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Letter: Public has a right to know what’s happening with their lands

(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) From left, Kevin Mueller, program director of Utah Environmental Congress, Stanley Kitchen, a botanist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Mary O'Brien with the Grand Canyon Trust inspect an aspen tree cutting to determine the newest growth and the health of the stand in the area of Upper Box Creek Reservoir in August 2017.

Could anyone tell me why President Trump keeps nominating and placing people like Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, a former oil industry lobbyist, in a position to protect our lands?

The proposed rule that they are not going to have any communication with the public on lands policy is so wrong. This proposal includes all 80.1% of all Forest Service projects and permits that are approved under what is called a categorical exclusion, meaning the agency figures the project or permit will have no individual or cumulative significant effects on the environment.

It proposed to stop giving advance notice of these projects and opportunities to tell the agency that it's missed an important harm. This is quoted from an article in The Salt Lake Tribune by Mary O'Brien on August 1.

We must let the agency know we do not agree on this procedure. The public has a right to check the areas they are talking about to see if they are correct in their decisions. Everyone should contact their congressmen and let them know this is not acceptable.

Carol Starks, Sandy

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