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Show 1 In Our Opinion Get behind i county plan We applaud the coalition of Davis County officials with the foresight to shoulder, in the absence of state action, responsibility respon-sibility for getting the refurbishing done on the badly needed causeway between Antelope Island and Syracuse. The county's commissioners, state senators and representatives represen-tatives met with Gov. Norm Bangerter this week and asked for the job. Give us the funding, they said, and we'll rebuild the seven-mile causeway. The current state legislature, you may r remember, tabled a bill sponsored by Rep. Nancy S. Lyons, R-r" R-r" Bountiful, aimed at getting the causeway project done by the ' Utah Department of Transportation. Under a plan presented by the coalition on Wednesday to ; Bangerter, Davis County would restore the wind and wave bat- tered causeway using $4.8 million they'd like included in an . appropriations bill when the lawmakers reconvene in a special I session in Salt Lake City on April 17. " It's a plucky stand. We think it's right for Davis County. Merchants in the coun-i coun-i ty stand to gain the most economically from the dollars tourists I will leave behind once they are able to drive across the Great Salt Lake to the fascinating 27,460 acre Antelope Island State Park. j Under the plan, Davis County would charge a $1 or $2 toll from the more than 450,000 expected island visitors each j summer season. Using this money, they could maintain the ! causeway through the fickle moods of Mother Nature, who has ; been less than kind to previous roadways. J The $4.8 million proposal is well below the $18 million the t I Utah Department of Transportation had proposed for the pro- I I ject. i I The difference, and this raises some concern with us, is that 1 causeway at an elevation of 4,208 feet, compared to UDOT's I recommended 4,217 feet. ! You may remember that causeway has been washed out I since 1983, when it was at a 4,206-foot elevation. ! Gayle Stevenson, county commission chairman, admits it is ! a gamble. But he points out that history shows you have to go ! back 120 years to find a period when the lake had risen to such ! drastic levels as it did in the early 1980s. In addition, the coun- ! ty contingent says, pumps already in place could be used to ! help maintain lake levels during flood periods. I We think the gamble is worth it. There must be a road to '. Antelope Island as soon as possible. We hope the governor ! will take the lead in urging passage of the necessary legislation ! during the upcoming special session. I Average attendance for the last four years the causeway was I open was 427,000 and 44 percent of those were non-residents. Those non-residents likely spent some dollars in Davis County along their way. The island itself is a tourist mecca in the middle of a major V metropolitan area. Already, buffalo roam a section of the park I' and the state Wildlife Resources Division has committed to restocking the island with antelope, which have not been seen I J I on the island for 30 years. Elk are also expected to be stocked c on the island within the next few years. f In June 1988 the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation ' hosted field trips to the island to examine its tourist potential. ( r Their plan was to split the island into three areas of de- velopment including commercial, parks, and wilderness. To date, nothing has been done to implement the plan. The hours and money spent in planning the future of the island are wasted if the island can't be reached. " We hope private citizens and cities in the county will band I together with the coalition that met with the governor and push 'd ' I getting the causeway reopened. The debate on the future of the ; . Great Salt Lake and the island is continuing. Davis County j I needs to stop letting its tourism dollars seep through the cracks ; of the causeway. |