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Show Couple Turns Hobby Into Productive Business When trapper Bill and the Rabbit Lady married a year ago, no one knew that it would lead to a whole new breed of rabbits! The two unusual people with their unique hobbies brought to their marriage a common love of animals and the out-of-doors which has blossomed into an in-teresting and lucrative business. Bill Frandsen, known as Trapper Bill, met Marion, known as the Rabbit Lady, about two years ago. As they began to share their love for animals, they found that love growing into a different love one for each other. That each was "a little bit different" from everyone else contributed to a relationship resulting in marriage and a common goal of a life dedicated to working with animals. Marion, a former stewardess, has lived in New York City and San Diego. After an injury ended her career as a stewardess, she married and settled down in San Diego, later moving to Las Vegas where she first became interested in raising rabbits for a hobby. Then she and her husband bought a ranch outside of Panguitch where her rabbit raising interest could flourish. Subsequently divorced, she moved to Panguitch where she bought a small home, keeping a few of her small animal friends for company. Soon she became known about Panguitch as the lady to see when you wanted to know something about small Although one of the larger breeds is represented here by "Charlie", a French Lop, he retains many of the loving gentle qualities that makes him a favorite of many of the neighborhood children. animals. She assisted the veterinarian on his regular trips into Panguitch and began to make friends throughout the county. Trapper Bill was one of those friends. Bill, born and reared in Panguitch, has been trapping all his life. For the past five years he has been the government trapper in the area. Officially known as the Damage Control Office he works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When local sheep and cattle ranchers call in to complain about predators, it's Trapper Bill who is authorized to trap and kill animals such as coyotes which are protected by law. When Marion and Bill married, they turned the barn into a rabbitry and got down to the serious business of raising rabbits for both fun and profit. Meeting the Drapers from Magna, and seeing their high quality pure-bred rabbits made the Frandsens realize there was more to raising rabbits than they had previously recognized. The Drapers had been raising rabbits for some 20 years although they had worked with pure-breds for only the, past 10. Roger raises the Rex breed and his wife, Roberta, works with French and Mini Lop breeds. Their pedigree stock is well known in the rabbit industry and they are members of numerous local and national clubs. Rabbit raising is a fast-growing hobby and industry in Utah. During the 10 years he has j worked with pedigree stock, ; Roger has shown 20 different breeds of rabbit in preparation for obtaining a judge's license. Presently he is a licensed American Rabbit Breeders Association registrar and will be starting work on obtaining his judge's license next month. Roger had an added coup in that his rabbit won the Grand Champion of the World title in international competition with his Rex breed of rabbit in 1979 in Milan, Italy. The Drapers were more than willing to share their knowledge with the Frandsens who were newcomers to the art of raising pure-breds. When she met Bill, Marion had been raising rabbits for about eight years and at one (Continued on Page 8) "Rabbit Lady" Marion Frandsen, Panguitch, works to get unusually marked "llarley" to show his bobcat like tummy. He is on of the French Lop breed the Frandsens are perfecting at their operation. Garfield Hails Watt's Review of Alton Coal (Continued from Page 1) grants the Secretary Watt request for a review, even with hearings, his new decision should be forthcoming witin seven months. The news release from the Department of Inteiror in Denver stated that a delay would cause no harm to the plans for mining the coal, but Utah International's Project Manager John Ferrell disagreed, stating that any delay was harmful. Ferrell said, however, that his company was "pleased with Secretary Watt's request that the Alton question be remanded for review since the former secretary's decision seemed to be based upon error and improper procedure." He said, "We feel that all of the coalfield can be mined without negative environmental consequences." He noted that the area restricted from mining under the Andrus decision contains an estimated 24-million tons of coal which his company is convinced can be extracted without harming the environment or jeopardizing the view from Yovimpa Point. Utah's Governor Scott Matheson will travel to Yovimpa Point for a first-hand look at the controversial problem. He said he "intends to see that the State has a greater voice in any future decisions since it was not permitted to make proper input into the previous decision." He said that it is "important to balance environmental protection with mining." The majority of people in Garfield and Kane Counties support the mining of coal in the two counties. Both are economically depressed areas with high unemployment rates and the potential opportunity for jobs for local wage-earners is appealing. Both counties could stand to benefit from the revenues from coal minng and related industries. That the majority of people in Garfield County support the development of the county's natural resources was made evident when more than 250 county residents participated vocally in a meetina last year in Panguitch opposing further government control in the area. At a later hearing it was pointed out. that while government jobs in Garfield County had increased by 250 percent, showing the bureaucratic growth, the allowable cut of timber had decreased by more than one-half in the past 20 years. During the same period the cost of cattle grazing permits had increased to a point where cattle raising was no longer profitable and sheepherders could not prosper because the government protected the coyote. Garfield County had suffered a loss of 12-percent of its population in the 30 year period between 1950 and 1980 while other counties in the five-county area averaged a 56 percent gain. The governor's trip to Garfield County and the possibility of a trip to the area by secretary Watt are looked upon generally by area residents as a hopeful sign that things could take a change for the better in this area where earning a living is the major challenge. While locals mostly cheered the Watt decision, environmentalists looked with more than disfavor on the move. They claimed that Watt will simply open everything to coal mining In-discrimately, calling his decision a "cynical gesture." Reference was made to the survey conducted by The Department of the Interior at Bryce Canyon National Park last summer in which 70 percent of park visitors interviewed stated that they felt the park and the view from Yovimpa Point would be damaged by coal development in the Alton coal field adjacent to the park. |