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Show Burr Trail Ruling A Major Victory For Rural Utah (EDITOR'S NOTE - The following editorial appeared in the December 2 issue of The Richfield Reaper and is being published to show the support of other counties of the area for Garfield County's efforts in improving the Burr Trail). Monday's ruling by Judge Aldon J. Anderson allowing Garfield County to proceed with improvements of the Burr Trail is certainly a victory for the rights of local governments to do that which is in their best interests. Not only was the ruling a victory for the county, but a blow to environmentalism groups who constantly seek to block any form of progress in Utah's, and other states', wilderness areas. The Burr Trail, located in a wild and primitive area of Garfield County, has existed for decades in its unimproved form. Just because it is little more than a trail in many parts hasn't stopped people from using it. Now, after a lengthy and costly court battle, Garfield County officials can proceed with what they started earlier this year to make improvements on the road so that those who do use it will have the advantages of a safer road. At this point, there are no definite plans to hard surface the road, although that could come in the future. All Garfield County has planned to do, at this point, is to widen, grade and make other basic improvements to part of the road. But even if the road is eventually paved, which we hope it will be, it is hard to visualize how it is going to damage the environment. The philosophy of locking up lands to the general public to force a few people to go in by backpack or horseback is ridiculous. Yet that is one of the issues which involves the Burr Trail. It is the same old story of those who live elsewhere, many in dirty smokey cities where they can make their h fortunes at the expense of a polluted environment, to want ' to make sure those who live in areas such as southern Utah, are denied access to the very lands which they need to make their living and to travel from one place to another. But under Judge Anderson's ruling, the county is now free from an injunction which prohibited work to get underway on the project. We hope that work will begin as soon as possible so that the area may benefit from the county's program. It is a sad state when a few selfish people most of them with little or no interest in Garfield County other than to fight for a cause has the power to force a simple road improvement issue to court. Now that the ruling has been made, we hope that the work will proceed and Garfield County's efforts against the environmental bloc will set a precedence for other areas to fight the selfish efforts of a few. In southern Utah, where wide-open spaces are many and roads in them are few, good, well-kept roads are necessary. While the Burr Trail will not become a freeway, now or in the future, the fact that at least a portion of it will receive much needed work is a step in the direction to help those who depend on it, and for those who wish to see some of nature's greatest beauties. We congratulate Garfield County officials who didn't give up when faced with the powerful opposition of : environmentalists. We hope now that their efforts will become realities as work gets underway. |