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Show Nothing Sacred These Days In Sunday. February 15. Nebo LooP 1981 THE HERALD. Prove. 27 I'tah-Pa- ge WORK Hidden Alpine Are Beckons Ufahns Coofe Springs By ROD COLLETT - COYOTE SPRING, Nev. (UPI) There is some unaccustomed action to be found these days at Judy's, a boardedup desert brothel closed a couple of years ago by a referendum of the voters of b Lin-co- County. The U.S. Air Force is using Judy's as a base to drill for water considered vital to the success of its plan to base a new arsenal of MX intercontinental missiles on thousands of square miles of desert. An old sign on the prefabricated structure enclosed by a wire fence says, "Welcome, fellows " But another, newer one admonishes. "No giris working. Keep out." The fellows at Judy's these days come only to operate the drilling equipment parked out back They leave before sundown. If they drive south at 55 miles per hour, they can be on the glittering strip of casinos in Las Vegas an hour later. North of Judy's, and to the east and west, are small desert towns deeply divided over whether the missile system should be deployed over an area roughly the size of Michigan in the Great Basin of Nevada and Utah. One of those towns is Alamo, Nev., a dismal collection of modest houses and house trailers surrounded by some of the world's most spectacularly beautiful scenery an awesome expanse of desert broken by brown hills that jut into a sky of the clearest blue. Clark Hardy, 30, a Mormon raised in Alamo and chairman of the town board, generally favors the Air Force plan, which he believes will bring prosperity to the region. "Most people in the community are very wary of the MX," acknowledged Hardy, a builder. "My attitude is that if it is going to happen we need to plan ahead so we don't get hurt. What people fear most is that it will take the water we have and cause our wells and springs to go dry." Hardy, who had just come down from the hills with his bow after trying to jump a jackrabbit. said, "When it's finished, I think it will be good for the community." Many of the 800 or so residents of Alamo, about a third of whom are Mormons, do not share Hardy's optimism. "There are some people who worry that we would become a target and about accidental detonation," said Hardy, who has just won election to the Lincoln County Commission. "I don't." Alamo, which boasts a bustling tungsten mine owned by Union Carbide, already has undergone something of a mining boom, but Hardy does not worry that more workers, as well as Air Force personnel, are likely to stream into Alamo, once the heart of a ranching and farming community. "I think the Air Force people will be good for the community," he said. "The Air Force has promised all kinds of aid." An hour's drive to the north is the town of Caliente, which looks much like Alamo. At a ranch on the outskirts of Caliente, Connie Simkins edits the Lincoln County Record a weekly newspaper which vigorously opposes the Air Force plan. "I don't think it's the best military answer and I don't think it's the best way to spend the taxpayers' money," said Mrs. Simkins. "My relatives were running cattle here in Dry Lake Valley in 1862," said Mrs. Simkins, a representative of the Nevada Cattlemens' Association. "They were Mormon pioneers." Mrs. Simkins did not campaign in the referendum to close Judy's but she cares deeply about keeping the missiles out of the region. "Basically, I'm not opposed to legalized prostituion," she said. "I think prostitution is a necessary evil." But she sees the MX missile as a decidedly unnecessary evil in the Great Basin. "It's just a giant public works project," she said. "Generally in this area anybody worth anything already has a job. The mines are working." Mrs. Simkins, who works hard on behalf of the "Sagebrush Rebellion" which seeks to turn over vast federal lands in the West to the states, said, "This is the best place in the world to raise kids." She believes firmly the influx of workers could change that, bringing crime and other problems to a peaceful community. "The Alaska pipeline brought in five people for every one job available," she said. "Our city and county governments would be too heavily burdened." There is a dissenting opinion from behind the bar at Shenanigans, a saloon in Caliente, where Joyce Boyce serves drinks to men who are more likely to work in mines or for the railroad than own cattle spreads. "I'm all for it " said Mrs. Boyce. "It's fantastic. It's going to help a lot of these little towns to expand." Mrs. Boyce said if the missiles come, the Amtrak passenger train will stop in Caliente instead of