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Show d The Inferior Colony: I Western Boom Towns !By Kenneth L. Gray, Ph.D. When housing and services are needed to accomodate workers near new industrial sites located on the public domain, the colonial economic system affects the quality qf V the new communities. Since 'j the federal government claims ownership to so much land in the West, the major income derived from energy development develop-ment leases, royalties, and bonuses is sent to Washington, Washing-ton, D.C. Localities must meet all the new town expenses with a fraction of the tax base potentially available to them. The system of democratic free enterprise, as it is practiced in states east of the Rockies, provides local support sup-port to the federal government through taxation approved by Congress. Interior colonialism, practiced west of the Rockies, allows federal government ' ' agencies to control much of the land, to arbitrarily collect money, and to dole out a portion to the states and localities, with strings attached attach-ed dictating how the money will be spent. ; Boom towns are not new in the West; they were common in gold rush times, for ; example, but the size and ; impending abundance of these settlements adjacent to current cur-rent energy development sites is unprecedented. Several examples may be cited where most the population of towns approximating 10,000 is composed com-posed of new comers, such as in the case of Gillette, Wyoming. Many small rural villages-near villages-near the1-public domain are expected to become large" trailer towns in a few years because of energy development. develop-ment. These towns require increased revenues to support the sudden demand for services; ser-vices; instead they receive less than the average town because a disproportionate share of the area's resource revenues are swallowed up by the' federal government. Sudden increases in population popula-tion over a short time span characteristically occur in boom towns. Even under favorable economic conditions, it is difficult to prevent serious "service lags" in boom towns;the present situation is almost hopeless because these areas must also support cadres of Washington bureaucrats who live off western land-use fees and leases. While "service "ser-vice lags" persist, schools, playgrounds, sewers, water supplies, and most other facilities are inadequate and may be unhealthy. Although severe "service lags" may be overcome in time, the duration and severity of these problems may have lasting effects on the community. commun-ity. Once the population growth in a boom town -stabilizes, "service lags", are . more easily overcome, but a backlog of problems may leave the town desperate for economic eco-nomic assistance. "Big Government advocates have proposed additional federal fed-eral programs to deal with boom town problems, apparently appar-ently not realizing that less federal control and the abandonment aban-donment of economic colonialism colonial-ism could more efficiently solve most boom town problems. prob-lems. When local officials and private parties must fight with federal bureaucracies for resource re-source development rights, time, money and energy is wasted which could be used to improve planning and enhance the environment. These mineral min-eral rich areas could support attractive communities rather than sprawling industrial slums, if more revenues remained in the locales. Results would justify con cern if boom town "service lags" simply caused inconveniences inconve-niences and, planning problems, prob-lems, but the western boom town situation is fraught with psychological hazards. (See illustration above.) Even though most boom town residents are highly paid industrial workers, living conditions con-ditions and social problems are often worse than those found in urban slums. State and local officials need more money and more land to control boom town conditions. The Bureau of Land Management jealously keeps the land from the people even when the land is needed for new town development. For example, articles have appeared in Rock Springs, Wyoming newspapers complaining com-plaining about the need for land and the unwillingness of BLM to part with land, surrounding Rock Springs. To cite another related example, Salt Lake City, Utah officials, in conjunction with the University of Utah, applied for BLM land for the purpose of building a park. Although the park would have improved the environment and provided needed recreation space for a large urban center, BLM indefinitely postponed action on the application, largely because the official in charge of the paper work for this transfer said he did not know how to treat this particular application. BLM "solved" this problem by simply postponing post-poning action, regardless of the detrimental impacts of delay. Stories of disagreements between local and state officials and BLM officials are frequently reported in Western West-ern newspapers. While they are preoccupied with arguing for development rights, other important governmental duties du-ties are set aside. For example, local officials know that regulation of trailer town housing in boom towns must be given more attention inasmuch as trailer town owners often provide the bare minimum in accomodations, seeking to maximize profits on the basis of a small capfial expenditure. A high rate of turnover occurs in trailer villages because workers with various skills may be in demand for short time periods only; therefore residents do not take the initiative to improve their neighborhood. Quality trailer villages, with yards, recreation areas, etc. are in demand, but adequate attention is not given to amenities. Fly-by-night operators make quick profits as boom town "slum lords". Local officials often lack the money or resources to plan the trailer towns and to draft equitable ordinances which would insure quality and community esthetics. Interior Department officials often pride themselves on the fact that they are able to operate out of their revenues rather than the general fund. Of course they do not need support from the general fund paid for by taxes; they collect money directly from the people through land-use fees and leases. In classic colonial style, money is exported to Washington D.C, and boom town problems are imported. This never ending siphoning of money is accomplished primarily pri-marily by the Bureau of Lane Management. (Copyright, Kenneth L. Gray, 1976) Next week's article, "Migrant "Mi-grant Management", deals with BLM administration and staffing procedures. |