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Show Although wilderness and other public-lands issues sometimes seem to overwhelm the political scene here, just like in Utah, there are some other issues on our plate. Growth and development arguments continue to dominate county commission meetings, with a controversial ski area expansion proposed in Telluride and housing prices on the rise almost everywhere you look. We've even got our very own celebrities buying ranches and ranchettes here. Ralph Lauren has a little spread on the Dallas Divide between Ridgway and Telluride, and it’s said he has the nicest fence on the whole West Slope. That's fine, but I just want to know if his cowboys wear chinos. Joe Cocker lives in Crawford, pop. 250, and two years ago he and his wife Pam opened the Mad Dog Cafe in the middle of town, complete with a reserved parking spot for Pam's motorcycle. It’s caused some grousing about the "Cockerization" of Crawford, and Pam must have heard about it-—in the April Fool’s edition of the local paper last year, she advertised plans for the Mad Dog skyscrapers ("my little gift to Crawford.") Funny—I hope. A few of our towns are large enough to attract the interest of chain stores, and WalMart in particular is stomping its way into Western Colorado. The town of Silverton has to home is worth the price. Shopping locally is a bit more of a challenge these days, though, thanks to other sorts of development issues. In my town, signs reading "Coal Miner Proud” and "Hug a Miner, Not a Tree" have appeared in storefronts (the latter sign in the window of our only liquor store, making me think hard about the evils of monopolies). It’s not exactly the goodversus-evil controversy you might expect, though. We don’t have Andalex waiting in the wings, wanting to slice a chunk out of the Kaiparowits Plateau. In fact, there’s not much mining going on in western Colorado---like southern Utah, we're making the switch to a recreation-based economy, like it or not. But what we do have in the North Fork Valley are three active underground coal mines within a few miles of town, both of which represent a relatively small but significant part of the county’s economy. For the most part, they’re accepted by non-miners, and they may even be one reason why this place isn’t a chi-chi resort town like ... oh, well, never mind that (I know, we also don’t have enough snow or good rapids or bike trails). I heat my house with coal; it’s cheap, and its about as local a product as you can find around here, if you don’t count the cherries and pears. Delta County has also shown a disturbing interest in hog farms and prisons, and the mines may be one way to keep that enthusiasm in check. But a recent push to expand the mines here has a lot of people worried the plans don’t sound quite so innocuous--and our normally harmonious town has started bickering more bitterly than Moab, the window decorations being just the beginning. The federal agencies have developed layer upon layer of collaborative groups and meetings to keep everyone talking to each other, a good idea as long as we don’t get so confused and/or sick of meetings that we give up altogether. And it can be frustrating. When I sit down at the table with one of our town councilmen and ask how long the coal reserves will last --a question that could have easily come from a miner---he fixes me with a glare, takes in the type of shoes and the brand of jeans I’m wearing, and says, "You should have thought about the mines before you moved here!" I think about all the conflicted feelings I have about the mines, and I know I can’t explain them. I want to put my head on the table. Ralph Lauren has a little spread on the Dallas Divide between Ridgway and Telluride, and it’s said he has the nicest fences on the West Slope. And that's fine, but I just want to know if his cowboys wear chinos. The “old” Wal-Mart was A high school student I know, the daughter of a miner, says "Why don’t we just say, look, if we didn’t have coal mines, we’d be in the dark, and if we didn’t have environmentalists, we'd be living in a dump? I’m just sick of it!" I’m pretty sick of it, too. I have to remind myself that at least we don’t have a tram up the side of the mesa. So, are you ready to take us in? I know, we've got Scott McInnis and all those WalMarts and some coal mines hanging around, but we’re not all that different from you, what with Chris Cannon and the Main Street Taco Bell and the Pene brothers. Maybe we could team up: you could send SUWA to give Mclnnis a talking-to about some REALLY big wilderness numbers, or we could invite Moabites to the Montrose Wal-Marts so you could see what might lie ahead. It might be ... how did Walt Dabney put it? .. the true completion of Canyonlands. Or just the start of a beautiful relationship. See you in Utarado. successfully opposed a proposed Wal-Mart in its valley, but a new breed of supercenters have shown up in Cortez, Durango, and, most recently, Montrose. There already was a Wal-Mart in Montrose, and you'd think 80,000 square feet would have been enough. But in spite of outcry from the Western Colorado Congress and a local group, Citizens for Responsible Growth, Wal-Mart plowed ahead, and the 200,000-square-foot store opened last year. Now, the old store and its gigantic parking lot sit empty, while the supercenter does a booming business nearby. I admit, these stores are incredibly convenient. I’ve shopped at them. We're a long way from nowhere here, and it’s tempting to just take a trip to Grand Junction and cruise the clean, efficient, well-stocked mall stores for goodies that cost twice as much locally. So if nothing else, the Wal-Mart carcass in Montrose is a good reminder that shopping close Michelle Nijhuis broke down and went to Denver recently, but she won't let it happen again. She lives in Paonia, Colorado and is the West Slope correspondent for the Canyon Country Zephyr. SUBSCRIBE TO THE ZEPHYR Details on Page 3 Chris Muhr's ALL METALS WELDING & FABRICATION CO. SIDE-DU-SIDE ON COLORADO AVENUE 1707 I-70 Business Loop Grand Junction, CO 81501 COLORADO JAVA 970.243.6310 FX: a £02 COLORADO AVENUE 970.200.74 4¢ m CAT COUGHRAN, OWNER HAUTING IM FING COLECE, CspREss0 bai & GOURMET TEAS. 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