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Show TAKE IT OR LEAVE U... By Jim Stiles Photo by Fox. IS IT REALLY WINTER? ARE THE TOURISTS REALLY GONE? I can't tell if I'm becoming more tolerant, more oblivious, or if it's just because I'm out of town so much. But the tourist season didn't push me to the edge of sanity this year as it has in the past. And this autumn seems to have been downright Am I deluding myself or has it been slower than usual? I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map? Aldo Leopold quiet. I've read some of the statistics on tourist growth and it seems to be flattening out a bit around here. I've even heard that at some of the larger showcase parks like the Grand Canyon, visitation has actually declined some. There has been a lot of speculation as to the reason (or reasons) for that. For one, the Park Service has dramatically raised entrance fees at most parks. I think it's ten bucks at Arches now. When I left there in 1986 it was still a dollar which was ridiculously cheap. But entry at Grand Canyon's popular South Rim has skyrocketed to $20 a car. That is unbelievable. The NPS has convinced the Congress that it needs the money to improve what the parks claim is a crumbling infrastructure. But don't think for a minute that the fee increases mean that you'll finally be able to find a ranger. Park employees in the field are still spread as thin as bologna most of the increased revenues will go to other 'needed projects.' At Arches they've set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve the park roads and trails and install heaters in the campground toilets...at last they really will be comfort stations. But I think the decline, especially in the national parks and popular recreation areas, can be attributed to more than just a fee increase. We are all getting sick of the crowds. Sick of each other. Now I admit I have always been annoyed by large herds of people and have a low tolerance for them. I have a natural instinct to flee from mobs (and after all, we live in Mob, Utah). But I think more and more of us are having less and less fun in the great outdoors when we're elbow to elbow with our fellow recreationists. And Moab, in its quest to become a tourist mecca may have done its job too well. While we continue to attract new tourists, those who are finding the canyon country for the first time, I am amazed at times by the numbers of regulars, other Westerners who have been coming here for years, who have thrown in the towel on Moab. I hear it again and again: "You guys used to be such a funky weird little town. Now you look like everybody else." Maybe it doesn't matter. A tourist dollar is a dollar, no matter who slaps it on the counter, I suppose. But it feels to me like the Faithful are abandoning us. And what worries me the most is that many tourists are heading into areas that used to be ignored. There is a contradiction here while I abhor the herding instinct; it is also what keeps so much of the wild country open and empty. Dispersal of the crowds will simply impact more land. Anyway. Whatever the reason, despite a beautiful October, it just seemed quieter around here to me. I've been able to make a big on Main in front of the Ecfectica Coffee Shop for more than a month. The aisles at City Market have been empty at 6 PM. Only the big 18 wheel trucks are consistently blowing the red lights on Main St. I haven't seen a flagrant tourist moving violation in weeks. And I feel so much calmer. Maybe the Cocktail Hour is coming early to Moab this year. It might mean less change jingling in our pockets. But it might also mean more time to watch the sunsets on Tukunikivats. U-tu- rn To the alpenglow. Cheers. THE ELECTION If you live here you might want to skip over this section. n Who wants to hear analysis, almost a month after the event? Remarkably, however, there are a few readers who follow Moab politics the way some people follow the Chicago Cubs. It's their entertainment. So here's the rundown on our most recent election... I think it would be a good idea if I stopped trying to predict the electorate of Moab and Grand County. If the day before the October 7 primary, someone had told me that Norm Shrewsbury and Karla Hancock would emerge as the run-of- f winners I would have laughed out loud. I heard a few predictions that Mayor Stocks would not even get out of the primary and I did laugh. It just didn't seem post-electio- out-of-to- pre-prima- ry possible...I mean the guy has been here forever. But I was wrong. Karla and Norm finished one and two, and the incumbent finished a distant fourth, with barely 17 of the vote. Although I was not a supporter of Randy Day's candidacy, Moab City's refusal to do a recount (Day finished third to Shrewsbury by one vote) was ridiculous. I'm still trying to understand the city's explanation and it makes no sense. I hope the new city government will take steps to I do have assure that such a travesty never happens again. a sense of where new Mayor Karla Hancock will lead us and I feel damn good about it. Her refusal to accept the city council's furlough-with-pa- y offer (Karla is currently a city employee and will resign that job when she becomes mayor) is the kind of fair minded, unselfish decision we all long for in our public officials. She reminded me of Harry Truman. It was as if, to Karla, the idea was so ridiculous it didn't even require much thought she just said 'no As I've said before, I am not sure any governing body in the city or county can make much of a difference when it comes to the future of our community. The town will continue to grow and change and many of us will find ourselves looking in shadows and comers for remnants of the old Moab. But, for the most part, I feel good about the election and the winners. There is at least an opportunity to restore some dignity, honesty and respect to Moab Qty government. I for one look forward to the changes. WHY THE HERB RINGER ISSUE? Almost since Volume 1 Number 1 of this publication, nine years and 88 issues ago, I have featured the photographs of my friend Herb Ringer. From his home in Reno, Nevada (and later in nearby Fallon), Herb traveled the West for almost 60 years, taking pictures as he went The result of that effort is extraordinary his collection of thousands and thousands of color photographs is a historic record of another time and of another place. that alone isn't why this is the Herb Ringer Issue. In some ways Herb Ringer's life and story are unremarkable. He never made a lot of money. He struggles, like so many other seniors, on a limited fixed income. His one marriage ended in disappointment He worked long hours for more than 30 years at a job that could be tedious and trying. And for almost that long, he took care of his aging mother But and father. Herb never made the headlines. But he had a natural observation. He gift for heart-fe- lt watched the world around him with a keen eye and saw things that most of us miss. Little details. Special moments. They all stayed with him. In some ways Herb's life has resembled the fictional Forrest Gump's. He seems to have been a first hand observer to some remarkable events in American history. We were talking about his old home in Ringoes, New one I afternoon Jersey and was trying to get an idea where . |