OCR Text |
Show PAGE 10 Grairad NOTE: Itself At Looks County an interpretation by Craig Bigler Last winter tha Canyonlands Field Institute worked with local government, the League of Women Voters, and the Chamber of Commerce In sponsoring a Town Meeting and 15 Neighborhood Meetings. A detailed report "Grand County Looks At Itself has been distributed to meeting leaders for public discussion. Copies are available at the library, the League, the Chamber, and CFL Tha following Interprets that report In light of Moth's history and explains how Its findings will be used to help local governments manage the changes rapidly being thrust upon us. the census found, 1,903 people In Grand County, mostly descendants of cowboys, prospectors, farmers, fugitives, and others seeking refuge from the crowds. More Dke western Colorado than Utah. became overwhelming. The Atomic Then, the federal governments Influence "desperately" needed uranium to feed the Cold War. Energy Commission . Bv 1950 .1 J enif iLa Listen to angry residents proclaim their You'll find a kind of harmony. Resentment Is the Independence and the government and theme. Everyone seems to have the same enemies Travel around Southern Utah. self-relian- ce. environmentalists. Until you reach Moab, Grand County. You wont find a united front against a common enemy here. Instead, you'll hear a cacophony of voices, each asserting Its own version of the American dream. Some Moabites, but not a majority, agree that government and environmentalists are the enemy. Some, but not a majority, believe In Wilderness. Most have their own Ideas. What Is this place called Moab? How can It stand so far apart from other Southern Utah communities? Why do Moabites prefer diversity to solidarity? Does a special Insight compel us to change with the times rather than recreate the past? Where does such an uncommon position come from? HISTORICALLY UNCOMMON Moabs unusual character didn't Just happen. It came from a time when people could exploit or revere the land according to their own disposition. In Southeast Utah this time Is more recent than anywhere In the continental U.S. It's an Idealized past that many who resist protection of the land would recreate. It amalgamates the Zane GreyJohn Wayne cowboy who would rather be free than rich with the prospector who wants both. Its main tenet Is certainly that the valid purpose of public land is to enrich those with the guts to tame IL In 1855 Mormons set out to tame Southeast Utah by colonizing Moab, then called Elk Mountain. But It was refuge for fur trappers, snd Indians hiding from those who would force them onto reservations. Abhorring crowds, those refugees successfully encouraged the colonists to return home and reconsider their desire to control this Isolated region. Indians were pretty much In control of Southeast Utah for the next few to Interfere because of difficulties between decades. The army was Mormon Church and federal government There was no significant white presence until the late 1870s when the first cattle were brought In by Individual settlefs. From the earliest days, settlements In Grand County "were characterized by larger number of and a spirit of free enterprise and Independence existed that was alien "to neighboring counties. (Peterson, Charles S., Look To The Mountains) Indian raids on property and armed battles with whites persisted until 1923. Government was minimal. Individuals did what had to be done by building, for example, toll roads and bridges. A man's grazing rights were determined by his ability to discourage others from using the same land. In the 1930s, outside Influences began to turn things , upside down. Law enforcement, public roads, bridges, flood control. Irrigation projects. The Taylor Grazing Act and, eventually, the Bureau of Land Management gave ranchers a common enemy so they no longer had to fight each other. WWII veterans flocked In to seek their fortunes. By 1960 the population had zoomed to 6,345. They went about winning the Cold War the same way they had won the hot war by overwhelming the enemy. Airplanes, bulldozers and dynamite conquered nature to find uranium. They found It, but few found fortune. Population held steady. A few Mining waxed and waned through the mld-7counter-cultu- re In. another Then moved mining boom, again fomented by types It was crisis that boosted the price of the "energy federal policy. This time uranium out of sight Population leapt to a peak of 8,400 In1981. The boom lasted only a few short years. Thirty seven percent of Grand County Jobs disappeared after Its collapse In 1982. What the federal government gives It can take away. But, this time the national free-tra- de policies that brought the to continue. collapse seem certain 0s. A dis-incU- ned non-Morm- ons, ATTORNEYS TITLE Lynda Stocks, manager William Yes, there Is an Insight compelling Moabites to change with, the times. Ifs a simple Insight, but It seems almost unique In Southern Utah. . We Just won't let each other Ignore reality. While the mining economy yearns for federal policies to revive It, the postmining economy grows assertive. In 1983 a half-millvisitors, tourists, and outdoor recreationists visited or passed through Moab. A million made the pilgrimage this year. Tourism and outdoor recreation have "discovered Moab, for ion better or worse. Few visitors accept the proposition that this land Is suitable only for mining, grazing and Industrial tourism of the Lake Powell variety. Many more Join the constituency for Wilderness. Most visitors, like most of us, would prefer a combination of some wilderness, some land developed, and lots of something 76 So. Main 4 f RED SANDS AUTO 259-547- 5 L Benge, licensed agent Locally Operated SPECIAL INSIGHT 1 209 So. Hwy 191 BODY ; 259-701- 4 Rick Thompson, Owner Dan Mick, Mgr, land title insurance title searches Real Estate Closings at Attorneys Title appreciate your business this past year and wish all of DAN'S THE MAN"' For All Your Auto Body Repair Needs We you a prosperous, healthy and wonderful New Year customized striping complete paint job insurance work welcome j 'quality, craftsmanship, Snd priUa are our Qoala.' ' V 4 'c ir,;, t, i ,t t |