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Show PAGE 3 THE ZEPHYRJUNE 1993 started to leave when Bob called to me, "Say...Millie and I are headed over the Right to Life Bake Sale tills afternoon. You want to join us? "Oh...probably not, but thanks anyway." I got into my Japanese yuppie car and headed out of town, knowing that the reason I loved Benkleman was because I didn't live there. I Long live Benkleman. David Brinkley once made the astute observation, 1116 one function that the news performs well is that when there is no news, we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were. Davey and I were talking across the fence last week, kicking ideas around for the June issue, trying to decide what should be our priority. We dedded we didn't have one. There are, of course, issues that have one constituency or another in a lather. Somebody is always in a lather. But keeping our ears to the street, we could find no consensus at the local diners, no one single issue that had the inhabitants ready to take up arms. It was strange.. .nobody bites like a Moabite 0 heard somebody once say); yet the town was, for the most part, quiet. Determined to avoid the Brinkley Syndrome, we won't try to create a crisis. But here are the mini-cristhat did find their way to the dty desk. some of the essays of the late Edward Beginning this month, the Zephyr is proud to It Abbey. seems incredible to me that four years have passed since Ed's death. In fact, he died the same day that the first issue of this newspaper went to presa...March 14, 1989. I remember how stunned I was, even though I knew he was ill. I couldn't imagine life without Abbey. I had been given a copy of Desert Solitaire many years before, and for many years afterward, I carried that book with me everywhere. I wish I knew how many copies I have given re-pri- nt toothers. I was honored to be able to call him a friend, as well as a teacher. I guess I never knew him as well as I wanted to, but then, nobody did. And yet, Ed gave a tremendous amount of himself to others. For me, he gave clarity to the vague and only partially developed thoughts and feelings of a dumb kid from Kentucky. I Ie gave me humor and an appreciation of the absurd. He painted a picture of the desert with words that sustained me when I could not be here to revel in it all myself. And most of all, he taught me that you don't fight the battle because you think you're going to win...you fight because you think it's worth fighting for. My thanks to Clarke Abbey for giving her permission to "My Friend Debris," from re-pri- nt Down the River. Part of the cover flnt appeared la the 1982 Edward Abbey Weateni WUdemeen pubUahcd by Dream Garden Pieee. es In Thompson Springs, 35 miles north of Moab, the entire population of the town is ready to string up the sheepman who let his flock wander into a fenced reservoir. For years, that reservoir has been a favorite watering hole for the kids and adults alike. But sometime this spring, the fence that protects the water from livestock was tom down, and the sheep turned the reservoir into a cesspool. According to Thompson resident, Bev Shaw, the Grand County Health Inspector tested the water for fecal contamination and found it to contain lethal levels. Meanwhile, nobody could determine who had jurisdiction over the pond. State Lands maintained that the reservoir was on BLM land, and of course, BLM assumed the very opposite was true. In the process, nobody did anything. Finally, Thompson residents contacted the director of the Division of Wildlife Resources!, who sent an inspector to investigate. He determined that operators of the Allred allotment, situated west of Thompson, had allowed its sheep to wander beyond its legal borders. No one would admit to tearing down the fence. Now, tiie sheep are out and the fence is back up, but there will be no skinny dipping in the old water hole this summer. subscribe to THE ZEPHYR P.O. Box 327 Moab Utah 84532 one year (11 issues)....$15 two years (22 issues)...$28 three years (33 issues)..$40 name address renewal t Those pesky little mosquitoes, the Grand County Roads Special Service District, are still buzzing...sort of. Despite their doomsday predictions, future mineral lease monies have been directed to be sent to the new solid waste management district, with no hitches or hangups. However, when the road board was stripped of its authority, $118,000 remained in the district's account. That money had been earmarked by the board for expenses and for contracts let on the Bode Cliffs Highway. The council stripped the board of its authority because it feared it would continue to squander those funds on the dead road. Last month's interview with David Knutson only confirmed the council's greatest fears when he spoke of efforts by the road board to "tie the council's hands" just days before they took office. However, the council cannot legally transfer the money to other more needed projects either. Only a member of the board can do that. If tire road board wanted what's best for the citizens of Grand County, it could agree to their power dispense of the funds in a fair and responsible way, and the council could lease mineral future tire account and that. with with to them do for Then, just dry, long enough funds going elsewhere, the road board could say they've tied up the loose ends and get on with their lives. Cmne on boys. ..enough is enough. Show a little dignity. te new subscription 78 SOUTH MAIN ST. MOAB, UTAH 84532 Hey Hollywood, Let ws give you that Western Moab Look. Although David Knutson and I mixed it up pretty well in last month's interview, we seem to discover we have more and more in common. This time around, I find myself in harmony with the entire Knutson Family. That's right...read that again. OUie and Roberta Knutson and I have discovered common ground. Over the years when David was commissioner, we used to argue frequently about planning and zoning, and the rights of the individual property owner versus the rights of the community. Dave was pretty dear where his loyalties rest...when somebody owns land, they and they alone should be able to say how that land will be used. Did a property owner have the right to keep a trashy yard when neighbors complained? David always liked to remind me that, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." But last week, the Knutson family showed up en masse at a county council meeting to protest a requested zoning change on some property adjacent to their own. The owner of that property wanted to him it into a trailer court, and the Knutsons wanted no part of it Arguing that the and disrupt the sense of community proposed change would adversely affect their that currently exists, Roberta Knutson reminded the Council that they had been elected because they had promised to listen to the people. And that is exactly what happened. The Council, known in some quarters as the Numbies supported the position of the Nimbys (Not In My Back Yard). It was good to see the Numbies and the Nimbys in a harmonious mood. And it was refreshing to see the Knutsons, the champions of individual property rights recognize that the needs of the community at large sometimes outweigh the needs of the individual. Even if their motivation was a little way-of-lif- e, self-servin- g. Memorial Day Weekend is fast approaching and the BLM is scrambling to avoid a repeat of the Sand Flats fiasco that occurred over Easter. Thousands of mountain bikers occupied a large area surrounding the Slick Rock Bike Trail and did, in some cases, irretrievable damage to the desert ecology. Initially, District Manager Roger Zortman entertained the idea of closing the entire Sand Flats area to camping; he has backed away from that action, and is now proposing limited camping in designated locations. It became dear that a closure, without providing alternative camping, could only exacerbate the situation, rather than resolving the problem. The BLM intends to enforce the camping rules rigorously, and plans to publidze its actions heavily in the Northern Utah media. City Councilman Dan Mick has another idea. Commenting on the recent long construction delays at the Colorado River bridge, Dan thinks the UDOT engineers are missing a golden opportunity. "As long as they're out there working on that bridge, they ought to convert it to a draw bridge. When it gets too crazy, we can just raise the bridge." I think Dan should run for mayor. t r |