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Show not total lockup, please We can understand the feeling of -the Price District office of the Bureau of Land Management in wanting to preserve much of what makes the drive along 1-70 through the rugged San Rafael country, in its natural form. The opening of that well-designed piece of Interstate a few years ago gave Utahns and Utah travelers the first taste of the beauties that had previously been seen only by a few livestock men, an even fewer number of hardy explorers and a few noted outlaws. To many of the above-mentioned travelers, 1-70 has not necessarily been a "physical intrusion on the landscape," in the derogatory sense of the term, but an asset making the area accessible to those who might enjoy its beauties in comfort and ease. Unfortunately, there are those who take advantage of access for not so noble reasons, and it has been the actions of these landscape despoilers who have prompted a request by the BLM to have over a half-million acres of the San Rafael withdrawn as a "national conservation area." We have no argument with this attempt, except in the extreme limitations the BLM would like to see placed on the specific highway corridor. Interstate 70 across the San Rafael is a long, lonesome highway. At night, or during extreme winter weather conditions, a traveler in trouble in the San Rafael is really in trouble. We wish the BLM and the Congress well in their attempts to preserve the beauty of this vast desert wonderland. We hope, however, that in doing so, they consider that people and services are not ; necessarily distasteful intrusions on the landscape. Travelers by the thousands will be traversing 1-70 in the coming years. Landlords concerned about the landscape had better not forget their need for concern for the travelers. Some sortof well-planned service complex on 1-70 is desperately needed and should be planned as enthusiastically as plans are being made for the protection of the landscape. |