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Show iDHWONS"3-. Strictly a fomality This month, on Sept. 20-22 and 23-24 J and 26 the National Park Service will hold meetings in four Utah communities, and Zion Canyon to solicit public comments on . closing out overnight lodging accommodations accommoda-tions in the Park. The Park master plan includes such issues as wilderness areas, fire management, manage-ment, transportation systems and other activities. However, the overnight lodging ! is the hottest item because it has been ! strongly opposed both by T.W.A. who oper- I ates the facilities inside the park, and tour ism promotion groups in Southern Utah and throughout the state. The point of this editorial Is not whether wheth-er or not the Park master plan is a good one or not though we oppose closing out-': overnight lodging facilities and setting aside' '. huge acreages for wilderness areas, when it will likely be hundreds of years before ; Utah's wilderness within the parks will be 1 ' threatened, but rather to point out that these "! Park Service meetings are strictly aform- : . ; ality. . ' Like BLM's reorganization, the ParkSer-'. vice has no intention of listening to the people. Somebody has decided that these ( ' - policy changes will be made and the public r " hearings are just part of the required pro- cedure. h ' " ' !-' ? Like BLM's reorganization, where every public official, and thousands of cit-; cit-; izens protested the change, all will be ig-; ig-; nored. We expect Sen. Moss, Gov. Rampton, " ; and Reps. Howe and McKay to fold under ; the bureaucratic pressure in the next few 3 1 days, just like they did before. Sen. Gam ; was the only one who did not give in to the pressure. ; But it matters not whether they give in j C because the Park Service has no intention of making any changes. They've already made up their mind the hearings are only a formality. Our elected representatives, representa-tives, local, state and federal, are powerless to stop the bureaucratic machine once it starts rolling. If you feel strongly about this rip-off by the park service, you are welcome to attend at-tend one of these meetings. However, if you wish to speak, you must write Supt. Heyder (see story elsewhere) and make a reservation. reserva-tion. And since your time may be limited by the administrative judge who will run the hearing, you would, be well advised to make your comments in written form as well. But remember the hearing is only a formality. It's another instance of our government protecting us from ourselves. They have to hold the hearings because its the law but they don't have to listen. And as we learned during the BLM Organization' Organiza-tion' hearings, we're powerless to do anything any-thing about it. "Red" . WARRENS BURG, MO., STAR -JOURNAL: '. .' "Speaking of advertising, we are reminded of the classic story of William Wrigley of , chewing gum fame. Wrigley was said to have been riding on a train with a friend (this was long . . . ago) when the friend pointed to the frequent Wrigley gum signs along the right-of-way and adjacent highways. high-ways. 'Why do you spend all this money on advertising?' asked the friend. 'Your business busi-ness is established, your gum Is famous and the competition is almost nonexistant.' Well, answered Wrigley, how fast do you think this train is going?' 'Oh, about 60 miles an hour', answered the puzzled friend, 'Why? TDon't you think that is fast enough?' Wrigley said. Why don't they just take ofi the engine and save all that expense?' The friend had no comment." |