talk about weed abatement and how invasive species are costing you big bucks to fight off. In this extended conversation, the group continues to discuss possible solutions and the impacts those solutions might have.
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Forest Management Webcast
What are the limitations placed on the Forest Service that make it hard for the agency to manage the forest? What are the issues that arise when litigation affects the decisions that the Forest Service makes for forest management?
The group discusses the timetable for making changes that will help with forest fire management. Re-educating the public on how forest management works and the importance of mechanical harvest for fuel reduction could help people to better understand the issue. |
Sage Grouse in Utah Webcast
The panel discusses the importance of restoring the habitat for sage grouse in order for a healthy rebound of the species. There are other issues to take into account such as predators as well. This requires a plan that will allow flexibility in management because what is good for one population might not be best for another. The panel also discusses how sage grouse became a candidate species for listing under the endangered species list. |
Rotational Grazing Webcast
A continuation of our on-air discussion on rotational grazing and livestock grazing in Utah. The panel discusses the importance of livestock grazing on public lands to the state of Utah. The number of livestock on the land now is far less than it was several decades ago. Better management such as rotational grazing would lead to a better range and more available forage for livestock. |
West Desert's Energy Potential Webcast
Capitalizing on the opportunities to bring renewable energy projects into the rural counties of Utah creates jobs and expands the local economies. The west desert provides a unique mix of new energy generation along with traditional sources such as coal-fired power. If the coal-fired power plant and transmission lines weren't in place there wouldn't be a way for renewable energy companies to tie into that infrastructure. This makes renewable projects in the area more viable, because companies don't have to invest in transmission lines. |
West Desert's Energy Potential: Webcast
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RS2477 County Rights of Way Webcast
Kane County and the Federal Government have had a dispute over the ownership of a number of roads that traverse federal lands which the county has argued belong to the county under Revised Statue 2477(RS2477). RS2477 is a provision of the Mining Act of 1866 which granted the right-of-way to states and counties to construct highways over public lands. These roads are used by a number of groups to get out and use the public lands; such as, access for grazing, recreation, and even the Sheriff's Office for search and rescue. There has been a heated controversy over these roads in Kane County from about the time that President Clinton declared the Grand Staircase Escalante Monument in 1996. A court decision as of March 2013 found that 12 of 15 roads were indeed RS2477 rights of way belonging to the county.
We met up with the three current county commissioners to discuss the importance of this decision to counties across the west and to look at the future of county roads over federal lands in the future. |
RS2477 County Rights of Way: Webcast
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Coal and Counties Webcast
You often don't think about where your electricity comes from but in the United States about 45% of the power we use comes from coal. Our show looks at coal from a different perspective looking into the socioeconomic impacts of coal in rural communities. There are things being done to overcome the environmental impacts and perhaps it is better for the US to take advantage of it's huge resource of coal and find ways to use it in a more environmentally friendly manner rather than to stop using it as an energy source. It may be that managing for wild fire would make a larger impact on the environment than shutting down a major energy producing industry such as coal.
Sites to take a look at: http://www.worldcoal.org/
Wild Fire Study: http://ucanr.edu/files/48008.pdf
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/ContributionPollution/
http://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_statistics.html |
The Relevance of Rural Communities Webcast
There is a growing disconnect in the United States between urban and rural communities. The current narrative coming from rural communities is economic struggle and urban communities are being identified as the center of economic development. It's a story that isn't true and it will take leadership to change the story currently playing out in rural Utah.
The good news is that the tides are turning and there is exciting changes coming to rural communities throughout America and those changes will help strengthen all of our communities. |
The Relevance of Rural Communities: Webcast
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Transfer of Public Lands Webcast
The transfer of public lands back to the State of Utah may seem like a far shot to some but the idea is gaining momentum. This week's show looks at the current state of the transfer of public lands act from the legislative process to the eventual legal challenges. Someone will make the decisions on how public lands are managed and our guests today feel that the people who are involved with those lands are a better choice than a far off government entity in Washington DC. For more information about what the Federalist Society has found in their own evaluation of the Public Lands Transfer Act Please click this link. http://www.fed-soc.org/events/detail/the-future-of-publicly-owned-lands or to learn more about the background and history of how other states have been able to gain control of their own sovereignty then visit: http://www.americanlandscouncil.org |
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