OCR Text |
Show INATURAL WONDERS , IN UTAH AVAILABLE Most Spleadid Sights In America Should Practically Prac-tically Maintain State Great Source of Revenue is Neglected. The wealth of Utah's natural resources should be made an In- ; Btirance of a proper development and preservation of the state's ; scenic beauties which afford the possibilities of a wonderland, is ; the conviction of E. C. LaRue, engineer in the water resources ! branch of the United States Ecological survey. LaRue Is just back from spending several weeks in California, i says Sunday's Salt Lake Tribune. He was Impressed with tho ! progress that is being made there In developing the means of dis- 1 playing the attractive features of the state. In things of natural ' grandeur, says LaRue, Utah is one of the moat favored spots in : the United States. The wealth of California contributes to. tho building of fine roads, designed to give access to the points of scenic worth. Utah has not the imputation, but it has the untie- veloped wealth, LaRue points out, and he further holds thnt it is the duty of those who have the shaping of the state's destiny to ; make provision for securing some of that wealth to the end of n proper development of Utah's aesthetic treasure. Speaking or the question LnRuo said: "What Is being done in California, because of tho wealth of her millions of people, could be insured to Utah by fixing once and for all the state's right to n reasonable share in nccrucmcnts from natural resources as they arc developed. In other words, ns these natural resources nrtTdc-vclopcd, nrtTdc-vclopcd, the state should grow rich so .that the burden of taxes would be practically eliminated. This wealth could then be direct' cd in part to the building of roatls that would not only afford arteries ar-teries of traffic for industry, but that would constitute means of access to the state's spots of surpassing natural grandeur. Kor instance, in California a road has been built along the ridge of a mountain range, and the route is called the "Rim of the World." To be sure, it is impressive, but It would be secondary to such a feature in the Wasatch range. State Ik Full of Wonders At Present Inaccessible. "Then, when one stops to think how inaccessible tho wonders of the Green, Grand and Colorado rivers arc to the average Utah citizen, It seems pitiful. Yet it would be imsslble to bring them within easy reach. For instance, someone will some day see the practicability of a tourist route to Utah's natural bridges nnd thu Grand Cnnyon of the Colorado through the Colorado river basin, with itn unsurpassed grandeur of natural awesomu scenery. One could, for instance If tho conveniences of transportation wero provided travel by boat from Green River down the Green river to its junction with the Rio Grande. From there to Illte, a distance dis-tance of about forty miles farther down the river, the journey must be made by automobile or stage. At IHte tho traveler could again take to the river and ride Its swift current down to Leo's Furry. At one point in San Junn county a tour of digression could be made by singe or automobile to the natural bridges, if a road were built forty miles in length. Of course, means of getting Into and out of the canyon woultl have to be provided at the points of npproach and departure of the river. Tour Is Considered Quite Practicable. "From Lee's Ferry the journey to the Grand Cnnyon could be made by automobile on cither side of the river. Except for the side journey to the natural bridges, the practicability of this trip has been established by a surveying party of the reclamation service. ser-vice. The trip proved enjoyable under the adverse conditions that now obtain. Think what a littlu development of the route would mean for the man who loves to travel in the places of nature's vast handiwork. Not anywhere in the world 4s there a journey that affords a more sublime and awesome panorama of stupendous scenery. "There are other routes that could be developed by the building of good roads that would afford scenery of surpassing quality, though somewhat different in nature from that of the Colorado river basin." Genius Needed to Devise Money Raising Plan. LaRue did not suggest just how the advantages of insuring tho accessibility of Utah's wonder spots to the coming generations was to be made a development concomitant with the development of the state s wealth resources. He has just said that the natural wealth was of such abundance nnd latent possibility thnt such insurance in-surance of proper display of the attractions of the land could be accomplished without burdening cither the state or individuals, if tho proper measures wer taken. This, he said, would require genius in statesmanship, without the exercise of which the Btntu may never realize Its scenic wealth and the commonwealth may never come to profit by the natural actual wealth by having the ' burden of taxes lifted to an extent thnt would Insure enjoyment of ! the land in which the people of thnt commonwealth live and strive. i |