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Show Comp r'' News File-B-ox 6310 Lincoln, Neb. 60506 1 Final park de5sisis made by Whden, gsioiig S moBiiis of dialogue, bat i National Park Service Director 1 lliam J. Whalen announced from IK Monday that final Lisions had been made on the Canyonlands National Park Management Man-agement Plan, and the document would be printed and ready for circulation in mid-June. Those decisions, which have been in the making for a number of months since Mr. Whalen visit; i the Moab area and met with lot a residents, have resulted in a number of major changes from the Draft Management Plan which was hotly debated locally last summer. Probably the most hotly contested contest-ed phase of the management plan, the fate of a road into the interior of the Needles Section across Big Spring Canyon, was a major iteni dealt with by Whalen. He announced announc-ed that due to high costs, the bridge across Big Spring Canyon and a spur road to the Confluence Overlook, will not be built. However, Whalen stated that a road corridor will remain in the recommended wilderness plan for the Park, so that options for building the road in the future will remain. A trade-off for the Confluence Road, will be a paved road to the Colorado River Overlook in the Needles section. Currently, that overlook directly north of Squaw Park can be reached only by 4-wheel drive vehicles. In the Island in the Sky section of the Park, Whalen's decision will lead to the full paving of the road network to Grandview Point and Upheaval Dome, following pretty much the present gravel road alignments. The earlier Park Service plan was to treat the present roads with soil cement and do no paving in the Island. "We believe these decisions serve the public and protect the great natural resources in the park. The decisions were made only after careful consideration of public omments and in light of our obligation to protect Park resources," re-sources," Whalen said. In Moab, Park Superintendent Pete Parry stated that although the compromise will probably draw criticism from both sides of th: . 'vr'": iui.ce.,.-it..i3. a-piia that can speak well to earlier commitments made relative to development, and still protect the basic values of the Park. Those remarks were echoed in Salt Lake City Tuesday by Utah Governor Scott M. Matheson. "I don't think Mr. Whalen's decision is unreasonable, despite the fact that we didn't get all we had asked for," Gov. Matheson told The Times-Independent Tuesday. He indicated that Utahns should be able to feel good about the fact that a good deal of development will now be allowed under the plan, and that options will remain for further development decisions in the future. An active figure in the controversy contro-versy since it erupted last summer has been Congressman K. Gunn McKay, who represents this part of Utah, and who is a ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee Subcom-mittee on Interior Affairs. Congressman Con-gressman McKay has visited Southeastern Utah, and been in constant contact with community members and government officials as the negotiations progressed. Mr. Whalen's final decisions were made following a series of meetings in Washington with Rep. McKay. McKay's position from the beginning begin-ning had been that Canyonlands was created by Congress on the assumption, based on National Park Service testimony, that the park would be developed. A decision now not to proceed with development, but leave the park in a relatively primitive state, would be a violation on legislative intest, Mr. McKay has stated. |