Rebels, Ranchers, and the Majority Report



Silverton is NOT unique.
Silverton, CO,
 (Source: southwestbackcountry photo)
You may wonder what the hell is going on in Sliverton. If you attend Silverton's February skijoring competition, you may gain a little insight.  Horseback riders pull skiers down main street as they attempt to jump snow ramps, and grab hanging rings for the win. Families cheer, the costumes, prizes, and laughter resemble a rodeo;  and -snow or shine- it's on.

 Silverton loves snow.  They had better. It snows a lot there, and the San Juan storms (especially in an El Nino year) are frequent. If both passes close due to avalanches (which does happen), Silverton is completely cut off from the outside world. There's a single grocer, a liquor store, and a ski hill (one and a half really), and community events are the lifeblood of the valley in the cold months.

 Initially, Silverton may appear unique, alone, even one of a kind.  But, it isn't.   Not even close.   There are many, many places like Silverton in the west. And the number is growing.  In fact, another such place was just highlighted as we rang in 2016: the Malhuer Wildlife Refuge in the Oregon outback.

Connections with the Oregon Outback
Sage, cattle, and an amazing migratory flyway don't seem connected to a place like Silverton in any way.  This is, until we look at what they both share.  The land. . . it's Federal.

 The connection in this case is through a particular person. No, he's not from Oregon.  Nor Colorado.
Rob Bishop (R-Utah) is using the Gold King Mine accident
to further his anti-federalist agenda.
(Source: Creative Commons, wikipedia photo)
His name is Rob Bishop.

 Never heard of Rob Bishop?  Well, unlike Ammon Bundy and LaVoy Finicum, occupiers of the Malhuer Wildlife Refuge, Bishop is one of the most powerful politicians in the American West right now.  A republican from Utah, Bishop is an anti-federalist and the Chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources in the US House of Representatives. (the committee reviewing the  Gold King Mine disaster) He sees both Malheur and Silverton's Gold King Mine as skirmishes in a vast war to privatize Federal lands, including National Parks, across the West.

 The Sagebrush Rebellion, most recently enshrined by the Malheur Refuge Occupation, has always had some sort of congressional support and representation.  Along with others, Utahns have elected and reelected the Rebellion's political class to both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.  Rob Bishop is one of those.

Indeed, Utah has many like him.  Orin Hatch and Chris Stewart to name two more that should be high on the list of the Sagebrush Rebels to watch.  Jamie Williams wrote a great article about this in the Washington Post:  "You can't 'take back' public lands.  They already belong to all of us."

 Orin Hatch and Rob Bishop, unlike Cliven and Ammon Bundy, went into politics. Their methods are different, but their ambitions are as 'grand.'  They are using the system to their advantage, using communities as pawns, and fighting for the dismantling of the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold, Gifford Pinchot, and many, many others.  All in the name of profit.

 Gold King Mine Report
This is where Silverton's Gold King Mine disaster helps Bishop.  As Chair of the Natural Resources Committee, Bishop is able to write a politically loaded and skewed "Executive Summary" on the committee's report about the Gold Kind accident.  He gets to hit the Federal agencies hard, and push for legislative deregulation and more state control.
He can possibly solicit the region's entities like tribes, cities, and counties to hop on board his plan.  Indeed, some already are.
Animas River and the Gold King Mine Spill.
(Source: Creative Commons, Wikipedia)
The report (found here) is worth a read.  Perhaps, in and of itself, the report doesn't put the entire west in jeopardy of losing its public lands.  Indeed, communities and organizations do have some sway. Yet, in conjunction with the spotlight on the armed occupation of the Malheur, Bishop's power is cause for concern among people that want public lands to stay public.

 Citizen Action

 What will citizens and voters do? Perhaps nothing.  Despite national attention given to the Gold King Mine initially, many people have moved on.  Organizations like the San Juan Citizens Alliance, The Wilderness Society, and others are staying on top of the issues. Still, it isn't pretty.

 Washington just seems so far away, and the Animas seems kinda clear, right?



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