| Show two denver post staff writers say let ut s build iff it about echo park by eva and tom walt watt ever come collie face fact to face with an llon honest st handrock har drock t controvert t if vou f I 1 believe b e I 1 eve v anu III d enjo one coin corn A ith all the trimming bumble into vernal utah and ask the first man mill you enC er S sat fello what ilat goes gov niall ith tins this echo alz ilz park 11 rk dam chances are hell tell you hell tell you wh wil its construction is ditl to him hint personally perso nalIN and if you w wait lit until hes iles completely y wound dlo down arms arnis aching lic hing from front flailing the air fir voice hoarse cha chances ticeN tire art vou VOLI 11 be on oil hand to w batih abc atc I 1 I 1 crews pour th tax dounda tio tion r i for the controversial pro eject eiho echo park is serious erious busill s in 11 northeastern utah southwest ern wv wyoming to riding and western colo rudo rad because 1 I calese it is the kev key ke y unit in ili tho the upper colorado river basin project its approval would gladden hearts a as distant us as ne new mexico mex aco it alao would sadden few fk hearts I 1 and i n d therein builds the tile controversy those who seek to block con st ruction U ion are the tile wil wilderness derne boys boy ti the c cons conservationists the and river rive r runners run liers and those sk ras ra cals cal f from roni southern hou thern california Culi fornia who fan fall the tilt blumes flumes in ili all ill areas of discon discontent tent southern califor nia TILH lii IS the tile beneficiary as long as upper basin W gatei 11 ter I 1 is allowed to meander anchel unchecked ked and arid build up in lake mead A co couple uple of weeks r ego go a group of Verria lites escorted about 20 representatives of press and arid ra die dio from denver and arid salt lake luke city to the site or the tile proposed dam darn some 65 miles v east of ver nal ID in northwestern colorado it was their earnest intention to present the tile facts end and vr ero urage the p press ress to spread tire true word they put their arguments on the line their pros against the cons of the nature boys the tile vernal folk are a prejudiced lot and it is difficult to remain ob jettive in their presence they live off the land adjoining dino national the fill nature ture buys visit or talk of visiting during the three of summer tire trip was made in jeeps panel trucks and arid station wagons six vehicles in all one of the gu guiles illes attached to our station wagon G E dirce tor of the utah field house of natural history at vernal and his wife also a geologist have delved and dusted for dinosaur re remains malins in the tile region for 30 years he ile imar impressed aged upon us lears from rom the th e outset nothing will be covered by the proposed dam the tire quarry where the dinosaur remains are being uncovered lies 30 miles downstream from echo park and 13 miles below the lowest proposed dam on the green the caravan prepared to turn off U S highway 40 about 25 miles from vernal and a few miles east of jensen utah the turnoff was puzzling t the visitors there was not a marker to give a clue that somewhere at the end of this red dust road angling across the and arid stretches t to 0 the tile northeast lay echo park the we must save because it is such a boon to the tourist the road from IT S 40 ap feared harmless enough but all were agreed later it was just as well it marked for a lone f car easily might be high centered s for days in the tortuous 20 mile canyon dropping down into pats hole our parts party had wondered also wh why we ha had arisen at 5 a in to make mue a one day trip 65 miles in and 05 65 miles out after pitching up down and sidewise along this is t tourist 0 urist avenue for several hours our wonderment was aas continued on page 10 16 TWO DENVER POST WRITERS SAY LETS lers BUILD IT ir ABOUT ECHO PARK DAM continued from page 9 ed it was our opinion that power and irrigation notwithstanding the main reason echo park dam should be constructed would be to bury that road safely under feet of water once in pats hole the sheer walls are spectacular and th the yampa and green at their confluence coe n flue tice wander serenely around foot high steamboat rock the shade trees on the park floor provide a cool shelter in which to picnic this is the area to be flooded but there will be little lost the walls of steamboat rock and harpers corner a huge plateau a short distance upstream from the damsite dam site still would tower high above the waters whirlpool canyon in which the dam site Is located rises 2000 feet above what would be the water line As so graphically stated it ii 11 ll still be so high when you look over the edge all your uncles will look like ants echo park is aptly named and there is a legend le end afoot that pat lynch the ad old renegade after whom the gorge was nam named ed would cup his hands to his mouth and holler keep out when he left his cave home to wander into vernal for a plug of tobacco and when hed return his voice still would be reverberating rever berating about the canyon the legend seemingly would have its counterpart today the wilderness boys are few but their voices arc art shrill and carry far echo park would provide a fabulous playground with waters deep enough for bass and other lake fish plus miles of trout stream it would be made more accessible to the sportsmen and tourist last year persons made the river trip along the green past echo park sportsmen and tourists availed themselves of the facilities at hoover dam and lake Lakel mead dead in the lower basin the arguments are a hundredfold they become a welter rationally there is only one question in the entire controversy should this region be benefited and would its us cevelo development ment be good business for the united united states the answer of course is yes there can be no other consideration president eisenhower Elsen hower said in a message to congress in march that the upper colorado river storage project is 19 a comprehensive well planned development of a river basin in urging congress to approve the projects eisenhower Elsen hower concluded his message saying 1 I firmly believe fessale deve development p ment of the upper colorado river basin in accordance cor dance with its provisions is in the national I 1 interest |
