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Show Why Not Use What You Have? The town of Escalante is the principal "gateway city" to the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Na-tional Monument. It should count its blessings. Several years ago when the local sawmill closed, the town was listed as destined for death. This, fortunately, did not occur. Instead, income from tourism and a new sawmill and an influx of new residents (retired and otherwise) other-wise) stimulated some growth. In 1992, I became a member of the town councils Escalante Community Economic Development Develop-ment Committee. One major question here and in the Escalante Esca-lante Action Team was, "How can we get tourists to stop in our town?" (tourist traffic had increased in-creased remarkably with the paving pav-ing of Hwy. 12 over Boulder Mountain.) In an effort to answer this question, I wrote a seven-page document entitled "Espalante Revitalization" and presented it to the town council in October 1992. Each member received a copy. This paper dealt with: 1. A downtown city park with picnic tables and swiming pool. 2. Community visitor center museum. Reference was made to the Green River structure financed fi-nanced by a grant from the state of Utah. 3. A no cost "newspaper" similar to others in existence around the state that would advertise adver-tise the scenic and recreational areas and activities in the neighborhood. neigh-borhood. 4. Markers for historical buildings. build-ings. 5. A campground and RV park if commercial enterprises prove inadequate. 6. Civic events, tours, and visits to local ranches. (Many visitors would love to have their picture taken with a real cowboy, etc.) As far as I know, no action was ever taken on any of these suggestions. Now the Escalante Chamber of Commerce is conducting a community survey about what the residents think should happen to the town. My answer to the questionnaire ques-tionnaire was a copy of the 1992 Escalante Revitalization plan. A reduced copy of this plan is available by sending a stamped, self addressed envelope to E. Snyder, P.O. Box 344, Escalante, UT 84726. Ernie Snyder, Escalante |