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Show PAGE 2 THE ZEPHYRSEPTEMBER 1993 Page Two Jim Stiles The recommendations called for a "substantial increase in total annual operational budget," to increase die number of field personnel, for the acquisition of appropriate aerial maps and field surveys to identify "ever y( theoretically) aquatic mosquito source." It encouraged the Director and representatives to "regularly participate in the functions of the Utah Mosquito Abatement Association." And it also said this... "An intensive public relations program should be developed, through which the current local public to one of informed support perception of mosquito control is rapidly shifted from 'fogging' as a cure-al- l, for an integrated program of source reduction via physical means and public education, and a regimen oflarvicidal control." comprehensive, systematic, season-lon- g To say I was steamed after reading this document would be a gross understatement, and I know that there are a lot of you out there who feel much more passionately about this issue than I da Some of you spent years trying to reason with the M.M.A.D. board, to no avail. Meanwhile, unknown, as far as I can tell, to most of the community, the Director had received die very same criticism from a group of professionals who could hardly be called radical I doubt that anyone who is the mosquito control director in Uintah County is or lover . Yet the letter was never released to the public that I can apt to be an determine, and was instead filed away, to be forgotten. This summer, one of the new board members came across the document, quite by accident. Since then, it has been placed in the public library for public review. (For all you media bashers who always claim we edit these reports for our own misguided agendas, I encourage you to stop by the library to take a look.) orgo-hippie- s. eco-skeet- er Last week I was on the verge of falling asleep when a familiar sound crept into the dreams that were just beginning to take shape in my weary head. No, it wasn't Claudia Schiffer whispering sweet nothings in my ear; it was die Moab Mosquito Abatement District's (M.M.A.D.) fogger truck. Equine encephalitus showed up recently in a batch of chickens that the District maintains, a disease carried by mosquitos, and for once, complaints about Malathion spraying were minimal. But the whining of the Malathion fogger over the years has become as much apart of the sounds of the night in this town as the call of an owl or the clicking of bats. Many, however, would not care to make the comparison. Fogging Moab's residents with Malathion has been a hotly contested issue in town far years. It reached a fevered pitch in 1991 when a group erf citizens on Powerhouse Lane tried to block the sprayer from fogging their neighborhood. Jolene Welch, the operator of the fogger, eventually prevailed, and some of the Powerhouse Protesters were sprayed as well. The neighborhood sent letters erf protest to the EPA and the appropriate state health authorities in Salt Lake. Weeks later, a letter to M.MA.D. from the state ordered them to stop spraying the residents of Powerhouse Lane. They didn't have to breathe Malathion if they didn't want to. But there was more action taken than that...and it took two years to find out. On July 29th and 30th, 1991, a team from the Utah Mosquito Abatement Association came to Moab to study the mosquito problem. They included Dr. Sammie Dickson (Director, S.L.C. Mosquito Abatement District), Mr. Lewis Marrot (Director, Utah County Mosquito Abatement District), and the leader of the group. Dr. Steven Romney (Director, Uintah County Abatement District). The team set light traps and performed field surveys to determine the nature and extent of existing larval habitat within the boundaries of the district. The group then prepared a set of recommendations to the M.MA.D. board. In a cover letter, addressed to "Jolene and the Trustees," Dr. Romney wrote, "it is absolutely imperative that the recommendations, as enclosed, be implemented immediately, so as to insure an operationally effective as well as publicly supported mosquitovector control program. We are confident that upon the implementation erf those guidelines, the current concern and highly vocal dissent on the part of some Moab citizens will be virtually eliminated as a local public issue. Current adversaries may very well become future proponents of your district" That letter and file recommendations that followed, were apparently filed away and forgotten, well as any effort to secure a "publicly supported..xontrol program." Why? Why was this very as genuine, scientific, and unbiased report ignored and, in fact, buried? Why was file public never even made aware of its existence? Here's why. Here is what the team recommended... So what does all this mean? Well, it means that information citizens were entitled to see, was withheld, and that a program which was possibly endangering the health erf the community was allowed to continue. There is some evidence that after the letter was received, in late August 1991, the frequency of the fogging was slowed down some...from every 5 days, to every 10. But that is not what the report recommended. The recent discovery of Western Equine Encephalitis in a chicken has led to increased spraying, which is in accordance with prescribed procedures in such circumstances. And yet, while the district has increased its larviddal work in the last year, the limited nature of that approach in the past has still been more effective than adulticidal methods. In fad, an examination of trap collections by Dr. Romney's team in 1991 indicated a "very low and