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Show and yelled and said subsequently banned vehicular traffic in the wash. Everyone screamed it was an outrage and for years thereafter, even when I was a seasonal ranger at Arches, we'd catch the occasional violator who claimed he was being denied the right to plow big ruts in the mud and sand the way his father had in years gone by. But today, do more than a handful of you think it is inappropriate that jeeps are banned in Courthouse Wash? As for the long walk to Angel Arch, I agree, it's a hell of a hike. Anybody who would stumble down that creek for ten miles to see a hole through a rock will be too exhausted to appreciate it once they get there. Better to stay home and watch it on video. THE KANE CREEK REST AREA ON HWY 191: WILL IT EVER OPEN? As you're driving south on Hwy 191, just north of Hole "n" the Rock, the Utah Department of Transportation has always maintained a rest area. Herb Ringer stayed the night at this lovely little oasis in the late 1940s. Until the late 1970s, it was a fairly primitive spot with limited facilities but with plenty of shade and beautiful scenery. Twenty yean ago, UDOT upgraded die rest area, put in stainless steel toilets and fixtures and paved the parking lot. Seemed a bit overdone to me but then I've never been too fond of RIVER CORRIDOR: FOR SALE TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER The first time I came to Moab, I made the final 50 miles via state highway 128 the river road. From Cisco, the road was still dirt all the way to the Castle Valley turnoff. I stopped a couple of miles upstream from Dewey Bridge in the late afternoon of a hot August day and camped under a fine stand of cottonwoods. The river whispered its summer song, the ravens croaked and cawed, the leaves rustled in the breeze. One pickup truck rumbled by during the evening. A rancher I guess. I can still feel that moment It was "improvements". perfect That was a long time ago. The road was paved years ago, a new bridge replaced the old one-lan- e suspension bridge in 1986, vehicular traffic has increased dramatically, camping along the river has exploded, creating real health problems, and many of the ranchers have sold out and moved on. It's going to change a lot more. Robbie Levin, owner of Sorrel River Ranch has submitted a final proposal to build 19 fburplex units along the Colorado River, with a maximum size of 2400 square feet each. This is in addition to the seven lots for single family dwellings, the Sorrel River Ranchos, that are on bluffs across the road. Upstream at Dewey Bridge, Rio Colorado Estates is now offering 20 lots for sale along the river as well. The largest lot, a five acre parcel with "great views," is going for $500,000. In addition, the developer received the go ahead to build a campa rk convenience store on the south side of Hwy. 128 near the bridge. And according to Mary Hofine of the county building inspector's office, the State of Utah is considering a plan to sell off more of its land near Dewey Bridge to the highest bidder. "This ain't the same old range." The Kane Springs Rest Area on US 191 all dressed up and nowhere to go. Last autumn, the rest area was closed again. For a low bid to UDOT of $888,000 (your tax dollars at work), the contractor tore down just about every existing structure and built new facilities. UDOT construction notices in last year's Salt Lake Tribune said the rest area would in late November, but November came and went and it remained closed. This spring, a new lawn was installed, the parking lot was repaved and striped. By the end of April, the project appeared to be finished. In fact, it tras. Two months later, the Kane Creek Rest Area is like the atheist at his own funeral: All dressed up and nowhere to go. So I called the project engineer's office here in Moab and spoke to Russ Tangren, who confirmed that the construction phase was done months ago. But there was a problem with permits and he gave me the number of the regional UDOT re-op- en office in Richfield. I finally spoke to a gentleman named Tim who wanted to be helpful but couldn't give me many details. "We're all pretty frustrated with this," he explained. Tim told me to call Robert Dowell, UDOT's environmental & hydrological engineer and I finally learned the whole bureaucratically-drive-n story. When UDOT started construction of new facilities for the rest area, the plan included a new well But in September 1997, the agency learned that because the new well was more than 150 foet from the old well, it had to apply for water rights and it had to submit a "well head source protection plan" to the Division of Environmental Quality. Part of that plan requires a land use agreement with adjacent land owners, which in this case is the BLM and the owners of Hole "n" the Rock. At this stage, ten months after they first learned of the need for such an agreement, and two months after the rest area was ready to open, Dowell thinks UDOT is still weeks away (as of press time) of finally getting the new rest area open to the public In the meantime, the $888)00 oasis looks like a Herb Ringer photograph empty. Rio Colorado subdivision at Dewey Bridge. IN MOAB? off Hats to Franklin Seal and the for a series of stories on Moab's crisis. to Seal's mcthamphetaminc article, nine cases of Hepatitis B have been According Moab in since April 23, and it is widely believed that the deadly illness is being reported via needles used to inject methamphetamines into users' veins. The infection rate spread for the southeastern district is eight times higher than the state average. The crystal-met- h culture in this community has a long history and has almost become a standing joke, because its use continues to spread while local law enforcement has refused to acknowledge its dangerous presence. As recently as February 1998, at a Moab City CRYSTAL-MET- H Times-lndepende- NO JEEPS IN SALT CREEK It has been a point of contention between environmentalists and recreationists for decades. Should four wheel drive vehicles be allowed to travel in Salt Creek in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park? After all, without a jeep, it's a long hot walk in soft sand and an occasional patch of quicksand as well to get a glimpse of one of the park's most outstanding natural features, Angel Arch. Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball sided with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and ordered the 4WD track closed to all vehicular traffic. Two years ago, the National Park Service had, in an attempt to placate everyone (with its usual zero degree of success), set up a permitting system that limited the number of vehicles. That plan is now dead. Rainer Huck, president of the Utah Trail Machine Association says his group may appeal the judge's decision. ORVers everywhere are outraged. Deja vu. In 1969, President Lyndon Johnson expanded the boundaries of what was then Arches National Monument; including most of the Courthouse Wash drainage. The Park Service V - efs m tiiuib If nt workshop for department heads, the methamphetamlne problem was raised by City Councilman Richard Cook. Police Chief Alan West replied that there wasn't a problem. His comments drew a sharp negative reaction from other city employees. Now it appears that the Moab P.D. has finally taken off its blinders. In Seal's story, Det Sgt Scott Mallon of the Grand-Sa- n Juan County Drug Task Force said 60 of 1997 drug arrests were for methamphetamines. While Mallon and others believe teenagers are the predominant users, Chief West maintains that mote adults than young people are responsible, claiming that "people in their 60s are shooting speed." For people in their 60s who are still vein-dee- p in methamphetamines... welL.those poor are doomed. But we can still do something for 16 year old kids in high school if people we'll just acknowledge that the problem exists. And that they need help. FOUR |
