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Show community iM$hi comments... A later-than-usual Easter, gentle rains to settle the dust and brighten up the desert flowers and extremely good planning by Moab Chamber of Commerce volunteers should make this year's Annual Jeep Safari one of the best ever. And It appears that the crowd will be listed In record numbers also, If advance reservations In campgrounds, motels, etc., mean anything. The Jeep Safari has become one of the most enjoyable of all Moab events we have been Involved In here over a twenty year span. Sure, It's a lot of work for those Involved In the planning and guiding, but even that is fun when you catch the enthusiasm of the visitors who come to join us each Easter. I'm hopeful that the visitors, as well as townspeople, will keep in mind the Easter Sunrise Service Sunday morning at Arches National Park. This has to be one of the most Impressive spots for such a service in the world. sjt The sudden Wednesday announcement by Southern California Edison, that It was abandoning plans for the long-awaited Kaiparowlts Power Project, will come as a great disappointment to many Utahns, even though it will be greeted with glea by environmentalists. Actually, the announcement came as something of a relief to this corner. As I've stated before, I fully believe the tremendous natural resource we have In the ground under the Kaiparowlts Plateau in the form of coal, should be developed not only for the benefit of Utahns, but for the nation as a whole. But the whole Idea of having the nation's largest power plant sitting in the middle of southern Utah hasn't really had that much appeal to me. The decision by the Callfornlans will now save everybody a lot of trouble, time and money. It will save the environmentalists the effort they were willing to expend In fighting the project In the courts; It will save the company and its partners untold hundreds of thousands In fighting those court battles. And It will save this year's politicians the weighty decision of deciding how they would respond to questions as to whether or not they favored the project. Now, with the massive Kaiparowlts Project cancelled, perhaps Utah can take the lead In developing a plan for underground mining and sale of the high-quality coal deposits; in helping plan for modest, smaller power plant construction in areas dispersed well enough so as to Insure the continuance of a quality environment in Southern Utah. -sjt- Frontier Airlines has officially filed a petition with the Civil Aeronautics Board this week asking that body to permanently delete Moab as a stop on the Frontier system. The action was fully expected, and Frontier officials had briefed Moab residents on the contents of the filing before it was presented. Frontier Included in the filing, their support for CAB recognition of the necessity to regulate and subsidize third-level commuter airline service to Moab and other communities like it. And prospects for that CAB recognition appear brighter each day. This week, Gov. Calvin L. Rampton received a reply from John E. Robson, Chairman of the CAB, telling the state's chief executive how the matter stands at present. Mr. Robson's letter follows: "Thank you for your letter of February 17, 1976, expressing Interest in limited certification, and subsidy eligibility, for commuter airlines in order to assure the provision of satisfactory subsidized air service for small rural communities. "The Board has recognized for several years that commuter carriers play an important role in providing small community service and that, In some Instances, direct or Indirect subsidy support may be required. Several approaches to the problem have been utilized. For example, the Board has approved some 50 agreements between local service carriers and commuter air carriers under which the latter provide substitute service, frequently making use of the local carriers' ground Installations and facilities. Second, the Board approved the direct payment of flow-through subsidy in connection with one such substitute service arrangement between the local carrier and the j commuter. However, the flow-through aspect was determined to be impermissible under present law. Third, in 1972 and 1973 the Board proposed leg islation for an experiment of up to three years to test a low-bid contract method of subsidizing small community service, but no action was taken by the Congress. Fourth, the Board in 1975 certificated Air New England, a new local service carrier with full subsidy eligibility, to provide small communtly service, and Is currently hearing an application by Air Midwest for similar authority for a replacement operation centered In Kansas. "The Board Is now reassessing the problem and, In October 1975, established a high level staff task force to make recommendations. The mission of this group Is to restudy the problem in all its aspects and make recommendations to the Board. Among possibilities being considered are the certification of commuter carriers as new local service carriers, changes In the law to allow subsidy to be paid directly to commuter carriers under a simplified form of certification, review of the low-bid method as originally proposed or in modified form, changes In the law to permit flow-through subsidy, changes In the law to remove the determination of subsidy from a system-need basis, and the local service carriers' role In providing the small communities with air service. We hope to have proposals from the task force for review In the not-too-distant future. "We very much appreciate your Interest and that of the Utah Delegation In this difficult regulatory area." |