[gdog]

http://www.sltrib.com/news/2575779-155/utah-snake-oil-salesman-rep-ken

"This is not the first time Utah Rep. Ken Ivory has been accused of selling "snake oil." But now his critics are calling him a crook.
In formal complaints filed Monday in three states, a watchdog group alleges Ivory, a West Jordan Republican, uses phony facts and arguments to scam local governments into giving taxpayer dollars to American Lands Council (ALC), the nonprofit he started in 2012 to champion the transfer of western public lands to the states."

 

[wyogoob]

Well it looks bad for our Conservative buddy from the 47th District.

My guess is he'll only win the next election by 4 or 5 points instead of 30 like he did the last time.

.

 

[wyogoob]

We have the same battle going on in Wyoming. First, we're busy legislating how the State of Wyoming is going to finance and manage the National Parks and National Forests. As far as the BLM goes I think the Wyoming Congress is just gonna gift all of that to the oil and gas companies. Secondly, the governing majority assumes they're gonna get control of the Federal lands in Wyoming.

Personally I don't think the move to take control of Federal land will hold up in court.

.

 

[spencerD]

I was just about to post this same story.

Ivory is and has been a crook for a long time. It's good to see him finally getting called out on it.

I'm with Goob - I just don't think the feds will sell the land or that it holds up in court. Stranger things have happened, though.

I actually wrote my column for the month (I do a fly fishing column in the Standard every month) on this very issue. http://www.standard.net/Recreation/...-and-What-it-Means-for-Fishermen-in-Utah.html

We just gotta make as many folks aware of the issue as possible and do all that we can to preserve our access. Far easier said than done, however.

 

[#1DEER 1-I]

We have the same battle going on in Wyoming. First, we're busy legislating how the State of Wyoming is going to finance and manage the National Parks and National Forests. As far as the BLM goes I think the Wyoming Congress is just gonna gift all of that to the oil and gas companies. Secondly, the governing majority assumes they're gonna get control of the Federal lands in Wyoming.

Personally I don't think the move to take control of Federal land will hold up in court.

.

I highly doubt it will happen. It has already died in many other states, and Utah is the main one trying to shove it down our throats. It has no legal leg to stand on and crooks like Ivory will hopefully be exposed fully.

 

[#1DEER 1-I]

I was just about to post this same story.

Ivory is and has been a crook for a long time. It's good to see him finally getting called out on it.

I'm with Goob - I just don't think the feds will sell the land or that it holds up in court. Stranger things have happened, though.

I actually wrote my column for the month (I do a fly fishing column in the Standard every month) on this very issue. http://www.standard.net/Recreation/...-and-What-it-Means-for-Fishermen-in-Utah.html

We just gotta make as many folks aware of the issue as possible and do all that we can to preserve our access. Far easier said than done, however.

Thanks for writing the article, it's always good to get the word out.

 

[gdog]

Personally I don't think the move to take control of Federal land will hold up in court.

I hope your right. The "entitlement" attitude around here (UT) is bewildering....

 

[Catherder]

From the article;

"ALC raised $209,000 in 2013 and Ivory pulled a $95,000 salary, according to tax filings."


Pffft. The dude is an amateur. $95k a year is small potatoes. Didn't Benson from SFW fleece the State of Utah out of $250K to fight against the sage grouse getting listed as endangered?


Actually, Ivory is culpable as heck and deserves scrutiny. For that kind of dough, he should be able to come up with more rational arguments for his position than the nonsense plastered up on his website. I suppose though if you are a "true believer" in the Land Grab cause, it doesn't take much to be satisfied.

 

[utahgolf]

I think the comparison is offensive to snake oil salesman. Ivory is much worse than that.

 

[massmanute]

I think the comparison is offensive to snake oil salesman. Ivory is much worse than that.

It kind of reminds me in a way of someone I once heard being characterized as a certain bodily orifice, and then someone else said that the comparison was an insult to that particular bodily orifice.

 

[massmanute]

I agree that State of Utah, and any other state that tries to challenge Federal land ownership, has no legal leg to stand on and will lose in court, if it ever gets that far. However, what is somewhat scary is the possibility that they could convince the US Congress to grant the land to the Sates in question. I don't think this is likely to happen, but it could, and my belief is that all of the present posturing by the States (such as the land grab legislation) is really a thinly disguised attempt to set the stage for a Congressional action to transfer the land to the States.

 

[spencerD]

Thanks for writing the article, it's always good to get the word out.

It's the least I can do to help get the word out. Thanks for taking a look at it.

I think we're safer than we think we are, if that makes any sense. There's not a lot of legal work for the state to stand on. But we can't get complacent - keep fighting the good fight and we'll prevail in the end.

 

[Iron Bear]

What? You guys don't want DLL to grow to 25 million acres?

Can you imagine how good the hunting would be?

 

[Trooper]

From the article;

"ALC raised $209,000 in 2013 and Ivory pulled a $95,000 salary, according to tax filings."

Pffft. The dude is an amateur. $95k a year is small potatoes. Didn't Benson from SFW fleece the State of Utah out of $250K to fight against the sage grouse getting listed as endangered?

Don't forget his wife works there too... bet she makes about the same. I hope the donors do the math.

 

[Catherder]

Don't forget his wife works there too... bet she makes about the same. I hope the donors do the math.

Definitely, My previous posting here was (poorly) written in "sarcasm font". If it was just a bunch of gullible private donors, it wouldn't be so tragic, but unfortunately, it is poor rural counties paying him with tax dollar resources that they really don't have in surplus very often.

 

[Finnegan]

The root of the problem is that Utah's state legislature has no ethics. Seriously. If a legislator has a conflict of interest, all that the rules require is that he declare that conflict (if it isn't already included in his financial disclosure) before a vote. But that declaration doesn't prevent the legislator from voting or from lobbying other legislators. I guess the state figures personal honor or a PPI is sufficient. The evidence says otherwise.

 

[BPturkeys]

...Yet we keep voting them into office. My G**, how many times are we going to re-elect Bishop....absolutely public enemy #1 about turning the property over to the state...and the other two right wing wack jobs, not much better. Oh well, getting close to dinner time and I don't need to spoil my dinner thinking about how stupid the voters of Utah really are.

 

[rjefre]

It is sad to see the things that go on in our legislature. Lately, they have mastered the art of "privatizing public funds". It's simple really... you just get the legislature or county govt to commit public funds to someone (say a lobbyist for wolves, sage grouse, public lands, ect), then that taxpayer money is now private. It can be spent on anything after that, including donating some of it back into campaigns of friendly officials or for expensive houses and cars. Pretty slick!
R

 

[stevo1]

What? You guys don't want DLL to grow to 25 million acres?

Can you imagine how good the hunting would be?

For a handful of super rich hunters!