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Show The Ogden Valley news Page 12 Volume XV Issue IX April 15, 2008 FUNKY TALES cont. on page 1 Ringholz notes that speedy growth has occurred with almost prescriptive regularity throughout the region: a dusty boom town-gone-bust sees potential in tourism. Hotels, motels, and fastfood chain stores start cropping up where farms once sprawled; tourists eager for the authentic Old West visit, then come back to stay, building condos and chic Italian cafes along the way. Soon, the town is unrecognizable to the smart planner who thought a few revised city ordinances and some creative self-promotion was a good idea. Ringholz offers proof positive: Aspen, Colorado; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Sun Valley, Idaho; and Saint George, Utah. “And it’s not just growth from the standpoint of traffic and shopping, it’s a collision of people and cultures,” Ringholz says. That collision, she notes, can be problematic when issues like property rights, environmental destruction, transportation, and wilderness designation come into play. “I subscribe to the view that there has to be a setting where everyone can just sit down and talk about these changes,” Ringholz says. “These environmental groups that are just stamping their feet aren’t getting anybody anywhere. Land trusts, collaborative groups—that’s where everyone can get together and talk it out instead of clogging the courts.” What lessons can be learned from Ringholz? What Funky Tales lay in store for our little town? Are we going to continue with more little town blues? How do we build a sustainable community that embraces its historic values and culture? Is doing so even important? Many communities rely on extractive activities for economic support—activities such as mining, timber, and agriculture, all of which utilize natural resources. Another extractive industry is development on lands that have marketable amenities such as streams, ridgelines, view, or wildlife corridors; or cultural or historical significance. Another viable industry that relies on natural resources, but is non-extractive, is tourism and recreation. Visitors purchase goods and services, injecting income into the local economy. Often these visitors come because of natural resources or amenities—mountains, snow, desert landscapes, water, etc. As import as extractive business and tourism is to Utah’s economy, there are other important facts to consider. As the state continues to market itself as a recreational destination, residents would be wise to consider lessons that have been learned from others who have tread a similar path, as Ringholz points out. The tourism industry can bring benefits to a community such as accessible jobs for minimally skilled workers, and part-time jobs for those who are pursuing other interests and careers such as raising families, running a farm, and working as teachers during winter months. They also provide flexible job positions and hours for high school and university students. The tourism industry also brings dollars into the local community, stimulating the economy as these dollars are circulated, and tax revenue is generated. But the development of tourism and recreational communities can also result in an increase in the number of vacation homes, which tends to increase property values and the cost of living. These rising property values often drive out existing residents. This trend can be seen in recreational communities such as Jackson, Wyoming, and recently here in Ogden Valley. In Jackson, the rising demand for property in the area, coupled with low paying jobs, led average real income per job to decline by 30 percent. A report commissioned by the Jackson Main Street Association read, “The price paid by the average worker to live in paradise was to see the purchasing power of the earned dol- lar almost halved in ten years.” Most of the workforce moved out of Jackson across Teton Pass and into small towns on the Idaho side of the border. Park City has witnessed the same phenomenon. Tourism can also bring in a flood of temporary visitors whose “holiday mood” and disregard for the local community can disrupt and permanently alter the social landscape. In the book “Lost Landscapes and Failed Economies” by Thomas Michael Power, we read, “Communities pursuing tourism are effectively inviting hordes of strangers to share their streets, public facilities, and commercial business. The net result is a major increase in the number of transients residing in the community at any given time, people who may care little about its history, culture, and values . . . . Rather than permanent new residents, it brings temporary visitors into the community, and this can have a corrosive effect that is not characteristic of all economic development. Tourism also puts a lot of wear and tear on natural landscapes. Tourism usually isn’t environmentally benign. “Herds of tourists can degrade the very landscape or culture to which they are drawn. When