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Show LE macy. TN ; sa THE ZEPHYR/JUNEJULY 2006 FACT The Grand:County Travel Council is continuing with its long-range discussions of a 1993 Strategic Plan. The council has solicited opinions from residents, and especially from owners of tourist-related businesses, on how the county should be promoting the visitor industry here. Facts and 4 deh aie OPINION : At the same time the Travel Council is looking at ways of bringing more vacationers to the area, the Bureau of Land Management is meeting with other land managers to review the tremendous amount of ecosystem damage those visitors have done to the land. Dozens of square miles near the Slick Rock trail along Sand Flats Road have been destroyed, and they will stay that way for generations. On any weekend during the spring, choking smoke fills the canyon from campfires along the River Road. Portable pit toilets along the river corridor haven't solved the problem of human waste. Arches National Park officials acknowledge they are looking at how much the steadily increasing flow of visitors has degraded the park experience, and down at Canyonlands, the park administration is looking at limitations on back country use in the future. Opinions a summary of the month's news. by Ken Davey MMe Pedra EDWARD Sia Orel ante tie RCCL alt ‘ ABBEY Laogi /a Oe rae es eras ba oe Waar is het toilet? Tala . ee ne come re Be 4.19 "Ch 3 bit) esea The 4 Xe . on oe Ss (ox oO ras A? iS =) oe Prag i rho Ce as Pe cies tia Council coming to town mean? has a mission statement: "Promote and create recreation, tourism and Not much, because without a major expansion, the restaurant can’t serve an appreciable number more of them. The same with Motel B, During the peak times, they are already booked solid, so more people in town during those times doesn’t help. But what it does do is make the town more attractive to outside money, which 1) drives up the cost of commercial property, meaning those businesses that lease face increasing rental fees, and possible expulsion, when their building is bought by out of town investors, 2) drives up the cost of downtown " property, to the point that many of those renting businesses who hoped to eventually purchase their own shops are being priced out of the market, and 3) increases the property tax paid by those businesses owners lucky enough to own right now. So promoting more tourism is not necessarily in the interests of even existing local tourist businesses, much less the rest of us. And.more and more, there is a sentiment that uncontrolled tourism already has diminished the quality of life here. Moab is a tourist town, and will continue as such. But instead of making it a bigger tourist town, let’s find a way to make it a better tourist town. : Transient room tax, paid by tourists renting motel rooms and other overnight accommodations, will be bringing in to the county as_much as half a million dollars by next year, and that money, by state law, must be spent on tourist promotion and facilities. Among other things, it now pays for visitor center staff, travel council administration, and the repayment of the loan to construct the new downtown visitors center. That money is like a vision of sugarplums in front of some in the tourist industry, who dream of vast promotion campaigns. But that cash can also go to maintaining visitor facilities, such as the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. Here in Moab, our attractions are not the buildings, but are "tourist facilities" a whole lot nicer: the Sand Flats area, the River Corridor, the red rock canyons and cliffs that draw so many people to this region. And we can use some of that money to preserve and maintain those tourist attractions. For just a small part of that cash, we could hire dozens of high school seniors during the spring and summer as combination clean-up crews/public relations representatives, working to patrol the camping areas, undoing some of the damage, pointing out to the visitors that signs saying no motorized vehicles mean no motorized vehicles, helping educate people to the need at-be inin to stay off that black stuff called microbiotic soil (\or whate' what ver thuy ep that-be microbiol By are calling the cryptogamic soil this week) because it takes decades to repair the damage of a tire nits VERONA STOCKS: HISTORY OF MOAB ‘Orton's ride through 2 cactus patch 2 Travel conventions in Grand County." The council has historically seen the tourist businesses in town as its constituency, and in its current long-range planning efforts, it is relying on owners and managers of those businesses for ideas and suggestions. And that outlook creates a great deal of pressure on the council, to carry out policies that are in the economic interests of the tourist industry. But what’s good for motel, restaurant, and gift shop owners may not be so good for the rest of us. And what APPEARS to be in the interest of the tourist industry may not be of much use to actual existing businesses here. : Let’s take Restaurant A, a locally owned establishment that right now, does a pretty good business 6 months out of the year, and a great business during 3 other months. During the season, they already pack ‘em in like sardines during dinner. What do 10 percent more visitors lary “The Groene Report Jack Campbell.A Solution for State Lands "AND Cherie Gilmore! AI ES THE ZEPHYR/JUN: 1993 Non-<onforwty IN the 90s OS Ken Davey was the 'Dean of the Moab Press Corps" when he wrote “Facts & Opinions’ for The Zephyr in the early 90s. His son Cisco was just a few months old, when Ken penned this item on TRT monies. tread, or even a footprint. The county would gain in that we take concrete steps to protect what we love. The students will gain in that they get some money for a part-time job that’s mostly hiking around the area they love. And the future of the town would gain, because we could take some of that money and use it as additional partial college scholarship funds for the students who stick with the job throughout the season, helping pay for the education of kids who might otherwise have trouble coming up with tuition. e How that money is spent is an issue not just for tourist businesses, but for all of us, because it our money, not the motels’. An Open Invita tion to Robert Duval] » ie s Dear Mr. Duvall This Newspaper, j Among your Many mi its staff and Publisher, bel; 7 believe that emorab] Ain Stiles © at’s wh: i: 100 cold has ae: Tama1 authorized io offer : z 2 do is recreate foie : Prepared Corner Market s ‘ Cartoon rized ° Ad ee =— cae 22 What's that? man's, i malaise : ei. \\ ty ~ E an = Sy FEZ rayer. = wel Vi; / M Ken... ttorne: NG Lo nesome x Tow F. ann Call] Lonesome ; dollars in cash...that’s r ou Pl Ayo Ost movi sce Willi "Dang, that’s tasty," one mene ical . Violenceby some j Dove De : 2 Votees have : ss ° red environmental | ula be more natural than Mayor To feminist Michele Regen ‘Oeks a great actor, EmYm sune copes foa being 100k a giftsur be hens hee And we would lifeti y ee activist Scott G Y William Benge in th; agreed to partici i WCipate, including _e role of Pea F; roene as Blue D; coul oe Bong. ‘ iY : , au 2 AY in th . € role of Lippy? rena, and uth, Sincerely, Aan ° . at Fat City Smoke House one day. He said he probably didn't remember his lines anyway. | told Duvall not to worry...that 1 knew all his lines too. He vaguely suggested | get a life. i = : nae 259-7773 ‘ : : ! tried and tried but | could never convince ROBERT DUVALL him‘ really, what | to join me; and my delusion. | met him, cornered a : ee the Value ofa buck. Ths is the 5 usher va ie W/E ty = \ = wo & ff ye Prayer, What's the rdidia aged: Meals ears 3 that you can spendyouone le Si y, nes. I am lime, anywhere. Th rs, and have, in fact bese SOciates if I saiq m . een threaten 7 = = Nave had his li oo on, other Grand County A es Mallgned, mistreated, ea ’ for Of my closest oe eS 4th East & Mill Creek Dr. 259-6999 M7 disease, JUNE/JULY ; ren fies tr. free taeou!in theMOstOustandinge of Augusta ttaval worth Davee otPerformance repedting great Wein: Se must ; of the Zephyr PAGE 17 |