Show VERNAL expressions EJ by G E Unter marin nature boys snipe at estes park Verna lites will be glad to know that our fair city n s not the only one to col feel the barb of condemnation and ridicule of conservation droum for sever several al years we have all been in the doghouse doR house because we supported the now defunct and extinct echo 11 pirk rk dam we were chang ed eel with having mercenary mo lives in plugging for echo park in fact we were accused of doing what we did just because it would be good for business that there were many other reasons were al always w ays ignored now at last we e have company the town of estes park colorado east entrance to rocky mountain national park Is getting a dressing down with special mention for the chamber of commerce none norie it have anything to do with dams dams arc are only one form of activity ity that can get a fellow into trouble this time its skiing nature magazine Magai lne in the national parks magazine january march issue in an editorial devereux butcher dutcher editor the estai park chamber of commerce is censured for gaining authorization from the national park service for a winter boorts development at hidden valley in rocky mountain national park estes park as most everyone knows is the resort town which booms in summer because of its location adjacent to rocky mountain and Is also the area for the administrative headquarters of the park in winter things are naturally dull so the chamber of commerce felt that winter sports would pep things up apparently the park service agreed to the ski development at hidden valley this was bad enough but when ski lifts were also authorized adding insult to injury the national parks association blew a fuse and hear of anything so artificial and mechanical in a national park area might as well have a dam artificiality in a national park service area makes the coi corser ser see red and causes the fire to snort from their nostrils this allergy toward the artificial in nature is a a fine thing but it can be grossly overdone it should be tempered with reason and sound judgment and not used as a constant means of obstruction st why wear clothes if conservationists want to get technical about this artificial business it can be carried to some mighty illogical extremes for in instance bance why permit anyone in a national park with clothes on clothe 3 are artificial why nermit the nature boys to go down the river canyons of dinosaur in a boat boats are artificial and they would look far more natural drifting down on a log and certainly anything as mechanical as an automobile ought to be prohibited you can readily see what a fine kettle of fish wed soon get into if all au this nature business were carried from the sublime to the ridiculous so as one Verna litel r I 1 extend mv hand cross the and salute the lie town of cje pirk park with a ceding of if fellowship md and want them to know that wo we have been on the firms firing line also dinosaur roads you will be ariter interested ted to know that if road development in Dino dinosaur aur is left up tip to the con things will continue in a mighty sorry state in the same issue of the national parks magazine mentioned above fred M packard tive secretary of the Naf national ional parks association has nis lo 10 say it would be a shame were this superlative wilderness wild ernes I 1 to 0 be overdeveloped the exi exien existing sn roads need resurfacing and P plans ian to provide one day boat trips tr I 1 Ps should be realized as soon as pos sible when mr packard talk about resurfacing existing roads hes talking about something that the rest of us must have missed you cant resurface so something methin g that has never been surfaced unless he means the sand badders boulders and mud that covers them now those roads make me very un happy because ye we knocked a hole in our crankshaft and burned out a clutch trying to get out of echo park so when anyone talks about keeping the existing roads as being good enough 1 I tremble to think of the fate of cross country tourists who travel them for the most part nature stroups who make the river run do not use their own cars anyway but are transported to the river for this reason they dont have to give a hoot about road conditions but the rest of us do it is our ernest hooe hone that the general public will be given some consideration in the di de velon ment of dinosaur and other national park service areas as well and that nature groups do not dominate just because they have continually yelled the loudest |