resort towns take off, surrounding open space tends to get swallowed up by condominium developments, “trophy” homes, golf courses, shopping malls, and trailer parks. All of these come at a cost to the natural and cultural environments. Wildlife habitat is fragmented . . . . The landscape that once drew people to the area gets loved to death.” Mr. Power concludes, “If a community adopts a helpless beggars-can’t-be-choosers attitude, and passively accepts any and all tourist proposals, tourism may well someday consume it. But if the community [or state] cherishes its amenities and has the confidence to protect them, it can lay the foundation for local entrepreneurs to develop compatible, dispersed tourist business that helps vitalize the local economy.” In matters of economic development, are there other factors that state and community leaders should consider other than trying to increase tourism or economic development by unchecked growth? Though many community decision-makers welcome the tax base generated by intense development and tourism, there are other factors to consider. The same assets in the community that bring the tourist dollar to town, also bring retirees that collect in communities that offer natural beauty, peace, and that “down home” or rural atmosphere. Low crime rates are also a consideration. Many who come to Utah to retire, come to escape the fast-pace life found in large cities and urban centers. City and county leaders and investors interested in the revenue brought to a community by tourists, tend to overlook sources of local income that are generated by these retirees. Retirement income circulates within the local community with very little of it being exported. “Such ‘footloose’ income sources can be considerable—as much as 30 to 60 percent of a local area’s personal income may be associated with factors like retirement income, investment earnings (dividends, rent, and interest), and government income-support payments. As retirees continue to live longer, this circulating income compounded over a period, potentially, of many years, can be substantial. Whatever attracts or holds income of this sort becomes a major part of the local economic base. . . . Immigrating retirees do not place disproportionate, expensive demands on local services—they tend not to use schools and do not take up space in prisons . . . . When rural counties float on a cushion of social security, pensions, annuities, and asset income, local economic conditions improve . . . . Several studies have shown that non-employment income flow has at least as large an impact on the local economy as traditional economic- based activity.” So what can state, city, and county leaders do to ensure the sustainability and viability of the state and local communities, to ensure that our rich resources remain attractive to residents, visitors, and retirees? Edward T. McMahon in an article entitled “Preserving the Soul of a Place” writes, “There is an important but often ignored relationship between tourism and the environment. Unfortunately, many tourism officials are more concerned with marketing and promotions than they are with protecting and enhancing the product they are selling. “Tourism involves more than marketing. It also involves making destinations more appealing. This means conserving and enhancing a destination’s natural assets. It is, after all, the unique heritage, culture, wildlife, or natural beauty of a community or region that attracts sightseers [and retirees] in the first place. The more a community does to conserve its unique resources, whether natural or man-made, the more tourists it will attract. On the other hand, the more a community comes to resemble ‘Anyplace, U.S.A.’ the less reason there will be to visit [and sink down roots in those golden years].” This is why state and local planning, zoning, and urban design standards are so important to our state and its local communities. When shopping centers and housing developments come in, do they complement the resource or compromise it? “Too many cars, boats, tour buses, condominiums, or people can overwhelm a community and harm fragile resources . . . . Tourists crave integrity of place wherever they go . . . . “An enlightened community recognizes that the way it looks affects its image and its economic well-being. Protecting scenic views and vistas, planting trees, landscaping parking lots, and controlling signs are all fundamentally important to a city’s economic health . . . . Unless the tourism industry thinks it can continue to sell trips to communities clogged with . . . polluted streams, traffic jams, and cluttered commercial strips, it ought to join in an effort to protect the natural, cultural, and scenic resources on which it relies.” In addition, tourism based on interactions with wildlife is increasing in popularity. For example, Costa Rica generates about $410 million (in US dollars) annually from bird watching alone. And over 240 annual bird watching festivals held in America