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Show THE ZEPHYR/DEC-JAN 2008 eA iS The Readers Respond... - THE SKY IS FALLING Jim, ‘ In about ten years of traveling back and forth from Telluride to Moab and the last eight years of traveling from Santa Fe to Moab, forth and back, we've never noticed the high level of truck traffic as we did yesterday. (Saturday) Coming back into Moab after 6 SUPERB DAYS of camping on the rim of the Green River canyon--never moved our Jeep once--we saw a possible outcome of this apparent increase in heavy duty traffic. We were southbound about 200 yards from the north end of the Colorado River bridge when an area above the East side of the road the huge boulders/rocks (Wingate sandstone) gave away. I drove off, WAY OFF, for my side of the shoulder, as rocks tumbled down ON and in front of, anorthbound automobile. The (woman) keep control of her car and steered it ahead and eventually off the road on to her shoulder. (Great job of heads-up motoring! ) My wife Dianne went over to her assistance while I started clearing the highway of rocks and auto parts. Some other old duffer, like me, stopped, got out on the road and started trying to slow traffic down. The traffic oe having any part of slowing down or stopping or even trying NOT TO RUN OVER (Incredible sy oik MN) In any event, the woman was so shook up (later . . NOT during the event) that Dianne had to dial 911 for her. Her car was totalled. We fueled up and continued driving back to Santa Fe. While driving and reflecting upon the incident I surmised that the Colorado River bridge (Highway 191) is subjected to constant flexing because of constant and unrelenting tonnage going over it (in both quantity and frequency ) that it MAY not have been designed for. Metal fatigue is exacerbated by the constant ee of the media, 2 of the bridge design, per se. e Moab town council might want to instigate a bridge inspection. On the other hand, collapse of the bridge might pune the town of Moab anid its residents some well-deserved, albeit temporary peace. Gary Eschman Santa Fe, NM sense of nature that formed traditional native Americans of the plains: “When I was a youth, the country was very beautiful. Along the rivers were belts of timberland, where grew cottonwood, maple, elm, ash, hickory and walnut trees, and many other shrubs. And under these grew many good herbs’ and beautiful flowering plants. In both the woodland and the prairies I could see the trails of many kinds of animals and could hear the cheerful songs of many beautiful living creatures which Wakananda [the divine] had placed here; and these were, after their manner, walking, flying, leaping, running, playing all about. But now the face of all the land is changed and sad. The living creatures are gone. I see the land desolate and I suffer an unspeakable sadness. Sometimes I wake in the night and I feel as though I should suffocate from the pressure of this awful feeling of loneliness. Anonymous ANOTHER VIEW ON THE FUTURE AND OIL Dear Jim We have a life style that we grew up in and have embraced in our various ways. Motels are expensive, and many of us children of the ‘60s have a higher required comfort level than they once had (my self included). I happen to work for ConocoPhillips Alaska currently and have had a variety of points of view presented to me. An interesting view was a talk that Jim Mulva, the President of the ConcoPhillips main company presented to the US Chamber of commerce. Essentially he said that the energy density of petroleum products, the the vast infastructure we have built up is not going to be replaced over night, and that there were plenty of hydrocarbons left to develop if they were allowed to do so. These big companies also want to own the next technology I imagine and will most likely have a large piece of defining them. Personally I am offended by the whole holier than thou thing of driving the high dollar hybrid car while the 5,000 (+) sq ft house with the big glass exothermic front is heating up the surrounding country. In Alaska, heating the surrounding area happens to a larger extent of course. Yuppy professionals in general seem to like highly engineered exotico to supplement their lives, just as long as the material does not come from anywhere around them and the manufacturing is done in Japan , or Sweden, or somewhere other than around them. The most irritating thing about all of this “global warming hoorah” is the refusal to acknowledge the fact that the world has been warming up for a long time. If that was not the case there would still be glaciers in the southwest desert. I don’t doubt the dramatic increase in population has contributed to it, but it only contributed to it it did not cause it. The real problem here is over population. It really does not matter what we do as individuals in a consumptive society to anybody or thing except to ourselves. There are ° GRAVEL PIT AT WESTWATER... Just wondering if you are aware of the permit application for a 1500 acre gravel pit — adjacent to the Westwater put-in. I’ve not been there(that I can remember) but from what I’ve been told it’s within spitting distance, literally.Seems like a big project. This is what I’ve heard. The owners are from Aspen. The projected earnings for the first phase is 26 million dollars. The BLM has tried unsuccessfully to purchase the land, unaware of and before the application, for uses I’m not aware of. Until last week the Rangers at the put-in were unaware of the plan. I heard they were shocked and appalled when the were informed. The pit is certified, meaning they can sell to UDOT and the like. That's all I know. All came from the best of sources, technically still hearsay though. . Always enjoyed reading your paper. plenty of new people to buy that stuff we choose not to buy. People lament how China is getting while driving to Walmart to go “sport shopping”. The price of fuel affects every facet of our lives, and it seems that peuple would be mobile than to eat a higher grade of meat, or that fancy wine that they used sume. That mobility we have enjoyed is envied and copied by all of the emeriging mies.To a large degree environmental opinion is like religion. You can live your ee rather to coneconovalues (or not), but it is difficult and rude to enforce them on others that do not believe the way you do, and desire the lifestyle you enjoy. Robert White Anchorage, Alaska ou COMMENT ON BNW Well received the book in the mail and it was a two night read, it was everything I feel Thanks, and more, but if one thing resounds the most is that none of us can look back. At 60 years Sam Stallings Key West, Fl WISE WORDS Jim, An old Omaha Indian, reflecting on how things had been in his youth, expresses the old I have about 55 years of fond memories (the first 5 don’’t count, I was just shitting my pants) I grew up in a Leave It To Beaver type family but the fond memories I have of camping in the Sierra Nevada’’s no one can take away. I’m a fellow outdoors man who loves the desert (high & low) and all of the lands in between, yes people in general bug the shit out of me but I have come to accept that they’‘re all different from me. I’m not a tree hugger, I don’’t hate loggers, hunters, fishermen, bird watchers, and the rest of the endless list, I just want my own space, and it’s getting harder to find. I’m not a religious HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT YEAR!! FRESH SMOOTHIES/JUICES WRAP SANDWICHES ORGANIC ESPRESSO MOAB: 20 S MAIN ST Ce) \ua( an Revel rT aaes -PLUMBING & HEATING Servng Moab & Monticello since 1980 PLUMBING HEATING YARD IRRIGATION SYSTEMS Gs gie) Maat z SoH MOAB: 259.6997 MONTICELLO: 587.2864 |
