From the Bear Den Issue 2

June 15, 2026

B.E.A.R. Stop Stratos

Jun 15, 2026

From the Bear Den

Issue 2

Box Elder Accountability Referendum(B.E.A.R.) •

• Jun 15, 2026

StopStratos.org

In This Issue:

June 10 commission meeting updates, event recaps, upcoming events,

The Moratorium Update

How the meeting went:

There were several critical issues discussed at this meeting, and I think the most anticipated issue was the moratorium.

In short: YES, the commissioners passed the moratorium unanimously.

What does this mean? Nothing for the Stratos data center. It also means no new data centers for at least the next 6 months.

The public comment segment was packed full of comments from local residents, including several of our very own B.E.A.R. members and leadership.

If you want to watch the whole thing live, I’ve provided the link to the KSL fb live.

PS: Does anybody else wonder if one of the commissioners was sitting up there doodling the whole time?

MORE DETAILS:

KSL Live on Facebook

What is a “Moratorium”?

Simply put, a moratorium temporarily suspends/stops a specific activity, law, or legal obligation.

It’s effectively an official “pause” button.

Merriam-Webster defines a moratorium like this:

Moratorium

(noun)

A. a legally authorized period of delay in the performance of a legal obligation or the payment of a debt

B. a waiting period set by an authority.

A suspension of activity.

Synonyms include: suspension, suspense.

Events Recap

Saturday’s first ever B.E.A.R. rally was a huge success! Thank you so much to everyone that joined us! To those that traveled, thank you so much for showing us that we still have the support of not just the locals, but the state! We have even been told that we have national and international support! 🤯

Ethan Sapphire, of Sapphire Soul, was our live music entertainment and was awesome! They have a FaceBook as well as a YouTube, SoundClick, and probably more.

We had watermelon, water, and several different kinds of cookies as refreshments.

Farrah was our amazing MC and introduced each speaker.

Brenna spoke first about the updates in the legal process - she revealed that the second lawsuit is against MIDA!

Shannon’s speech was a great “how we began” recap. She even led us in a repeat after me song she made up about the Stratos data center and nobody wanting it!

Brigette’s speech was a reminder to look around at the unity this issue has brought - in bringing people from all walks of life, all opinions, etc, and reminded us that your vote absolutely matters, every time!

She also reminded us that only registered voters can sign the referendum when the time comes, and is willing to help you register if the process is overwhelming. Voting is also more fun when it’s done with a friend or two.

Our goal is to unite this community even further!

Sidewalk chalk was available for anybody to doodle with, and doodle they did! We’ll showcase the doodles in the Cave Paintings segment.

1. a man playing a guitar and singing with a woman. 2. two people standing behind a refreshments table loaded with watermelon and cookies. — 1. Ethan Sapphire sang and played music for us! In this picture he is singing with one of our guests! 2. Our wonderful teammates, Camellia and Tameron, keeping the watermelon stocked!

Congrats To Our Giveaway Winners!

First off, a HUGE thank you to Dustee for manning the giveaway table!

The giveaway consisted of two baskets with different items donated by various people and local businesses, including an art print you may have seen in last week’s edition by Ann Lettering.

Basket 1: Art print by Ann Lettering, earrings and soap by Miryelle, a body massager donated by a local friend Renee, and a Bears hat from Wood and Willow Home Decor/Baddie Brims, and goodies from our very own Farrah.

Winner of basket 1: Lucia L. Congratulations! (Permission given by parents to feature Lucia in the newsletter!)

Basket 2: Art print by Ann Lettering, a body massager from a local friend Renee, a 30$ gift card for Coffee Run, and a coffee mug that says “Life is better in a small town! Tremonton”, from Wood and Willow Home Decor, and goodies from our very own Farrah!

Winner of Basket 2: Shane J.! Congratulations, friend!

We even had some surprise celebrity guests! Caroline Gleich made an appearance in a show of support for the cause, and word was that another well known local celebrity also made an appearance!

We hope to see even more people at the next event! Which brings us to….

