Salt Lake City News | New West Network

The handling of the raid of the Yearning for Zion Ranch polygamous compound in Eldorado, Texas, and the subsequent detainment of the entire community continues to draw strong reactions here in Utah. Connor Boyack, a website designer in Lehi, Utah circulated a petition calling for the release from custody or foster care of all Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) women and children gathered up in the raid, and an apology from the State of Texas. The petition received 2000 signatures before he forwarded it to Texas Governor Rick Perry, along with a letter noting,   [more]

Western Book Roundup

The Boulder Farmer's Market will open for its first Wednesday afternoon of the season today, kicking off with a book signing and talk by Lynn Rossetto Kasper, host of NPR's The Splendid Table. She'll be discussing her new book, How to Eat Supper. (Free, 5:30-6:30 p.m.)

The Bluff, Utah-based Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers announced that this year's winner of their annual award is Joe Wilkins. Wilkins plans to study and write about the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains from Texas to Montana.

Also in the Roundup: Margot Kahn tours behind Horses That Buck: The Story of Champion Bronc Rider Bill Smith, and WyoFile.com excerpts Alexandra Fuller's new book.  [more]

CLASS ACTION SUITS TO BE FILED TUESDAY IN ARIZONA, COLORADO

Enough is enough, say the owners of our national forests. And they may have finally found a way to spike the Recreation Access Tax or RAT.

After years of working through cumbersome administrative channels and several rounds in criminal court, people interested in reasonable and free access to their public land have dragged the Forest Service (FS) into civil court. In addition to asking for injunctions against collecting "illegal" fees while the case is being litigated and if successful the fee program terminated, the plaintiffs in the class action complaints--to be filed tomorrow morning in Arizona and Colorado--want all fee collection signs removed and all fees collected through the years under the program returned to the people who shouldn't have had to pay them.

Suffice to say, it's panic time in the FS offices back in Washington, D.C.  [more]

2008 COMMENTS WORTH REPEATING III

Over the past two years, I've been periodically posting selections of my favorite comments from readers of my columns and articles. I plan to continue doing this, but differently. Instead of listing comments chronologically, I've edited them into general subject areas. In this case, here are a few insightful comments that came in over the past few months on several articles on the wilderness drought and the green group feud that keeps it alive and if not endless. Enjoy.

Editor's Note: For a complete list of Comments Worth Repeating, click here.
  [more]

NewWest.Net Conferences

The Designing the New West: Architecture and Landscape in the Mountain West Conference is wrapping up here in Bozeman at the historic Gallatin Gateway Inn. Put on by NewWest.Net and sponsored by the Sonoran Institute, the conference brought together designers from all over the country to explore innovative design ideas, identify best practices, and better understand how to bridge the gap between good architectural theory and sometimes-messy building practices in the fastest growing region in the nation.

A mix of presentations and engaging panel discussions tackled pressing Western issues like sustainable development, land design and the special challenges of urban, rural and resort design, historic preservation and affordable housing.

Click on the photo or here for a slideshow of the days' events. Click "more" for a recap of the conference.  [more]

A TECTONIC FIX LONG OVERDUE

Last month, the General Accountability Office (GA0) announced it was studying a plan to take the Forest Service out of the Department of Agriculture and merge it into the Department of the Interior. Predictably, this news was met with a chorus of yawns because we've heard many grandiose plans for reorganizing federal land-managing agencies. In every case, after significant wasted staff time and much stress for employees, nothing happens.

But this one wasn't a yawner for me because something like this really needs to happen. This time, let's get serious and seize this opportunity to remake the Forest Service (FS), an agency lost in the today's political landscape. [more]

SO SAYS THE MAN WHO MADE IT HAPPEN

Some NewWest.Net readers might be a bit "overwolfed," but I thought the views of the man who probably did more to return the Big Dog to the Rocky Mountain West than any other person on Earth could be interesting.

And surprisingly, to me at least, he thinks it all turned out about how he expected. [more]

IS THIS SO MUCH TO ASK?

Before all the non-flycasters get excited about the headline, I should say that I like all kinds of fishing, not just fly fishing, a problem that has made my life a constant struggle against poverty. In fact, I have more spinning and baitcasing rods than fly rods, and probably use them more, too.

Nonetheless, today, I'm feeling sorry for those anglers who only use fly rods. I think fisheries managers should throw them a bone by designating a few stretches of a few rivers as fly-fishing-only--especially a few rivers with steelhead in them. [more]

update

The effects of the financial market flux that has a handful of high-end Western resorts reeling are trickling down to employees.

Turns out the Promontory Club, in bankruptcy court in Utah because it can't make loan payments on Credit Suisse's $275 million loan, hadn't been paying the help, according to a story today in the Salt Lake Tribune. One quoted cook is owed about $2,000.

But attorney Kenneth Cannon, representing a number of the creditors in the bankruptcy case, told NewWest.Net in an email today that the court on Tuesday approved an interim borrowing of $2 million and payment of pre-bankruptcy employee wages and salaries, plus honoring member deposits and club credits. He said payroll will be made today or tomorrow. [more]