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Show Park Record Thursday, May 21, 1992 Page A19 Galloping Goose railtrail may be delayed by appeals FAMILY RESTAURANT Now Available for CMULHDIrlWS IBIHTTMIDAY IP AMIES 1 1 f i I Separate appeals by two concerned citizens may hamper construction this summer of the 23-mile Galloping Goose trail along the abandoned railroad grade from Society Turn in Telluride to Lizard Head Pass. 'The decision order was appealed by a landowner in the Ames area," explained Jim Hackett, a forester with the U.S. Forest Service district office in Norwood. "He doesn't want to see the trail go through his land." As a result, Hackett said, "Nothing's been done on the trail at the moment. It's defacto on hold." The Ames landowner is E.A. Noble, while the other appellant is Eric Heil, a law student in Boulder. A part-time part-time Telluride resident, Heil said, "procedural inadequacies" led him to appeal. "My objective is a natural single track," said Heil, adding he'd like to see some of the earmarked funds put to use on other trails. Hackett indicated that Noble holds certain mining claims along the old railroad grade that he wants to develop in the near future. "We're sensitive to his concerns," said Hackett. "We'd like to work with him, but his view is to stop the project the way it is intended today. His interests are strictly in mining, not recreation." Noble was unavailable for comment The Forest Service can condemn the right-of-way for public use but would rather not. Re-routing the trail around Noble's private mining claims is a near-impossible task because of the area's steep terrain. The Galloping Goose trail is a multi-use trailfor mountain bikers and hikers but not for horseback riders except in limited areas-that will be constructed using both USFS funds and donations from San Miguel County. lackson Hole Guide Governors head to Jackson As many as 500 people-including governors of 17 western states and Mexico as well as premiers of several Canadian provinces-are expected to rendezvous in Jackson next month to consult on environmental and economic politics. The Western Governor's Conference, slated for June 21-23 at Jackson's Lake Lodge, will focus on issues including development of a Central Flyway accord to protect migratory birds, and the execution of the Safe Drinking Water Act, said Denny Curran, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Sullivan. As this year's chairman of the Western Governor's Association, Sullivan is serving as host of the three-day conference, which represents his last official duty as the 1991-92 chairman. The Western Governor's Association is made up of governors of 17 western states, including Hawaii and Alaska, and stretching from California east through North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, but excluding Oklahoma and Texas. Governors of all 17 states are expected to attend, in addition to Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan, EPA Administrator William Reilly, and Mike Hayden, assistant secretary for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others. mm The Tribune should mind its own business by Nikki L. Lowry I would like to respond to the "thought-provoking" editorial entitled "Park City Education In Peril" that appeared in the Monday, May 18 edition of the 5a Lake Tribune. Let's start with the obvious: What gives the Tribune the right to editorialize about a situation it knows little or nothing about while it condemns The Park Record for exercising its right to editorialize? By definition, an editorial is the opinion of the newspaper-any newspaper-any newspaper. Just as any newspaper has the right to editorialize, so any reader has the right to agree or not with the position set forth in an editorial and to respond or not to a given editorial. I happen to be of the opinion that the Record's editorial was well-written and non-inflammatory in its tone, and as a reading, thinking member of this community, I have a right to that opinion, just as you do. I also have a right to get as involved as I want to be in the schooling of my children, just as you do. My concern and involvement is the most precious gift I can give my kids; why should leave the quality of their education to chance? In the recent frantic search for a better way to educate the children in this country, . study after study has been commissioned to discover why some schools are more effective than others. In every one of these studies, one factor keeps coming to the surface: The key to effective schools is hands down, over and above all other factors, including how "rich" or poor a school district is extraordinary parental and community involvement in the running of these schools. Far from being an "exception" to this "rule", Park City is an outstanding example of the validity of this principle: We are an involved community, and we have good schools. I resent the Tribune's telling me not to be involved, not to be committed to making our schools the best that they can be. I am thrilled that there is "less bureaucracy" between me and my children's schools. And, I certainly hope that the impact of the level of parental involvement on Park City's schools will be "dramatic." It has not been the Park Record that has "egged" the community on during the last few weeks, but rather this commitment to providing the best schools and to the idea of open communication among all elements within the school district that has caused members of the community to voice their beliefs and opinions. No non-resident has either the right or the knowledge to tell us as residents of Park City and as parents that we don't have the right to express our ideas about how our school district should be run. "Unbalanced coverage"? Hardly. Rather, The Park Record is to be commended for writing articles that were obviously well-researched and