Volunteering

To apply for a support role, fill out the volunteer form!

*All positions in B.E.A.R. are volunteer positions.

Press corner

News articles featuring the Box Elder Accountability Referendum Team:

Did I miss one? You can email or comment articles that you think should be included in the next issue!

Discussions on Data Centers

This week, we have our very first submission for the discussion on data centers - with a twist. This submission pivots us to the Utah Basin Nuclear Reactors.

Admittedly, I am not well versed in modern nuclear reactors, and I’m sure like myself, many of us think of places like Chernobyl when we hear the words “nuclear reactor.”

So let’s dig in!

Dierdre said “I don’t see any mention of the 13 mini nuclear reactors in the basin set up to power up very soon. @utahpolitican (Janus Walker) is sounding the alarm bells.
Can you shed any light on this? I see very little online.”

As I previously mentioned, I’m not an expert - I’m just a lil guy. I did however, go down a rabbit hole. As I think back on interactions in the past couple months, I remembered that there’s been a couple people also bring up the nuclear reactors, and concerns related to them.

In my digging, I learned that modern reactors, while more efficient and safer than in the past, still ultimately use a lot of water.

Scientists are apparently working on advanced versions of nuclear reactors that would have the ability to use other materials for cooling like liquid metal(sodium or lead), molten salt, or helium. These materials carry the heat away from the reactor core, and the heat generated can be used in other applications.

This information comes from the Utah Department of Energy Development. Their website uses a lot of language like “will be” or “can be used”. Not a lot of present-tense language, but a lot of future promising. So my question is… What kind of reactors will be getting installed here?

The answer is Small Modular Reactors, or SMR.

What is an SMR? They produce a fraction of power that traditional reactors produce, but are faster to build, scalable, and highly flexible.

Their plan(so far) is to build what they call a “nuclear hub”. Brigham City will house a manufacturing plant to build reactor parts and a workforce training center. This hub is projected to supply components not only for Utah but for projects throughout the Intermountain West.

The first SMR is projected to come online in 2030.

But what about water usage? Experts are still ringing the alarm bells about the water usage, heat pollution, air pollution, all of the pollutions, even amid promises of “closed loop” systems in the data centers.

Looking into this raises more questions for me - we are being promised advanced technology, how much do we believe that they will deliver on that promise?

What do you think? Do we trust the environmental experts and evidence we see with our own eyes in other states? Or do we trust what the officials are trying to feed us with their promises of “closed loop systems making and returning water to the Great Salt Lake”?

Submit your responses to brigette@bearthefight.org!

Mark Your Calendar!

Upcoming Events

June 16, 2026
Grow the Flow Town Hall & Forum

RSVP here!

SAVE THE DATE!

June 27, 2026
Stratos documentary screening!

Time TBD
Location TBD

Voices from the Den: What’s On Your Mind?

Last week’s question was:

What was your immediate reaction to the May 4th Commission vote, and what are you most concerned about losing if Project Stratos moves forward as planned?

We didn’t get any responses emailed or commented, so we can leave this one up AND add a second question!

If you attended the B.E.A.R. rally on Saturday, June 13, 2026, what was your favorite part? What can we do better at future rallies/community events?

You can submit your responses by replying to this email, emailing them to brigette@bearthefight.org, or commenting on the post here on Substack!

Cave Paintings

My personal favorite section! This is where we will feature community art sent to us. This week we will feature the chalk art done at Saturday’s rally!

The awesome chalk art done at the rally on Saturday!

To have your own artwork featured in the Cave Paintings segment, you can submit them to brigette@bearthefight. Ideas for submissions: anti-data center art, bear art, crafts, protest signs, coloring pages(may also be used in the Backyard segment).

Speaking of…

The Backyard

Pull up a chair and relax! The fight to protect our county is hard work, so this is our space to slow down, share a local recipe, and challenge our brains.

This week I have a word search for you, and a poll!

You can click the image or click here to print or play online!

Coloring page is from The Nature Conservancy coloring book - you can download the whole coloring book through either the link provided here or by clicking the link in the picture.