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Show appeals has heard arguments on that and I expect a decision in a few months. Interesting question. In this park, obviously the jeep, 4-wheel drive travel was referred to often in the legislative history and was a part of what the park was about when it was established. That butts up against real damage to resources... somebody has to make some tough decisions about that. Stiles: Here’s an Owen question. ‘What is your opinion of the new exercise rooms in the ‘s Adventure Center Moab's a CANYON P.O. Box 416 iS 211 N. Main St. . Moab, UT 84532 ADVENTURE C2 districts? Can’t your rangers get their exercise by putting on hiking boots and going out into the park and meeting visitors?’ Banta: Actually some of us oldtimers, have a hard time with some of that stuff, but it’s a VOYAGES aozz.cte 435.259.6007 TM requirement of law enforcement that they pass certain physical examination battery every year and that battery is no longer an aerobic thing; it involves muscular skills. We're to provide them with facilities where they can train. It’s a lot different than it used to be. Stiles: How do you feel about the state of law enforcement in the parks now? Banta: In Canyonlands, as far as I can tell, we have a good ranger staff. All the people I’ve met have a real good concept of what a ranger is and that law enforcement is a part of that process, but the major focus of the job is education and information. Law enforcement in the National Park Service is much more formalized A lot of us worry that the people we're attracting for those positions are people that aren’t really interested in the rangering side of things and more the law enforcement side. Some parks, I think, do have a problem. - Kayaking Gear urs-Rentals- To T haven’t really seen it here. Stiles; Do you get much public feedback on law enforcement? Banta: It’s changing. My first experience with the National Park Service was when I was Free Raft Demo Pay in Grad school and I wandered into the boundaries of a national monument collecting insects and a ranger stepped out from behind the bush and asked me for my permit. I couldn’t believe anybody would expect me to have a permit for collecting insects; luckily for me the ranger saw that as an educational opportunity, not a law enforcement opportunity. We still have to make sure that rangers understand that that’s basically what they’re about. ase TS k Demo: Kaya Free Whitewater poly ist The bulk of these parks should be a natural experience. a wilderness experience. I also worry that the time is going to come when the experience is going to be heavily impacted by the infrastructure. email: cnvoyage@lasal.net www.canyonvoyages.com Stiles: Do you ever feel like you can't please anybody? You have on one side the San Juan County Commission planning on claiming some of the park roads as county roads and you The August/September issue of get environmentalists who feel like you‘re not doing enough. How in the world do you find The Zephyr will be on newsstands a balance or do you just assume, no one likes you. Banta: Everybody has their job and it depends on the constituencies on both sides of the issue. The letters and calls I get, some of them are pretty vehement in opposition to what we do. But 90 percent of them are folks who say gosh I was in the park and it was great or really had a good time up there. The rewards are there, and I don’t feel picked on too July 28th much, Stiles: What do you see the park being like in 10 to 20 years? As more and more people want to get out into the parks to escape their urban nightmares, what do you see if these trends continue? Banta: We don‘t know where we are in terms of trends. If you look at Arches’ visitation, there was a big boom and it looks like we’re leveling off a bit. I’m not sure what the future is going to hold in numbers. We do know that the future holds a change in use and user demands. In Arches, we may have to develop a different transportation process, we may have to really work at marketing in the off-season. We have a system in place to pretty much maintain the quality, but at some point or another, if the numbers keep increasing, then we'll have to limit the number of people who can have that experience. That’s why we have a permit systems in place to try to preserve the experience as well as the uses. Stiles: I guess I’m an old-timer now and I can wax nostalgic about how open and unrestricted things were here 20 years ago. It’s difficult to realize things have changed so much. Banta: One of the places I recall is the Island in the Sky; my remembrance was of a gravel road; it took work to get out there and hike and you go out there now and you see 250thousand people a year. There have been some real changes. _ Stiles: For me that has always been the bottom line--you could get out to Grand Viewpoint in a 1963 Volvo, because I used to do it, but you had to work at it. It seems like some of the best ways to limit the overuse is to not make it so accessible and I rarely see that approach. It sure didn’t survive the road building at Canyonlands. Banta: I think if you look at the proposed Canyonlands reports, there were all kinds of roads that aren’t there and as it turns out, it’s not been as developed anywhere near to the extent that was envisioned by the people involved in the establishment of the park. And for the better, I think. I don’t see much more development happening in the parks. I think we look at parks differently now than we did in the early days of parks and hopefully | EUROCOWBOYS! Whoa right HERE for the best Western in authentic Cuisine. they’ll be sustained, 10 years, 20 years down the road. I think we can do a better job with some of the trails that we have. I agree with you; the bulk of these parks should be a natural experience, a wilderness experience. I worry also that the time is going to come when the experience is going to be heavily impacted by the infrastructure. I think we need trails to control impacts where there is a whole lot of use to an area, but I certainly do not see a lot of new. trails being built, just to get people in there. Stiles: Thanks Jerry. 1393 N. Highway 191 435.259.5201 www.moabutah.com/bucks/ Serving Dinner Nightly State Liquor License CONTACT US VIA E MAIL AT: zephyr@lasal.net THE WEB ADDRESS IS: www.canyoncountryzephyr.com |