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Show All-American Road Status For Hwy 12: Questions Answered By Toni Thayer How Did This Idea Start? The Federal Register notice of May 18, 1995, states that the early history of the national scenic sce-nic byways program can be traced to a study in 1966 and, more recently, to 1991 studies for an interim program founded by the Transportation Appropriations Appro-priations Act of J 990. From the studies, a national advisory committee drafted the aspects of the program along with the criteria cri-teria to receive national scenic designation. From the world viewpoint, the scenic byways program blends two United Nations' treaties, the Global Biological Diversity Assessment and Agenda 21. These work plans for the world's "nation-states" spell out strategies and management manage-ment tools to simultaneously achieve biodiversity conservation conserva-tion and sustainable economic development. As resources are protected and related economies are shut down and eliminated, the U.N. provides directives on rural development in "protected areas" to rebuild the local economies 'while also preserving preserv-ing the area's resources. A newly discovered list of the U.N.'s world protected areas in Utah contains numerous local sites, including: Henry Mountains, Escalante Canyons, Devil's Garden, Phipps-Death Hollow, North Escalante Canyons, Gulch, Anasazi and Escalante Petrified Forest State Parks, Kodachrome Basin, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, and Box-Death Hollow Wilderness. Because these natural wonders won-ders are on the world's protected list, they must be managed according to the U.N.'s man dates, Tourism in Protected Areas, Environmental Codes of Conduct for Tourism, and Ecotourism. These include a transportation directive to local governments and the tourism sector to design strategies and projects that reduce mobility of tourists, increase required services serv-ices and provide incentives for (See HIGHWAY 12 on page 4) Highway 12 Questions Answered From Front Page - i walking and cycling. i Who's Behind It? ', Scenic Byway 12, Journey Through Time, Draft Corridor Management Plan (CMP) lists the players and the dates. They are: 1988 U.S. Forest Service designates highway as scenic in their program. ! 7990 State of Utah gives designation as a State Scenic Byway. ? 2000 Utah Dept. of Transportation (UDOT) incorporates incor-porates designation into "corridor" "corri-dor" planning. 2001 January Dixie National Forest holds a workshop work-shop for other Federal agencies and local officials for the national nation-al designation. February Steering committee com-mittee is formed of local officials, offi-cials, businesses and residents. Decision is made to develop a CMP and to carry the idea forward for-ward to the public. May Five County Association of Governments is hired to produce the CMP and prepare the All-American Road status application. June Color Country Rural Conservation and Development Council becomes the financial manager and non-profit agency for the steering committee. July First round of town meetings are held in 5 byway communities. October-November Second round of town meetings are held in same 5 byway communities. com-munities. November CMP is finalized final-ized and application is submitted submit-ted to the Federal Highway Administration. Please Note: Last week's article revealed that Escalante City approved this scenic byway plan on Jan. 15, 2002, after the public comment deadline. However, the project could not continue through Escalante without their approval, because the Federal Register and the U.N. directives explicitly state that all participation is entirely voluntary. In a telephone interview on Mar. 20, Garfield County Commissioner Clare Ramsay noted, "The County Commissioners Commiss-ioners supported it because we thought it would be a vehicle to bring more tourists. It was our particular desire to bring it to the eastern part of the county and to help that area. We felt like it'd be good for business." Who Really Benefits From It? The following amounts are actual grants awarded and funded fund-ed by the National Scenic Byways Program for the years 1992 through 2002, subtotaled by the eight grant categories, taken from their webpage at www.byways.orggrantsarchive index. html: Access to recreational sites: $14,400.00 0 Corridor Management Plans: $5,892,224.00 56 Facilities for tourists: $873,000.00 8 Information for tourists: $2,578,215.00 24 Marketing for entire byway: $798,993.00 8 Programs for states: $371,600.00 4 Protection of resources: $35,000.00 0 Safety Improvement $0 0 Total for Years 1992-2002: $10,563,432.00 100 The figures demonstrate that over one-half of the grants have been given to develop a region's planning document, the CMP. These CMPs must then be approved by the states and Federal agencies. The standardized standard-ized goals and objectives of the CMPs meet the U.N's directives for sustainable tourism and eco-tourism eco-tourism development. How Will Federal Restric-tions Limit The Use Of Our Personal And Business Private Properties Located Within The Highway's Area Of Influence And Surrounding Viewshed? Many who backed the scenic designation believe no local control has been lost. Ramsay said, "The bottom line is that UDOT still controls the highway high-way and has the right-of-way. The Federal government has no say or control over it. The benefit ben-efit is the money disbursements from the Federal Highway Administration." He went on to say that due to local concerns, the commissioners commission-ers added a phrase to the CMP, retaining the right to de-designate the All-American Road status sta-tus if they discover it is not a benefit to Garfield County. However, the 1995 Federal Register Notice says only the Secretary of Transportation may de-designate National Scenic Byways or All-American Roads and all policies and procedures contained within the Notice must be followed by Federal and State agencies. Looking back at President Bill Clinton's original Proclamation designating the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, it did not, in itself, change any uses. The subsequent Federal restrictions and elimination of uses have come through the management plans that have followed the designation. The Highway 12 CMP was the document submitted and approved with local plans and "Proposed Actions". It is these plan goals that will result in future restrictions and town and county obligations, such as pro- Highway 12 Questions From Front Page tection of resources and nighttime night-time skies, development of design review and sensitive planning and zoning, providing recreational facilities, preservation preserva-tion and protection of visual quality, consolidation of business busi-ness signage into one single unit, aesthetic road barriers (See HIGHWAY 12 on page 6A) rather than concrete, design and color standards for signs, rest areas, facilities, exhibits and kiosks. The Federal Register discusses discuss-es enforcement three separate times, particularly for the more stringent designation, Ail-American Ail-American Road, and gives the states the responsibility of enforcing the CMP and protecting protect-ing the highway's intrinsic qualities. qual-ities. Does The Requirement Of Ensuring A Safe Tourist Experience Mean Lower Speed Limits? Available documentation for existing scenic byways did not give speed limits for the roads. All national scenic byways must be maintained "with particularly high standards, not only for travelers' safety and comfort, but also for preserving the highest high-est levels of visual integrity and attractiveness." The Highway 12 CMP identifies safety problems prob-lems for the locals and the tourists, but gives the responsibility responsi-bility for maintenance and safety safe-ty to UDOT to be addressed in a separate Corridor Study. Does It Mean No Semi-Trucks During The Day? The national program requires the CMP "to accommo date commerce while maintain.-ing maintain.-ing a safe and efficient level of highway service, including convenient con-venient user facilities." The Highway 12 CMP encourages and coordinates with UDOT to consider "bicycle and pedestrian concerns" in all future highway construction projects and to get "more pull-outs, pull-outs, passing lanes, visitor centers, cen-ters, restroom facilities, and emergency services." Under Design Standards, the CMP declares that all design improvements improve-ments should serve the public, commerce, resource extractive industry, land management and safety. The Federal government manages 95 percent of the lands in Garfield County. It makes sense that they want control of the highway passing through those lands and another avenue of Federal funding to provide services and facilities for the tourists they're bringing into the area. The actual funded projects indicate the real reason for the program, more Federal planning, plan-ning, management and identification identifi-cation of the region's assets and resources which, in turn, keeps the United States in compliance with U.N. directives from the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Conference on Biodiversity. |