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Show no incentive to see wilderness legislation passed. I would like to see a grass roots campaign within these environmental organizations demanding that UWC stop stalling and focus on passing a wilderness bill. Right now we just have UWC bragging about how many acres of supposedly roadless BLM land they have found in Utah. In my opinion, their 9.1 million acre wilderness proposal is a joke. The second decision, to ignore the people in rural Utah, has resulted in an intractable JUDY POWERS "Moab’s Kick-Ass Realtor” situation that probably cannot be changed no matter how hard UWC now tries to convince those people that wilderness would be good for them. By starting witha “here's what we're 435.259.5693 going to do to you” attitude, UWC probably precluded any meaningful dialog with rural Utah. EMAIL: The third decision, that only one wilderness bill would be acceptable, might have been driven from the fear that funding for the environmental organizations might dry up or that: UWC would cease to exist after the first bill was passed. Leaders in these organizations condemned the wilderness legislation that Congress passed for Utah's National Forests in the 1980’s, saying that the bill should have been delayed until all “deserving” areas had been added. If that attitude had prevailed, we probably still wouldn't have any National Forest wilderness areas. In my opinion, the only way Utah will have significant areas protected as wilderness is through the passage of multiple bills over several decades. The fourth decision was changed to a “no compromise” position. This has prevented any meaningful discussions with Utah's politicians. But any wilderness bill will have to be a compromise. UWC convinced its membership that it won't accept anything less than a 5.4 million acre wilderness bill. (I can't take their 9.1 million acre proposal seriously.) But Utah's Congressional delegation will never support a bill that large. So I have concluded that Congress won't pass a Utah Wilderness Coalition sponsored Wilderness Bill for BLM land in Utah in my lifetime unless radical changes occur in the approach taken by the Sierra Club, SUWA and the other members of UWC. The battle over wilderness designations on BLM lands in Utah has had a significant side effect. The wilderness legislation for Utah's National Forest lands stated that additional wilderness designations on National Forest lands couldn't be considered until 2001. Well, 2001 is almost here and several National Forests in Utah have started the process of updating their Forest Plans. Now is the time that environmental organizations should be starting a campaign to expand the existing wilderness areas and advocating new areas for wilderness designation. Unfortunately, because of the deadlock that exists over BLM wilderness designations, I see little hope for a successful campaign to add to the National Forest wilderness system. The BLM wilderness issue has to be settled first. BUSINESS 800.634.0770 259.5852 RESIDENCE judypow @moabutah.com ARCHES REALTY 150 E. Center St. Moab, UT 84532 Each office is independently owned and operated fee] Boies nN| CdS NEW WEST BLUES by Jim Stiles returns to page 6 next issue In my opinion, the only person who could break the wilderness deadlock is the Governor. But he has to do it with input from all sides in the debate. He hasn't done this, preferring to either work only with Utah's politicians or go behind closed doors with the Secretary of the Interior. All sides in the debate have to be at the table or any compromise is bound to fail. (I still hope that the UWC and the politicians will be willing to come to a compromise solution.) Come on Mike, show some leadership. How many decades are going to pass before you forge an agreement? So now that I've had my say, I'll go back into hibernation on the wilderness issue and let the ideologues to continue with their demagoguery. we serve only breakfast and we're very good at it. "Good Enough fora Laat Neat” 7 am to 12 noon Weekdays Saturday & Sunday, until 1 2s ~ Owen Severance lives somewhere in southeast Utah. oat — ow In the back of your mind, do you cherish a dream of the perfect desert hideaway, a small inn on a little-traveled highway, with miles and miles of beautiful, lonesome country between it and anywhere else. Around it are high red mesas and sensuous slickrock canyons, undiscovered by the crowds, retaining their mystery and timeless meaning. In the calm of mid-day, there’s not a sound except the occasional flitter of a hummingbird and the quiet buzzing of the old ice machine on the front porch. When the breeze blows, you hear it in 100,000 juniper trees that dot the broad, sweeping benches all around. At evening, the sunset lingers over distant buttes. Though it’s wonderfully comfortable, the place hasn’t changed much in spirit since the 1950’s. Guests return again and again and feel it’s like a second home. ‘up windows were never invented. Staying here, you could pretend that TV’s, phones, and drive- (L) Mail plane at Fry Canyon. 1960 Photos courtesy of Bobbi Adams (R) Vi Bowen & as a child and was Earl Bishop in the Fry Canyon Store. 1957 Maybelle Adams. who lived at Fry the daughter of Kenneth and Your dream is a reality at Fry Canyon Lodge, The Inn at Utah’s Wild Heart. Majestically isolated on State Highway 95 between Natural Bridges and Glen Canyon. (435) 259-5334- ‘LES SAE EEC EO ENA GT BT TE SEE, |