bring in millions of dollars to local coffers. In addition to bird watching, wildlife tourism also includes activities such as wildlife viewing, photographic and walking tours, hunting, and sport fishing—recreational industries that would be limited by environmental degradation. Utah has a rich tradition of protecting private property rights. While this is fundamentally a good thing, the theory and legal basis of these rights is often skewed to benefit those endeavoring to exploit the system, and often left unchecked due to the general ignorance of both the public and elected officials. Fortunately, there is also a rich legal foundation designed to counterbalance the exploitation of natural resources—the opportunity for public participation and input into the decision- and law-making process. The key to a balanced system lies is education and public awareness—a knowledge of legal rights and pertinent and critical decisions as they come to the table. While broad public participation in the decision-making process can be cumbersome, delaying an outcome, in the end, a better product is delivered. The community can also learn more about The Ogden Valley Land Trust, and participate in its efforts to secure open space in Ogden Valley. A financial donation to The Ogden Valley Land Trust, a legal 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, is tax deductible, and provides funds for acquiring and maintaining conservation easements in Ogden Valley. The land trust can also provide information on the financial benefits of donating a conservation easement on private property that the owner can then retain and continue to use, transfer by deed, or lease, while enjoying substantial tax benefits. The Ogden Valley Land Trust is also looking for community members who would be willing to volunteer in land trust educational and/or fundraising efforts, and/or to serve as board members. For more information about The Ogden Valley Land Trust, contact Shanna Francis at 745-2688. HISTORICAL cont. from page 11 and look over the back of his truck. Then he came running back toward me just as fast as he could. He’d run and made a big jump. He had a mountain lion in his trap and it was alive. It had eaten limbs as big as my arm; just gnawed them into little toothpick sized pieces. I got in front of the mountain lion and got his attention while Rodney slipped behind him and shot him. He had trapped him in a number three Newhouse trap and the cat was caught by three paws. We had a pig that was just a little tiny runt pig. We kept him in a milk carton. He was a pet. We didn’t have him in a pen he’d run all over the farm. We named him Pork Chops so we could always remember what we had him for. We had a feeder for him by a tree out by the house. It was 1983 and a bad winter. The deer would come in and we had two or three hundred head of deer around our house. The deer would come in and want some of that grain, and old Pork Chops would go, “Wuu, wuu, wuu, wuu,” after the deer. He’d chase one deer then four more would come over and eat and he’d go, “Wuu, wuu, wuu, wuu,” after them. We had a real ball with him; he was so much fun. My granddaughter took him to “Show and Tell” with a little halter on him. He’d also chase the cars in the driveway. We had him nine or ten months, and he weighed 475 pounds. Then we ate him, but he was sure fun. As a kid, I had a goat. Every time there was an activity someone would go down to our place and bring up Old Nanny. They would turn her loose in the gym at the school. Of course, they’d make me take Nanny back home. Jack Stoker had a goat. A big, old, stinking, mean Billy goat. My oldest boy was about 2½ and we had a baby. I was down in the field irrigating and Helen came down with our two boys. That old goat got out and saw her. That old goat reared up and came after her with the kids. She was going across the field just about as fast as she could go with those two kids. I grabbed a cedar post and was going to kill that goat. I hit it as hard as I could over the top of the head and all I did was break the post. I didn’t hurt that goat at all. I finally got Helen and the boys to safety. Then I tied that goat to the fence and left it there for three days. I then told Jack to come get his goat. In 1977, we didn’t have any snow all winter long, and in the middle of February of 1978, my boy Rodney and I had four-wheel drive trucks. We had driven back into the mountains of South Fork to get some loads of wood. Rodney had been trapping that area in what is called Brown’s Hole. He was about two blocks ahead of me going down an old road when all of a sudden, I see him stop, get out of his truck, and take his binoculars !! Es siT 5 y l ON iN! A m E r The only thing between you and Snowbasin is nature. 7 Luxury Home Sites Overlooking Snowbasin Resort from $999,000 www.basinviewestates.com P H : 8 0 1 - 7 4 5 - 8 4 0 0 | F A X : 8 0 1 . 7 4 5 . 3 6 5 0 | P. O . B O X 9 8 5 E D E N , U T A H 8 4 3 1 0 | w w w . m O U N T A i N l U X U r y . c O m |