OCR Text |
Show Escalante River would be pointless unless the potential road could continue on, through the Orange Cliffs, northeast to Moab. Under the Park Service recommendation, recom-mendation, construction would be impossible through the Orange Cliffs area. It would also be very desirable to maintain a corridor between Capitol Reef National Park and the Glen Canyon Wilderness for future access to Halls Creek. Moving the Capitol Reef boundary further north and extending the Glen Canyon boundary northward would leave a corridor between the two. With the clarifications outlined above, I believe that a satisfactory Glen Canyon Wilderness proposal can be achieved, one that would be consistent with the intent of the original National Recreation Area Act and with the needs of the State of Utah and the Nation. The National Park Service has made a preliminary proposal for the creation of a wilderness within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Southern Utah. The proposal also includes a management plan for the Recreation Area. I have been participating in a task force established specifically to evaluate this plan and make recommendations recom-mendations to the Governor. The comment period on the proposal will continue through the end of this year, but I would like to express my present feelings about the recommendations. In general, I support the recommendations that there be some wilderness within Glen Canyon. Though much negotiating is still ahead of us, virtually all parties agree on keeping the Escalante area undeveloped. un-developed. I am hopeful that the task force will recommend recom-mend wilderness status for the Escalante Canyon. There may be some added difficulties with State game management programs, but it is clear that this needs specific attention. The greatest controversy is over the possible construction con-struction of a road from Glen Canyon City to Bullfrog Basin. The option to build such a road should not be foreclosed as it is by the wilderness proposal formulated for-mulated by the National Park Service. In view of the congested situation at Wah-weap, Wah-weap, it is clear that at some point additional development develop-ment will be needed on the north side of Lake Powell. At that time, a road or corridor may be necessary. For this reason, the southern tip of the Kaiparowits Plateau, where possible construction would be considered, should be excluded from any wilderness. The Orange Cliffs area should be left out of wilderness status as well. A corridor across the |