fact-based and for making room for every letter and every opinion that has come across its editor's desk. The fact that the majority of these letters and opinions do not mesh with theTW&Kne's idea of how the world should be run does not give the Salt Lake paper license to condemn us as a community. If the Salt Lake Tribune had taken the time to talk to A I See It mm i i II f. I A lrr: Mil CIT III AIMJIWII T7 tk T V7 io . i W rms vmv Featuring Snelgrove's Ice Cream I I mm wm I 'l I a jpJ a mm L O 4 f 1 uml 1 P. vV ncunuuiyeio, ucn oaiiuwiunes a ouu uimr5 Open 1 1 am-10 pm 7 Days a Week Phone 649-7289 for Party Plans Located next to Silver Putt Golf Course and Alpine Slide at the Park City Ski Area Idaho drought is continuing Not surprisingly, April snowpack figures show that the Sun Valley area is heading into what will probably be one of the driest summers on record. According to figures released by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, water levels in the Big Wood watershed as of May 1 1 were at 11.8 percent of the 30-year 30-year average. Water levels in the Little Wood watershed are even lower. Gale Roberts of the Blaine Soil Conservation Service said if the current weather trend holds, the Big Wood River will be running at about 15 percent to 20 percent of normal, as measured at Hailey during the months from June through September. Precipitation figures have been dropping dramatically this spring. The Big Wood watershed was at 67 percent of average in February, but dropped to 56 percent by the end of March. The same is true for the Little Wood watershed. Roberts said heavy rains during the next several weeks would help vegetation in the mid- and high-elevation high-elevation rangelands, but the damage has already been done to desert areas. the community, it may have found that while the Board has undoubtedly heard" from many constituents, there is serious doubt among many members of the community that these members are listening to what they are hearing. The Board has, in effect, told the community that it has no voice, that its elected officials have no responsibility to listen to their constituency and make decisions which reflect the desires of that constituency. (I hardly characterize that as "bending to public demands.") This inability to make its desires known through its alleged representatives has made many members of the community feel understandably helpless and frustrated. On the issue of why our superintendents "last only two or three years," I would like to inform the Tribune that the national average for the tenure of superintendents is two years, so we are certainly not unique in that respect. Perhaps our standards for superintendents are higher than other districts. Does that mean we should lower those standards? I certainly hope not. We are an intelligent and diverse group; we expect and we demand to be involved. Many administrators cannot handle such scrutiny, such closeness to the people they serve. I would like the Tribune to know that this district has waiting lists of "quality educators" who would jump at the chance to live and work in Park City. I don't think we have to fear a scarcity of applicants for both administrative and staff positions. Also, let us not overlook the fact that we are extremely fortunate to have a fair number of "quality educators" and classified employees at work right now in our schools, all of whom deserve our applause for a job well done. These are the people who have gotten us to the level of excellence in our schools that is attracting new families from all over the country and the state on a daily basis. We still have much work to do in this school district; the biggest challenges are yet to come. Our best hope for building on what has already been accomplished is if as a community we work together to enhance the education our kids receive. We can achieve new levels of excellence only if we, as parents and community members, maintain and increase our involvement in the running of our community schools. We cannot be deterred by a poorly written and uninformed editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune. I invite its editors to spend a week in our schools to find out what we are doing right instead of standing at arm's length with eyes closed, telling us what's wrong with the way we run our schools and telling our local newspaper how and what to write. I am proud to be a part of a community that cares enough to get involved in many issues, and I will always look forward to reading from cover to cover my copy of the Park Record every Thursday! COLDWELL BANKER AND JULIE MCKAY PRESENT AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN PARK CITY PTARMIGAN TOWNHOUSES IN SILVER SPRINGS Priced below replacement cost Only 2 units left 3 bedroom2.5 bath 2 car garage Swimming pool and tennis Finished basement South facing views 8pr zzr n or iw sum nuncuu. nctwork r-Tj '-mr-rr" in mrn i r ' PREMIER, INC. FOR DETAILS CALL: JULIE MCKAY, CRS, GRI 649-4400 (OFFICE) 649-8420 (HOME) Financing Available thru Steve Honeywell 649-9556 FirstWestern Mortgage j jj it 'a ' ' j Now watching a lot of TVcan actually be good for kids. It's called distance learning. A program developed by Utah State University and funded in part by a $300,000 grant from the U S WEST Foundation. And it enables small rural schools to interact with classes in other larger schools via video monitors and computers. Our grant is focused on helping the teachers who instruct over the video system to develop presentations and curriculums that work well with the television medium. It also helps teachers in rural areas understand how to better motivate their students in learning math, science and language arts. All of which makes it easier for students to learn more. And for more students to learn. IIJ3MEST' Making the most of your time.' C 1991 US WEST, inc. fl |