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Show DECEMBER 1995 EDITORIAL SOUNDING BOARD Utah Should Adopt New Mantra: ‘Lifestyle, Lifestyle, Lifestyle’ for Gov. Leavitt. Among other things, Democrats say it will provide cover for the governor to increase the gasoline tax price. without Christopher plans Growth Smart like a After than more unprecedented Front and a decade of along the growth the Wasatch Back, Gov. Mike Leavitt is poised to hold a “Growth Summit.” One can only praise the governor for addressing important issues like transportation, open space anc water. At the same time, we have to are of Summit, the putting so together own their for it won’t Republicans have the east, mini-Los jams, has been Angeles. We air pollution, a general turned have urban depletion into a traffic sprawl and of the lifestyle we knew and loved only 10 years ago. In the face of this we have no real plans to improve transportation and air quality or save open space. To decade begin now, it would to improve take significantly And congested I-15 corridor simply aren’t enough east-west let alone simple of the past ten. and inexpensive solutions to our problems been tried. For example, we The Salt Lake Valley, as well as points north and south, and now points years, haven't haven’t tried an express freeway lane for buses and carpools during rush hour. That simple solution could help cut traffic congestion and air pollution quickly and almost painlessly. Our leaders have shown similar insights and initiative on saving open space and water. Meanwhile, they've been breaking new ground on things a the like the abortion debate, penalties for child abuse, liquor laws, and tax breaks there thor- for big industry. It’s no wonder Utahns don’t have oughfares in the south end of Salt Lake Valley, where much of our pop- a high opinion of their Legislature. Utah’s mantra should not be ulation ‘srowth, explosion is occurring. The Salt Lake County Council of Governments has identified $2 billion in needed roadway improvements. Growth, growth and more growth has been the mantra government and business of state leaders. For 130 years after the first Mormon pioneers arrived, Utah existed in a state of relative economic depression. Leaders here would do anything for economic growth. But when growth came in growth, transportation, open space protection and water resources development. It's time to get big business off the taxpayers backs. Joanna Charnes Advertising Sales in infrastructure. wake up to transportation find an system, disappearing agricultural open space, and water resources that will soon be tapped out. Democrats, who blame the large Republican majority in the state house for the mess, say the Growth Summit will serve as a political gala @ CREDITS the investments we should and begin making them pay their share of needed improvements in Christopher Smart Now It be ‘lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle.’ To that end, its time to do away with huge tax breaks for big business 1980s, state and civic leaders took a laissez-faire attitude. We reaped the economic benefits but were unwilling to make the necessary plans and inadequate, growth.’ Print Works, Park City, Utah Editor Leslie Miller Layout and Design Contributors Rick Brough. Randy Hanskat, John Helton, Alexis Kelner, Steve Lewis, Darrell Mensel Pamela Mills Poulson, Virginia Rainey, Jeff Rice, K.C. Trams, Abi Wright, Jack Wright The Wasatch Mountain Times is published Twenty-five thousand copies are dis region, including the Wasatch Front, our canyons and the Park City area The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher Growth in the Times. at transportation improveDespite obvious needs, Even essay, “Unbridled a High Price” November the It's starting to sound like politics as usual. And it was politics as usual in 1992 that scuttled the last good three to Leslie appear Democrats want to score points their own at the Growth Summit. chance ments. Miller's Exacts in response all absolutely nothing has happened to improve transportation in the last ask, what took so long? And: Will the Growth Summit be more than politics as usual? take something from me every time another meadow is bulldozed, political good ideas. On the way to becoming an endangered species in Utah, Wasatch of Place editor, Just a note Democrats some paying Sense Dear monthly Wasatch Mountain Your reference to “sense of place” hits the nail dead center for me. I find that my mood and frame of mind is highly affected by my surroundings. When I come home after being gone for just a few days and see high impact changes to the landscape and the “village-scape” that have occurred in so little time, I feel alienated. This, I have come to feel, is not my home. I used to be puzzled at why I became angry at those changes and the boosters who push them. Then, I figured it out; they another creek fenced, another ‘for sale’ sign goes up. I became angry because | thought of this place as my home, yet I cannot protect it from these avaricious consumers. It is hard to resign to the loss of that “sense of place.” In fact, I will never resign; I will always hate it and thereby let it fester within me, But I can never accept with indifference the exploitation of this place. I was greatly disheartened and even surprised by the votes in St. George and Midway to reject growth limit proposals. I wonder when those residents will have had enough of their loss of place? Larry Wertsch, Park City Bear Complexity is Dear editor, In your November feature on bears, I was misquoted and wanted to clarify my point. Author Steve Lewis summarized our conversation with the sentence: “But scientific knowledge need not be gained by violently trapping or sedating bears.” I don’t see it as violent and I am unaware of any other method in which scientists can procure the biological knowledge of a_ bear population, such as age, health, and so on. Bears need to be managed, and in that there is great room for discussion, but procuring information from bears is standardized. I also feel the need to clarify the photograph of Dr. Lynn Rogers feeding a black bear. Dr. Rogers is a notable bear biologist. He has intimately studied black bears over the past 25 years. One of his achievements has been to habituate black bears to his presence to enable closer observations of bear behayior. He does this through controlled feeding. The Vince Shute Bear northern Minnesota, where this photograph Sanctuary was taken, PAGE 2 in a unique situation. It causes heartburn for some of our pat theories on bears, but it doesn’t prove anything outside of that environment either. Bears need food and the easier it is to obtain food, the more they like sity Thats why “the “sear Sanctuary doesn’t have any problem bears — they are well fed and don’t need to scavenge food from human trash. AS Boyd Blackwell of Utah’s DWR said: “A fed bear is a dead bear,” which means that if you let a bear get food it will be back, likely to cause you some trouble. Ultimately, it will resu® in the death of the bear. And it’s your fault. Bummer. I think Steve Lewis deserves credit for his work on a well-balanced article. The piece shows in a quick fashion the diversity of our opinions. It is easy to see why our society has difficulty managing bears and other wildlife. It was also refreshing to see the complexity of the issue revealed, a complexity which lies behind every environmental issue. Drew Ross, Salt Lake City |