Get your 2cents in.
Interested in participating in the State of Bear Lake Forums?
One of the challenges is to schedule them on dates and times that will be the most convenient. We would like to know what you think.
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Great Things Happened on the Way to the Forum
We had been talking about the need for some kind of a community forum and council in the Bear Lake Valley in order to keep people abreast of issues, but the Hook Canyon episode really brought this need in to the light. Two questions were often asked, “Why we didn’t know about this sooner?” and “How do we keep this from happening again?” The answer to both is to communication. We need to “talk to each other – often”. Yes, we visit at the gas station, restaurant or church but that is a pretty haphazard line of communication. We can write articles for print, but it is still a one-way communication.
There is just no substitute for getting together, discussing and learning from each other. It wasn’t until we got a nucleus of people together to converse about the proposed pump-storage project that the topic gained enough momentum to carry us through to defeating the threat. This episode also exposed the possibilities of other topics that we, collectively, need to know about.
In light of these lessons learned, June 9th Bear Lake Watch sponsored the first State of Bear Lake Forums. Why a forum? What is it? In ancient Rome it was both a place and an unofficial institution. It was a public square where people gathered to conduct business and discuss the issues of the day. This was an essential part of the highly functioning democracy; it was not a coincidence that the forum was situated within ear-shot of where the legislature and courts convened. It’s too bad that we don’t actually have such a place and tradition now. Our technology and fast paced lives have changed the town square. But the need has not vanished, so we chose the title “Forum” because it infers expression of opinions and true discussion of issues. And as in the ancient society after which ours is modeled, it is open to all and is still essential to a highly functioning community.
The meeting was well attended considering it was only announced by one newspaper article plus an e-mail 10 days prior. In addition, there were many others who expressed a desire participate in the future. On the agenda for this first meeting was;
(1) The Status Symbiotics' FERC application
(2) What we've learned and what changes need to be enacted to defend the Bear Lake Valley.
(3) The resumption of the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) process for Utah Sovereign Lands at Bear Lake.
(4) Topics, Dates and Agendas for future State of Bear Lake Forums.
The group came up with a good list of topics to learn and talk about. The need to develop a regional plan that would coordinate with the ongoing planning in the cities and counties was also discussed. One of the first priorities of the group will be to bring Envision Utah and Whisper Mountain folks to the table to see if there is away to work together. So with these things in mind, plus in a desire to keep the synergy going, it was suggested that the Forums be twice a month. Determining a convenient date and time for a community as diverse as ours is always a problem. So it was concluded that we should conduct a survey to find out when people would be most likely to attend. Click here to participate in that survey and to get on the contact list.
Stay informed and stay involved – together we can shape a community we all want.
