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Show j I We Can Do It In recent weeks, a lot has been said about the supposed values of creating more wilderness land here in the state of Utah. Those in favor of this creation, namely Salt Lake i City Congressman Wayne Owens and his environmentalist support-: support-: ers, seem to believe that those of !: us living down here in southern i Utah do not know how to take care of our own resources. They would i also have you believe that such a I thing as wilderness designation will mean an improvement in our econ-! econ-! omy, along with the creation of ; tourism and recreational opportuni ties as never before seen. Well, as one who lives and earns his living in the area, let me just say, "Don't you believe it!" The number one argument Owens uses in calling for more wilderness is that it will improve Utah's economy, and he says it will j provide more jobs for southern Utahns. However, I just can't see it. The jobs you create through recreation are mainly low paying, service-oriented ones. It seems to me that doing more to encourage wise use of the renewable resources we have in this part of the state, such as public lands grazing, agriculture, agri-culture, timber and some mining, would do more to stimulate local growth and pay higher wages to boot! Secondly, he says tourism and recreational opportunities will be upgraded. I maintain just the oppo-: oppo-: site will occur. I run cattle ! throughout southern Utah, and due to the type of terrain we have, I can attest that locking up these areas will totally exclude most of the people who might have tried to use ! them. That's because many of the tourists who drive through these lands are older people in cars or RV's, and there just isn't any way a lot of these folks are going to see the beauties of southern Utah unless un-less they can drive there, and I mean right up to or within several hundred yards of these sites. While protecting the ecology of an area is an admirable cause, I don't think wilderness is needed for this to happen. By leaving these areas open to public access through multiple use concepts, the lands can more easily be monitored, managed and repaired if damage is done. From what I understand of wilderness designation, you don't fight fires, you don't control inset pests (such as the pine beetle) and you don't control flooding. Sounds like a pretty dumb way to preserve something to me. I heard Dr. Thad Box, Dean of the College of Natural Resources at Utah State University, say at a public lands seminar earlier this year that western public lands are in the best shape they've been in since records started being kept in the 1930s. That speaks pretty well of the wisdom of multiple-use. But more importantly, we in southern Utah make our living from the careful and continual use of these public lands. Therefore it's important for each and every resident resi-dent of this area to do his level best to preserve these resources, not just for future generations of tourists and rccrcationalists, but future generations of farmers and ranchers, loggers and miners, as well. The very fact there are areas here considered worth designating wilderness is ample evidence to me that we've been doing a pretty good job of doing just that. Dennis Iverson Washing! ' . |
