Last Thursday USA-ALL was on the ground with Emery County Officials and Public Lands Council, BLM, SUWA, and other stake holders. We were on a “field-trip” to discuss potential Wilderness designation and other land use issues. USA-ALL was there to advocate for our members and represent those who access this area with motor vehicles. We were happy to do the job. We hope our involvement will better protect access to this region. Our position is that no roads should be closed, in fact we think a few should be re-opened. We are working on that. With your continued support we will be able to continue our work.
The process that Emery County and other Utah counties are engaged in to pro-actively address the Wilderness issue MAY be a way to protect against huge land grab bills. Bills such as SUWA’s self titled, “America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (ARRWA).” One thing we know for sure, no matter what happens in Emery County SUWA will continue to push ARRWA. I have been told that personally by their executive director. Therefore we cannot rest or trust that small local land use bills will be sufficient to stop ARRWA from passing. We must be there to combat ARRWA at every turn. If this bill passes it will have profound negative affects on other western states. Other environmentalist groups will be emboldened and more huge bills will surely follow. Not to mention the damage it will do to Utah.
We recently sent out a fundraising letter to past donors. We thought we would include it in this email in hopes that more of you would join our organization and or use it by forwarding it to your friends and encourage them to join as well.
We are taking action now because we are concerned that in the past Utah has been a political pawn of Washington D.C. Not too many years ago President Clinton designated 1.9 MILLION acres of our state as a National Monument. 1.9 MILLION ACRES! It was a political stunt then and it is likely to happen in some form again. I wouldn’t put it past this administration or leaders of Congress to take a page from the Clinton play book and stick it to us again. SUWA’s ARRWA is the perfect vehicle for such a play. We are concerned what may become of SUWA’s Wilderness bill and the threats of new monuments in Utah and other western states. With this November’s mid-term elections and the presidential election in 2 years the time is near when bold moves may be made.
Utah is the reddest state in the country. Arrogant or desperate politicians know this and are therefore willing to throw us under the bus if they think it will gain them votes in the “environmental” community. We intend to stop that from happening. Our goal is to establish a war chest with $250,000 in it to be used to stop the bill from passing and to combat new National Monuments. In addition to money we also need names because as you know politicians pay attention to large blocks of voters. Simply put we are amassing money and names to be used to protect our access to public lands in Utah. If you will, please encourage others to donate to us and lend us their good names. If enough of us band together we can and we will protect the things we all love so much.
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Our Recent Fundraising Letter
March 4, 2010
Dear Friend,
Without your immediate help, we could lose over 40% of the public land managed by the BLM in Utah! The possibility of losing this land in the next year is very real. A radical environmentalist group, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), has made huge progress on advancing their ill intended 9.4 million acre Utah Wilderness bill (H.R. 1925). Should this bill pass you can kiss goodbye recreational gems like the San Rafael Desert and Moab. USA-ALL has the experience and ability to beat this bill and minimize or eliminate it. We need you to take action to help protect the public’s access to these valuable places.
On October 1, 2009 a Congressional committee held a hearing on this bill. We attended the hearing and helped represent how this bill would cause tremendous harm. Our side did well in the hearing but it wasn’t enough to stop SUWA from advancing their agenda. In mid November 2009 the House sponsor of the bill, Congressman Hinchey (D-NY), along with other Congressmen sent a letter to the Obama administration and pressured them to take action on this bill and assist in passing it. Congressman Hinchey also asked the Department of the interior to exercise its considerable power and manage the land in the bill as Wilderness BEFORE Congress acts on it! This is the same Obama administration that pulled 77 Utah oil and gas leases from leases, and essentially denied Utah school children of critical funds that would have come from the development of those leases. Not to mention badly needed jobs and other economic opportunity. This is the same Administration that has tried to designate some of this same land as a national monument with-out first talking to local folks. You’ll remember that President Clinton did this to us in 1996 with the creation of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. That moved has significantly harmed Utahans and we are still dealing with the fall -out from that.
Utah is under attack. The Western U.S. is under attack. Radical environmentalists and their political lackeys are working aggressively to take away our quality of life and tell us how to live according to THEIR ideas. In Utah the principal offender is SUWA. Recently SUWA board member and Swiss citizen, Hansjorg Wyss, stepped down from his position as Chairman. Not coincidentally he also was recently charged with federal crimes involving his personal business and the death of some of his employees. SUWA is no stranger to having criminals at their helm. In 2006 2 of their board members, one of which was their treasurer, were convicted on separate but similar federal fraud charges related to banking scams. These are the leaders of the organization we know will use any tactic legitimate or not to bring about their goal of closing public land to vehicle access.
We bring these things to light to illustrate an important point:
A Swiss citizen leading an radical environmental organization is trying to lock up public land in the USA. This alone is concerning.
3 of SUWA’s board members have been charged with serious federal crimes. 2 have been convicted 1 is awaiting trial. This is the caliber of SUWA’s leadership. We believe this speaks volumes about the organization and those involved in it.
A Congressman from New York and a Senator from Chicago, Illinois are the sponsors of the bill that would turn 9,400,000 acres of public land in Utah into Wilderness and thereby close it to vehicle access.
NONE of Utah’s Congressmen or Senators supports this bill.
The Obama administration, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), are all strongly sympathetic to radical environmentalism.
In February 2010 documents showing the BLM has been considering designating areas in the San Rafael and Cedar Mesa as National Monuments (de-facto Wilderness) surface.
The important Point: Do the math. Our way of life even our very ideals are under attack by those who care little for you or our western way of life. USA-ALL has been fighting back with all we have. The purpose of this letter is to grow our support so we may fight harder and more effectively. Will you join us?
Here is the brutal truth about what needs to be done:
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We need to get the word out about this to everyone and anyone who may care. We need to send people to Washington D.C. to future hearings.
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We need to be able to tell our side of the story to anyone in Congress who will listen.
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We need to unite and direct the energies and voices of tens of thousands of Utahans and other Americans.
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We need to fund educational projects to spread the word about what is happening on this bill and other assaults on our way of life. We know the more that learn about what is going on the more we can unite and protect ourselves, our families, and our way of life.
We are dedicated to our mission to protect access to public land. We have the expertise to stop this bill but we don’t have very much time or money to complete this enormous task. We need thousands of individuals like you to get involved and to get others involved.
Here’s how you can help:
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Donate as much money as you can to help us stop new monuments and battle this bill.
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Encourage and apply peer pressure to your friends and everyone you know to donate and join USA-ALL.
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If you have any expertise or other ways to help, give us a call at 801-830-9112.
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Be ready to act when we ask. Go to www.usaall.org and join our free email list. We will need you to call legislators, write letters, etc. Let us focus your efforts where they will be most effective.
I am sure many of you are sick of hearing us beg for money. Believe me we are sick of begging. This is really a defining do-or-die time. We can’t fight multiple multi-million dollar environmental organizations on guts and determination alone. We also can’t wait until the last second before this bill is voted on by Congress. We must fight it now! We need a serious injection of cash, which will be used judiciously and effectively. Your donations are also tax deductible. Is $50 too much to ask to donate, what about $100? Our annual membership is only $30. What is access to 9.4 million acres of Utah public land worth to you? What can you give? Click here and give us your answer 
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. Get on board the “Stop SUWA Express!” We appreciate every dollar donated.