speeding right through town southward to Las Vegas. "That would be good for the old people," she said, referring to those who came to Caliente to retire because of the clean air, good weather and lower prices in the area. Wesley Holt, a Mormon who runs Caliente's small department store, opposes the Air Force plan. Andra Farmer, a Catholic who sells leather goods in her shop next door, favors it. "I don't think it's a religious issue at all," said Holt, who described business at his store as "very good." "This place needs the MX," said Mrs. Farmer in a separate interview. The widow and mother of two sons indicated business at her shop was not so good and, said she planned to get a real estate license so she could participate in what she believes will be a real estate boom prompted by the MX. "The Mormons don't wan,t the MX," she said. run "They have all the business tied up so they can want." the they way things Holt, in business for 30 years in Caliente, said, "I would rather it not come here. I"m not sure we're be patriotic but big enough to handle it. We'd like to we'd like to know what the effects would be." Bob Murdock, a Mormon who who runs the I pharamacy across the street, said, "Right now, for I'm off the will ground. it believe get don't I think growth but, from a military standpoint, to do it." better are ways there Ronald So, evidently, does President will decide the who man ultimately the Reagan, fate of MX and who during his campaign lambasted "that fantastic plan of the (Carter) administration to take thousands of square miles out of the western states." his debate in Baltimore Opposing the plan during with independent presidential candidate John I Anderson, Reagan said, "We need the missile, think because we lack a deterrent to a possible is first assault but I am not in favor of the plan that so costly." The Air Force estimates the system will cost $34 as billion, although other estimates have ranged higir as $108 billion. Herald Staff Reporter By the end of 1981 thou sands of I'tahns will have access to the beauty which lies within view ot the long Nebo Loop spanning I t jh and Juab Counties The Nebo Loop road in Payson and continues behind the Nebo Range before ending in Salt Creek Canyon east of Bids have been Nephi starts opened for continued work on the 30 road 1 miles of and construction work on the campgrounds Three year;the U.S. Forest Service was seriously ta.kirg .bout establishing a Wasatch Front Mountain Recreation area at a tost ot $98 million. It would have included a series ot scenic trails and roads trom Tremonton on the north to Nephi on the south. Though the talk is still going on. the plans have - been shelved while emphasis is placed on finishing the Nebo Loop. The Nebo Loop would have been the southern e trtiil. link in the National The L'inta Forest has been conducting survevs the past two years to widen and 100-mil- Rod has already been ap- Congressman Norm Corbndge. l'inta Gun tions of the road Funds were a p Forest Engineer said Engineering estimates propriated by Congress to McKay was instrumenplace the total cost of the begin completion of tal in securing another propriated to repair a another 5 5 miles has lengthen the road Nebo project at $11 lion, which includes l ollett Phot Beauty of Mt. Nebo as seen from loop road. the mil- Blackhawk the Campground which will final paving of the have 300 units Coleman, Gary roadway and completion of two specialist major recreaiional with the $3.5 million for this year The first real effort on the Nebo Loop road began in the early 1970s when the Box Lake Dam broke l'inta National in Payson Canyon, campgrounds. Three million dollars Forest, said former washing out major sec section washed been paved to service the out by the flood. Since Blackhawk Campground. that time, the only money The engineer said the spent on any part of the current bids are to bo Nebo Loop was in 1979 used to grade, widen and when 12 miles were pave nearly nine miles of blacktopped. Section 11 of the Nebo four-mil- e Loop, which will continue into Juab County. Corbridge When the first big push ' , '' Remember When You Opened f .ram imam Let our specialists design for you an economical and efficient heating system! ENERGY SAVINGS UP TO ''' ' ' Your Heating Bill Last Winter? said once Section II is complete, only seven miles will remain for paving. This last portion would run into Salt Creek Canyon was launched three years ago on the loop, the plans also called for expansion of the Payson Lakes Campground It now contains 39 units, but expansion would have enlarged that to 250 family units. 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