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Show .... Monday Morning, June 14. 1954 6. . . for the Benef it of a Comparative Few' i ' Afghanislanism" in newspaoer parlance ; applies generally to the custom of writing : about Afghanistan or some other distant ! country or subject, "Afghanistanisra" ap-i ap-i peals to some editorial writers because they . get involved in no local controversies bv dis- cussing the sad state of, affairs in Afghanistan. Afghanis-tan. : Echo Park, Colo., is supplanting Afghan-; Afghan-; istan m some, editorial offices and the farther some editors live from the Colorado ; river system the more authority thev as-. as-. sume and the stronger language they employ. em-ploy. And, judging from the clippings we ; receive, nothing alarms an armchair wilderness wilder-ness enthusiast more than the thought of a : hunk of concrete in a remote canyon. I Take the case of the associate editor of . the Columbia South Carolina State, who is, i incidentally, also president of the South .Carolina Wildlife Federation. Editorials in Ibis newspaper follow the line ol certain Spokesmen for Lower Colorado River Basin .water interests who stand to benefit if the ;l.:pper Colorado Basin project does not ma-iteriallze. ma-iteriallze. I ."We have seen numerous photographs taken '-irom the rim of the canyons (of L Dinosaur National Monument!" and "an em-; em-; ploye of the State has visited the park as one of the 23,500 who "did so during the , past year," says an editorial in "South Care-; Care-; Una's largest newspaper." ; "For that matter," the editorial con-: con-: tmues, "the wilderness of the area is one ; reason certain people want it preserved as t it is. If a fraction of the proposed $21 mil-; mil-; lion were spent on rough roads it would I be made available to many more without , despoiling its scenic splendor." '. Since the Yampa river meanders 44 miles through Dinosaur 'monument and the . Green River winds through about 46 miles i of park country, one hardly gets a very com-plete com-plete picture from separated points'along the (irregular canyon rims. Several rough ; access roads already serve a limited num-. ; ber of piaces along the canyons but it would : be difficult and incredibly expensive to hack r out roads in the solid rock walls sufficiently long to get a representative view of the i vast, rugged country. . Only a tiny fraction of the 23,500 listed as having visited Dinosaur monument last ; year went down the canyons, Doubtless most . of the visitors saw only the section of the park near vernal, site of the original 80-acre j dinosaur graveyard. This is a fine aitrac- ; tion, but visitors to this area have little con- I : ceplion of the remaining 200,000 acres of :' mixed grandeur and desolation. It might be : compared to basing a tour of Yellowstone ! Park on a visit to West Thumb. ... The editorial continues; "The plains states were deserts when they' were settled and the settlers and their descendants went there and stayed there with their eyes open, ' and should not feel that the general public owes them a living by sacrificing a national ' pubic property for the benefit of a compara-. ; tive few." Doubtless the editor means" the moun- j tain states since he is discussing Echo Park, j The settlers came here with their eyes j open and nobo'dy is asking the general pub- ; lie for a living. Despite false propaganda j to the contrary, reclamation projects are j self-liquidating and proceeds from the sale j of water and power reimburse the federal 1 treasury for its investment in them. And I the Increased wealth of a regi6n is reflected throughout the country. j Since South Carolina has more than i 1,700 miles of Atlantic seacoast and some "! navigable rivers, it is safe to presume that j it has benefitted on occasion from various j i federal rivers and harbors projects as well j as other programs. And we venture to guess that the federal treasury is not reimbursed on any formula comparable to. that of a reclamation project As to sacrificing a national property foe the benefit of a relatively few the South Carolina State Is again parroting some false propaganda. We cordially invito its editor .to take the standard 100-mile boat trip through Dinosaur National Monument, j (Hurry because the water is getting so low ! in the Yampa it soon may not be possible j this season) and see the scenery about which 1 he writes, enjoy the great outdoors, minus any modern conveniences; ride the rapids and help lift the boat off the rocks and sandbars sand-bars and then reflect on the changes that Echo Park dam would bring. One difference would be many more boats in the canyons i which would be safe for amateurs, good , fishing and comfort facilities. The Yampa and Green river canyons are now being seen ' by relatively few adventurous or affluent j persons. They could be opened to' hundreds-,-of thousands each season by building the , proposed Upper Colorado dams, meantime facilitating industrial and agricultural de- velopment of the region, Editor's Note: The following editorial which appeared in the,- Salt Lake Tribune early this week will be read with interest by Springville Herald subscribers, we believe, in as much as Spring-ville men have just returned from a trip down the Yampa and Gneen rivers, through the site of the . proposed dam, which at this time is such a hotly contested subject. |