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Show - PAGE 4 THE ZEPHYR AUGUST 1994 As for the generation of revenues, does the county really think they can make a profit will do its best to dodge the fees; in the summer, there collecting fees? The Springtime crowd there in this wretched heat to justify the cost of hiring fee may not be enough campers up collectors. But it would be difficult to hire someone for two months in the Spring, a month in the in between. Fall with a four month lay-othe rules and regulations? As a about what And compliance and the authority to enforce on a daily former park rangerfee collector myself, the possibility of threatened to law have enforcement be collectors required training basis is, in fact, a certainty. Will the fee call office the sheriffs to or BLM have the will or of they kinds those with to deal problems, fees? the every time a camper complains about ff non-complian- ce As sad as it makes me, the best way to protect what' s left of our desert is to say goodbye (for now) to those areas most frequently used and abused and learn to appreciate die herding nature of many human beings. All we can hope to do is stabilize the damage. I think the BLM and Grand County accomplished that much this year. But to do anything that might encourage more in areas of the county that are still intact, would be a tragic, if well-intention- mistake. the Sand Flats...Too little. Too late. Saving BLM Last far a month the Grand County Council voted its support proposed special Flats Road. area the the The plan would allow Sand recreation county to collect fees for along various recreational uses of the land, including jeeping, biking, and camping, and could be augmented by this Fall. While the Sand Flats Road itself would remain open to all traffic, the dan calls for a kiosk to be set up and staffed near the Slickrock Trailhead; it would require recreational users to use in a desert register for campsites and receive educational information an minimum-impa- As for Grand County's efforts to find new revenues to deal with tourist impacts, die Council's efforts to direct Transient Room Tax revenues toward impacts and away from promotion still seems like the most viable alternative. ct environment With special federal grant money it recently received, the county intends to hire three fee collectors for the program. According to Council chairman Paul Menard, "The local benefit will be for the county, in concert with the federal government getting a handle on the growing use up there. The side benefit will be, it will employ some people. And in this agreement the money will stay here." But is this the most effective way to deal with the problem? The proposed recreation area is This Spring's control efforts by the BLM. Another way to generate revenue. Save money. been find of Grand County has ways trying to generating new revenues and has not had much luck at it The Council's plan to impose a 2 sales tax was discovered to be unconstitutional, it failed to change the funding formulas for TRT monies at die legislative level, and it has struggled to keep property taxes from taking any more dramatic leaps comparable to 1993. Sometimes the way to generate revenue is to spend less money. The Council may find itself examining a requirement found in the Utah State Code that could force departments within county government to stay within their budgets. 17-36-- 21 Packing 'em in on the Sand Flats. April 1994. an attempt to deal with two problems, 1) How to reduce the environmental degradation occurring in the Sand Flats area, particularly from mountain bikers, and 2) How to find monies to pay for the impacts caused by recreational users.. In die first case, what exactly are we trying to save? The Sand Flats have been hammered so badly for the last five years, we must now consider reclamation of die area in terms of generations, not years. Further, I don't think it would be an exaggeration at all to suggest that most of the environmental damage to die area comes in late March and April. That is when the Sand Flats are descended upon by thousands of high school and college students who come to party, not to commune with nature. And, by nature;, students are generally broke. What money they do have will be dedicated to die purchase of more beer and gas money for die ride home (Hey, I was a student once; my memory isn't completely shot yet). So the last thing any Spring Breaker will want to part with is three bucks for the same campsite they used for free in What will they do? They may look far another free campsite. There's a lot of BLM land out there just waiting to be ripped to pieces by die same crowd that doomed die Sand Flats. Is I dispersing that kind of destructive force such a good idea? Regrettably, believe in National Sacrifice Areas and the Sand Flats certainly have won that dubious distinction. in die Code says: "Noofpceroremployeeof a county shall make any expenditure or encumbrance in excess of the total appropriation for any department. Any obligation that is contracted by any such officer or employee in excess of the total departmental appropriation is the personal obligation of the officer or employee and is unenforceable against the county." What a concept Department heads have to live within their budgets or they pay the diffoence out of their own pockets That's a pretty sobering idea and enough to make anyone keep a dose watch on die bottom line. There are, of course, always extenuating circumstances so cases, but die Council should give this law a hard look in the Fall as die budget process moves forward. More on the Tram Last month, die Zephyr received word via City Coundlwoman Jeanne Lambla that backers of the Portal Tram had applied for a grant from die Department of Economic Development in Salt Lake. We provided an address for that office and its supervisor, Mr. Johnny Wilkinson. This month, Mr. Wilkinson contacted the to advise that his office has no intention of Zephyr providing a grant to the corporation that wants to develop the Portal area. Wilkinson says that |