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Show Plans to develop Antelope Island range from resort to wilderness By BRIAN STUART Antelope Island had several visitors visi-tors last week as the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation (UDPR) hosted four field trips to the island to examine the island's tourist potential and value as a geological history book of the Great Salt Lake. .Hers of the Utah Geological and hi vineral Survey (UGMS), locally i ;lected officials and others interested in-terested in the island. UGMS is completing a survey of the geology of the island in accordance with UDPR's plans to develop the island is-land for multi-uses, ranging from resort-type u; : to a wilderness experience ex-perience use. "We want to know where we can build," said Bill Case, a geologist with UGMS. "Do you want to build a hotel on a lagoon, or do you want to build a foundation on bedrock?" bed-rock?" The UDPR plans to split the island is-land into three areas of development develop-ment according to Jay Christian-son, Christian-son, Northern Region Manager for UDPR. Two thousand acres of the flatter, flat-ter, north end of the island will be open to commercial development. Christianson said this will enable that part of the island to develop a resort-type atmosphere with hotels along the coast. The middle, more hilly part of the island will be the possible site of a visitor's center where visitors will be able to learn about the history his-tory and geological make-up of the island. Christianson added a hiking trail with educational points of interest in-terest is also planned. The rugged south end of the island is-land will remain mostly untouched. Christianson said this area will offer only primitive day-use facilities, facili-ties, with access limited to foot and boat. According to a master plan drawn up by the UDPR, this area will also be used as a wild animal preserve. "This island has the biggest potential," said Christianson. "It's the combination aspect that makes it unique and sellable." Christianson said the UDPR plans to have the flooded causeway to Antelope Island reopened early next decade with "the current trend of the lake." Once the causeway cause-way is reopened, half a million visitors visi-tors per year will visit the island, according to Christianson's prediction. pre-diction. These visitors will be exposed to a variety of wildlife, including the buffaloes, deer, coyotes and bobcats bob-cats already on the island as well as the elk and bighorn sheep that the UDPR plan to introduce to the island. is-land. The UDPR is trying to replace re-place the cheatgrass and sagebrush with more nutritious grass for these animals. Mitch Larson, superintendent superin-tendent of UDPR, attributes the poor quality of grass on the island to overgrazing for the past 150 years, mostly by thousands of sheep. The island also offers geological evidence important to unraveling the history of Lake Bonneville, predecessor of the Great Salt Lake. By examining mineral deposits de-posits and the structure of benches on the hill sides of the island, geologists can determine how high Lake Bonneville was in certain eras. According to Genevieve Atwood, director of UGMS, this information is important in understanding under-standing the fluctuations of the Great SalfLake. "We should have been more aware of the fluctuations," Atwood said, referring to the recent re-cent problems of the rising lake. Atwood added that the Utah State Legislature's pumping project was the right way to solve the flooding problems. "Had the legislature allowed the lake to do its thing, there would have been $3 billion in damage," she said. Atwood said the lake rises every 500 years to the elevation of 4217 feet. At its high point during the recent rise, the lake was at 4212 feet. "Where does the lake sleep?" asked Atwood in illustrating the importance of studying the lake. "Anywhere it wants to," she answered. In addition to providing important impor-tant information about the lake, the island also has unique geological formations which geologists see as evidence of the movement of the earth's crust. Rock outcroppings showing fault lines," evidence of melted rock and shearing (when rocks are stretched by the force of pressure from the movement of the earth's crust) are common on the island. '. .Vis..-.-. . . - ..- sv. J ; --: - -v -x . r - aa-r-.f. ' 4.... . - Visitors on Antelope Island examined the island's potential as a tourist attraction recently. recent-ly. The state's parks and recreation division is looking at the island for future development. |
