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----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Wayne Martinson" <wmart.dsawyer@aros.net>
To: "Jeff Salt" <jeffsalt@greatsaltlakeaudubon.org>,
"Sean Phelan" <seandphelan@yahoo.com>, "'Cullen
Battle'" <cbattle@fabianlaw.com>, "Joro Walker"
<utah@lawfund.org>, "Alan Matheson"
<amatheson@tu.org>, "Jeff McCreary"
<jmccreary@ducks.org>, "Chris
Montague" <cmontague@tnc.org>,
"Genevieve Atwood" <genevieveatwood@attbi.com>,
"Amanda Eyre" <aeyre@tnc.org>, "Sam
Rushforth" <sam.rushforth@uvsc.edu>, "Reed
Stone" <sage2222@juno.com>, "Paul
Dremann" <pdremann@xmission.com>, "Allan Daly"
<allan.daly@attbi.com>, "Daren
Tuttle" <DAREN_TUTTLE@BD.COM>,
<maunsel3616@msn.com>, "Joel
Peterson" <jpeterson@tnc.org>,
"Darrell Mensel" <dmensel@xmission.com>, <wbodie@pheasantsforever.org>,
"Bart Miller (E-mail)" <bmiller@lawfund.org>, <fishonsfw@aol.com>, "TWITCHELL, Marlyn"
<MTWITCHELL@audubon.org>,
"Lynn de Freitas" <ldefreitas@earthlink.net>, "Scot
Chipman" <scotchipman@yahoo.com>, "Glenn
Foreman" <glenn@mudbuddy.com>,
"Robin Tuck" <robin@utahnature.com>, "Dennis
Shirley" <dshirley@freeport.com>, <milton@utahbirds.org>, "Charles
Hanson" <charleshanson1@msn.com>, "Lynn
Tennefoss" <ltennefoss@audubon.org>, <dniven@audubon.org>
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:33:25 -0600
Subject: Come to court on Oct. 8 and Update on Utah Lake Boundary
Issue
Message-ID: <018701c38140$e8adcc20$e0dcdb42@computer>
Dear folks interested in the Utah Lake Boundary
Issue Settlement,
The last general update to people interested in the
Utah Lake Boundary issue was on August 8. There have definitely been some
things that have transpired since then.
But first, everyone who is concerned that the
sovereign lands of Utah Lake be protected is encouraged to be present at the
courtroom on Oct 8. The location is at the federal courthouse at 350
South Main in SLC. It will be in the Judge Kimball courtroom starting in
the morning. I plan to send out another
reminder with the specific time the hearing will start on Oct. 2. Although
no public displays are allowed in the courtroom, it would definitely be helpful
to have the public present to show they are concerned about protecting
the sovereign lands of Utah Lake.
Now for a few other updates.
1. Below is a memo from Sean Phelan
with Western Resource Advocates (fromerly Utah Land and Water Fund) regarding
the pleading that Cullen Battle and Joro Walker filed on Sept. 2, 2003
regarding Utah Lake. I am sending the memo from Sean as well as the
entire pleading in a separate e-mail. I think you will find the
pleading very valuable, informative and persuasive!
2. The
state also filed on Sept. 2, 2003.
Their document is titled, "Plaintiff's Memorandum Opposing Defendant
Landowner's First Motion for Entry of Final Judgments.? The document is 6 pages
long and ends with the following paragraph, ?Accordingly, the 4481 Stipulation
language about "continuous" historic use is a nullity. The exception
negates the general provision so
badly as to undercut sufficient support for a judgment quieting title, under any
stretch of the "historic use" test. Historic use is trumped by historic inundation." The State's affidavit had good
information on water levels including, "The monthly lake level information prior
to statehood never shows the elevation of the lake as low as 4481."
3. The Utah
County Surveyor, Gary Ratcliffe also filed an affidavit on Sept. 2, 2003. Exhibit A of this affidavit provides
detailed maps showing each proposed claim out into the Lake as compared to the existing
tax parcel. And to quote part of the affidavit, "Each parcel described in
the proposed judgments goes well beyond and is much larger than the
corresponding landowner's existing tax parcel. You would not know this
from reading the proposed judgments alone, since they do not show the size and
position of the new proposed parcel in relation to the existing tax
parcel."
4.
The press conference regarding Utah Lake on July 22 helped other people get
concerned with and involved in this issue. For example, Charles Hansen
from Payson encouraged people in a newspaper editorial to come to the Oct. 8
court hearing. The editorial is titled, ?Stand up for Utah Lake.? The last paragraph says, ?What we can
and should do is to make sure we pack the courtroom on Oct. 8 in support of
keeping public land and public water public. Or we can do nothing and say good bye to
Utah Lake."
Let
me know if you have any other concerns/questions/comments.
And
thanks very much for your interest.
Wayne Martinson
Utah Important Bird Areas
Coordinator
National Audubon Society
----- Original Message -----
From: Sean Phelan
To: Marlyn TWITCHELL ; Alan Matheson ; Glenn Foreman ; Jeff Salt ; Joro Walker ; Sam
Rushforth ; Wayne Martinson
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 11:41 AM
Subject: Utah Lake Public Trust Memo Hi All,
Attached is a pleading we filed
(on tuesday) in Utah Lake supporting the State of Utah's motion to vacate the
4481 Stipulation. Basically, we've used this response to argue that by
entering the stipulation, the state violated its duties to the citizens of Utah
to manage the sovereign lands for the benefit of the public
interest.
We have also received the
response by the State and Defendant Landowners to our motion to intervene.
The State did not oppose our motion. For the landowners - nothing
unexpected, basically they argue that we should have intervene seven years
ago. In response, we'll point to the cases that say the appropriate time
to intervene is at the moment that it becomes apparent that your interests are
at stake.
Hope all is
well,
Sean
Sean Phelan
Western Resource Advocates - Utah -formerly Land and Water Fund of the Rockies 1473 South 1100 East, Suite F Salt Lake City, UT 84105 ph - (801) 487-9911 fax - (801)486-4233 This communication may be privileged, confidential or otherwise exempt from disclosure.
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