OCR Text |
Show Community Comments Easter weekend, and in particular the portions of it pertaining to the annual Moab Jeep Safari, have traditionally been the theme for this column, and it has generally been a bit of the lightest writing I am capable of, welcoming the thousands of out-of-area visitors to the Moab area. It is, of course, again a pleasure to extend that welcome, and to see many faces we recognize from previous spring visits to our community. It's always been a nice group to have in town, and you should know by now that you have the warm welcome of the whole community awaiting you in Moab. But that past year has been one of changing conditions in Southeastern Utah. And these changing conditions are having a real impact on the people who live here. Since those changing conditions have a tremendous impact, not only on us, but on our recreational visitors also, I feel compelled this week to share some concerns with our visitors. We have seen, in Southeastern Utah in the past year or two, increasing influences on our way of life by federal agency people with their voluminous rules and regulations: rules which seem to change and become more rigid with each passing week. And though they do affect the lives of our miners, livestock raisers, prospectors, timbering people and others usually associated with rural life in Utah, they also have a tremendous affect on those who come here to enjoy the red rock canyons and mesas of Southeastern Utah. Let me cite some examples: The National Park Service controls, by federal law, much of the acreage in this part of the world. And though many recreationalists will agree that much of the parkland should be kept inviolate and wilderness in nature, they must realize that rules as administered by agency people, have a way of creeping beyond the , realm of reality and into the absurd. Here are a few specific examples: This year's Jeep Safari, enjoyed by all of you or you wouldn't keep coming back, contains three trails which travel through parts of Arches National Park and Canyonlands. Those are the only trails where rigid limitations on participation have been set, and those limitations have been established by the NPS. A fourth trail, into the beautiful and easily accessible Eagle Park section of Arches, was ruled out even though there is a pretty good four-wheel drive road into it. Eagle Park was included in the Park only recently, and rivals some of the most spectacular parts of Canyonlands in scenic beauty. Reason for killing the trip? The Park Service plans to close off the existing jeep road they pioneered in the first place, and make the Park accessible only to hikers. In Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, where NPS officials are predicting record visitation this year, the word is out that one of the four major marinas on the lake will soon be closed and turned back to nature. The Halls Crossing resort, one of only four serving a : lake that should have ten marinas, and did over a million dollars business last year, is on the Park Service hit list. And I can't for the life of me understand the logic of that idiotic decision. Soon, the Bureau of Land Management, landlord on a good deal more acreage than the Park Service, will begin a series of public meetings aimed at establishing . ground rules for designating much of their administered land as roadless and wilderness. The question of what really constitutes a road is of prime concern.. In the minds of many, the trails our visitors will be following this weekend, are not really roads at all. Those beautiful areas which will be seen and photographed by our weekend visitors, may soon be classified as roadless and wilderness. So you see, it's not just us printers, opinionators, miners, prospectors, cowboys and lumberjacks that are being impacted. Recreationalists share a lot of our problems. And it is to be sincerely hoped that when they go back to their homes--most of which are in metropolitan areas-they will remember what is happening to the country they like to visit. And it is to be hoped that remembering will make them aware that public meetings in their own communities will also be held on the status of Southern Utah land. Traditionally those metropolitan hearings have been attended by well-organized special interest groups. I know, because I've had the uncomfortable experience of conducting some of them. It's time the individual, armed with nothing more than righteous indignation, began taking the time to be counted on also. Welcome to Moab folks. Please excuse the tirade if it has offended you. Sam Taylor |