entirely tolerable population of adult mosquitos within the proximity of those sites sampled. The Moab District's limited larviddal work probably contributed substantially to those highly favorable conditions observed." On August 10, M.MAD. implemented new policy guidelines for the control of adult mosquitos, adopting and establishing into practice in its entirety, the UMAA "Guidelines for Ultra-LoVolume Application and Handling of Pesticides for Adult Mosquito Control." Basically, the plan depends on light trap counts and landing bite counts by personnel to determine the need for fogging. (The new policy is also on display at the library.) And there was an excellent article in last week's that went a tong way toward explaining the District's mosquito problems this year and how they hope to deal with them in the future. But what I like best is that the District is taking die time to tell us what they are doing. Had Dr. Romney's report been available to the public two years ago, it could have provided the fodder for a healthy debate between proponents and opponents of Malathion. Instead, they just got sprayed with it w Times-Independe- nt Do you ever get that tost feeling? Do you wonder just where you are and where you're going? Do you tong for a sense of place? Something solid you can grab onto? road trip that readied its zenith Well, I was feeling that way last week after a in St George. I had to be towed there on a flat bed truck after my almost new Japanese yuppie-scucar died cm me in Kanab. A small connector in the ignition had worked its way apart, and shut me down completely. For once, I encountered an honest dealership, however (St George FordMitsubishL.Jack Medau, service manager.. nice guy, didn't charge me an arm and a leg), and I was on my way the next afternoon. Back here in Moab again, I still seemed to feel lost after my meandering Thank God my old Lynn Fenstermaker stopped by and saved the day. No.. it's not what you think. Like all my Lynn is now engaged to a really nice But she the in nick arrived of time. Fenstermaker is a "remote guy. sensing my disorientation, sensing scientist" for the Biological Sciences Center of the Desert Research Institute in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's also my firm conviction that she operates the Laser Lungs Light Show at the Tropicana, featuring a bevy of bouncing breasts by Ms.Bubbles Belle Aurora, but Lynn denies this. I told Lynn about my "condition," and she said she could help. Going to the back of her 4 Runner, Fenstermaker pulled out a small footlocker and opened it in my front driveway. I asked her what die was doing. "I'm going to help you find yourself, Stiles, she explained, "and when I'm done, you'll always know where you are." She called it a "GPS," which stands for "Global Positioning System." For all you GPS buffs, it was the Trimble Pathfinder model. Lynn set up the GPS and pushed a bunch of buttons that beeped and which I found entertaining. Apparently, unbeknownst to me (and probably to you too), there are a multitude erf satellites circling the planet and sending down radio signals... they're all over the place. An LED'display cm her GPS indicated that we were picking up signals from at least seven erf these infernal devices. "Golly," I said, 1 feel so...violated." Lynn has a tendency to ignore my stupid comments, especially when she's doing science stuff. "OK, she said, "We're getting good signals from at least four erf them. Let's take a reading." The small screen started to light up with numbers and with it, a sense erf calm settled over my displaced soul. It was coming. I finally knew where I was after all... "Latitude 38 degrees, 34 minutes, 5.22 seconds North...Longitude 109 degrees, 32 minutes, 27.11 seconds West." "Amazing," I said. "These numbers will bounce around a bit," Lynn explained. "I'll when I get bade to the Institute and give you the final numbers from Vegas." "Bless you, Lynn," I said softly with eyes. semi-disastro- us "It is absolutely imperative that the Moab Mosquito Abatement District immediately and radically shift its mosquito control emphasis from adulticidal to larvacidal in both theory and practice. Physical source reduction techniques should also be employed where feasible. An effective, publicly supported mosquitofoector control program can be achieved by no other means. ..Ultimately, the District should employ mosquitovector adulticidal techniques only as a last and emergency measure, and only after carefully placed surveillance light traps confirm the real need for the same." cost-efficie- "All the news that causes fits." THE CANYON COUNTRY ZEPHYR P.O. BOX 327 MOAB, UTAH 84532 (801) 259-77publisher & editor Jim Stiles 73 political specialist & features Ken Davey contributing writers Jack Campbell Jane S. Jones Cherie Gilmore T. Scott Grocne Mary Yates historical photos Herb Ringer food editor Willie Flocko Roving Reporter Robert Fulghum production & circulation assistant Arden Trewartha photographs & art are by the publisher unless noted otherwise. The Zephyr, copyright 1993, all rights reserved The Canyon Country Zephyr is a monthly newspaper, published eleven times a year at Moab, Utah. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of its vendors, advertisers, or even at times of its publisher' . m tear-fill- ed A couple days later, Lynn called me from Las Vegas. She had the final latlong numbers and began to read them to me over the phone. But after reading the latitude, she said something nHrf She added, "plus or minus 2.16 seconds." TVhat do you mean, 'plus or minus'?" I asked. "Oh. forgot to tell you; the military throws a variable into file computer so you can't get an J |