A Call to Arms from Utah Shared Access Alliance

| February 27, 2010 | 0 Comments

The federal government is out of control. Their appetite for power and control over our lives seems insatiable. Their “management” of public land is crushing the westerns states. We must take the power back.

Radical environmentalists are capitalizing on the current political climate. If they successfully implement their agenda it will cause significant harm to all freedom loving American’s. It will weaken us in a global economy, weaken our ability to defend ourselves from foreign enemies, and threaten our very quality of life here at home.

I know these are strong words. The sky isn’t falling, not yet. But if we don’t unite together under organizations such as USA-ALL there will soon come a time when more than just the sky will fall.  Please read this email and the news reports in the right column. And then become an active and informed citizen. It is not only your right to do so, but it is your responsibility.

Let me remind you of some recent attacks targeted at you and me:

  1. September 2009: Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) successfully schedules a congressional hearing on their 9.2 million acre Utah wilderness bill.
  2. October 2009: SUWA’S Wilderness bill goes before congressional committee. We along with other mount an effective defense. The bill gets beat-up pretty bad. SUWA vows to push ahead.
  3. November 2009: SUWA’s congressional sponsor for the Wilderness bill, Congressman Hinchey (D-NY) sends a letter to Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar. The letter urges Secretary Salazar to exercise his “considerable authority” and order lands contained in the wilderness bill to be managed as wilderness without congressional designation!
  4. February 2010: Internal DOI documents are leaked that show DOI has been secretly considering making 2 new national monuments in Utah. Both prospective monuments fall within SUWA’s proposals for Wilderness. The documents also show other possible monuments in other western states.
  5. February 2010: Governor Herbert in Washington D.C. for a governor’s convention gets the news and schedules an impromptu meeting with Secretary Salazar. Salazar claims that no action will be taken without seeking public comment first, and that they will not take action in the dark of night. Of course they won’t because someone has now cast the light of day on the scheme.

Now given these recent attacks there seems to be a clear and aggressive pattern to further lock-up public land and “save it” from the people. Not for the people, from the people. There is an increasing urgency in Washington to, “Hurry and get things done”. It seems apparent that those in control of Congress and the administration are pushing their agendas while the time is right. Before we the people wake up. This push is happening on a number of issues. Public land management is no exception.

A quick study of the actions of the last 6 months should be all the proof you need to prove my claims. We have been told that it is the intent of Congressional leaders and the administration to push their pet agendas to completion before this fall’s elections. If there ever were a time to stand up and fight for what you believe NOW IS THAT TIME. We have 3 action items we would like you to do. These 3 simple items will have profound cumulative impacts on protecting you and your future.

1. Use the provided link to find contact info for your local and federal legislators. Contact them and express your opinion on public land issues specifically how you feel about more national monuments in Utah, SUWA’s Wilderness bill, and the efforts by Utah’s legislature to gain more control over public lands. Tell them what you expect of them and let them know you are paying attention to these issues. A quick one paragraph email or 30 second phone call is sufficient.

2. Forward or print this email along with your thoughts and distribute it to all you know, talk about it with anyone who will listen. Encourage others to get involved and join USA-ALL or other organizations that represent your views.

3. Donate money to USA-ALL.  Make a Donation

We HATE begging for money. But the simple truth is we can’t wage a war and defend you without some financial backing. We utilize volunteer effort where ever possible. But we have other costs that must be covered, and we have one full-time employee that works every day on your behalf. Your money will go to paying for things such as:

a. Mailings to inform our members and others about important issues and to raise additional funds.

b. Travel expenses to meet with elected and government officials.

c. Attorney and court fee’s for litigation.

d. Design and distribution of print materials to inform and unite more people.

e. Employee salaries. Employees are necessary to keep things moving along and organized, and to be able to identify and respond effectively to threats.

f. Our legal action fund. We have a goal to have $250,000 saved to be used for legal. related issues. i.e. suing BLM when they illegally close roads, challenge unconstitutional actions taken by governmental agencies, etc.

g. Organizing and paying for future rallies (such as Take Back Utah!) and events that unite more people and get the attention of the media and political leaders.

To those who have already given so much, “Thank you!” Please encourage others to follow your example. It’s not right that relatively few support USA-ALL when we do so much for so many.

All we ask is a few minutes of your time and a few hard earned dollars. A small investment now will be more meaningful than a larger investment in the future. Please don’t disregard our call to action. It is because we all have been complacent for so long that we now find ourselves in very scary and threatening times. It’s not too late to right the course of our country but our window of opportunity is closing with every passing day. PLEASE do your part!

USA-ALL will continue to fight against the creation of more harmful national monuments in Utah. We will continue to combat the efforts of SUWA in passing their 9.2 million acre land grab. We will continue to unite thousands of people and direct their energy to best protect access to public land in Utah. We will continue to support efforts for local governments to control and manage public land. And we will continue to inform the public and elected officials alike about important issues.

The degree to which we will succeed in these and other pursuits is largely dependent on you. Your actions and donations are our life blood. The more you do or give, the better we can accomplish our mission. $1000, $100, $50, $30, $10 we’ll take whatever you can give. What is access to public land in Utah worth to you? Click the “Donate” button, call us, or go to our website (www.usaall.org) and give us your answer.

Sincerely,

Michael Swenson
Utah Shared Access Alliance


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