Well then I must disagree! With the federal government in control of nearly 60% of the land in Utah, right or wrong I strongly disagree. Nothing I can see gives our federal government this right. We stand very close to having National Parks, Monuments and Recreation areas boarded up and the public will be denied access. Parks are really hurting right now just to maintain the basics and many are in such poor shape that the general public may be at risk just by entering. I hope these closures never happen but it may be interesting to see how some who support what in my opinion is simply a land grab feel when they are turned away at the entrance gate. Alton Coal mines parking lot may be where we set up to observe in the future. Ok, that is "over the top" but you get my point. Steve
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2011 09:50:03 -0700 From: erikhansen@thebluezone.net To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Alton mine update
I agree, hardly a negative for Utah.
I don't want to get political, but I view the creation of the national
monument as a great service to Utah and the country. -- Joe
________________________________ From: D P Pierce <starsbirdsglyphs@gmail.com> To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Monday, December 5, 2011 8:42 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Alton mine update
Closer to home the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument was created by presidental decree.
"The Monument was declared in September 1996 at the height of the 1996 presidential election<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_1996>campaign by President Bill Clinton <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton>, and was controversial from the moment of creation. The declaration ceremony was held at Grand Canyon National Park<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park>in Arizona <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona>, and not in the state of Utah. The Utah congressional delegation and state governor were notified only 24 hours in advance. This was seen by many as a transparent political ploy to gain votes in the contested state of Arizona. That November, Clinton won Arizona by a margin of 2.2%, and lost Utah to Republican Bob Dole <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dole> by 21.1%" (quote from Wikipedia) I thought at the time Clinton did it to screw Utah because Utah was the only state he had come in 3rd pllace in his first election. I think Kanab High School woke up the next morning to find out half of their football field was in the new national monument. Nobody from Utah was invited to the ceremony. It was especially a slap in the face for former Demcratic senator Frank Moss who had worked diligently to get more national parks in Utah.
Deloy _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php
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