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I have felt that both sides are so blinded by their individual agendas that they can't see the forest for the trees. Like you say, we need a dialog about this. I feel vindicated in that someone else out there has the same take on this mess that I do, and I'm in a unique position of authority in this regard. I'm originally from Santa Cruz, on Californias' central coast. When I was 11, I was uprooted and moved to Vernal, Utah, my mom’s hometown. I was there for the next 10 years and lived the small Utah town experience first hand, watching "oil patch" Vernal boom in the late 70's, and then bust in the mid-80's. I also was one of the few heathen "lamanites" in the Uintah school district at the time, from which perspective I gained much insight into rural "Old West" thinking. During that time I camped, hunted and fished with descendents of the pioneers, and with what some would call "oil field trash." I worked on Vern Batty’s ranch during the summers in Junior High. I listened to stories my grandmother told, who was one of the first nurses in Vernal. She would tell me of how she grew up in a tent in Ft. Duchesne near the reservation when the Utes were still living a much more Stone Age existence. Her father, Charlie Neal, was one of the Uintah Basin's first electricians, and as a "heathen," he wired the Vernal LDS tabernacle (now temple) around 1910. He was also one of the early wildcatters that helped discover and exploit the Rangely oil field and Bonanza Gilsonite mines. I also heard stories of my grandfather, one of Vernal’s first doctors, who would ride a horse "up on the mountain" through storms to fix some woodcutters leg only to(maybe) get paid with chickens, potatoes or bootleg whiskey. In high school, my friends and I would explore and name the various otherworldly geologic places around Vernal. We would hike and camp in remote and unknown places of untold beauty. Split Mountain, Dry Fork, Steinaker Rocks, Red Mountain, The Battle Ships, Brush Creek and Sand Wash were our personal landscapes, as there was rarely anyone else (on foot anyway) exploring those areas. In the early 80s, before the advent of "portable hydration systems," we would pack simple lunches with a canteen and head out to conquer the sandstone and sagebrush. During and after High School I was friends with many oil field workers, who as you say "are hard-working middle-class Old Westerners, trying to keep food on the table." No truer words could be said. My uncle Bob has been a Mud Logger since the 70s, working in the Gulf, Wyoming and The Basin. After my friends and I left Vernal, we still went back there and to other wild places of Utah to hike and camp, and we were saddened by the rural attitude of dominance and exploitation of the natural world. This was their inherent way of life, and we knew it well, both because of religious and practical reasons. Yet at the same time there were those locals with a deep reverence for the land, including some "old school" characters we knew from The Basin. We just couldn't understand the piles of Coors cans, dirty diapers and Pork and Bean cans piled up at the San Rafael campground or out in the Book Cliffs. We also saw the obvious and blatant OHV-caused destruction at many of the places we camped at, and we knew that this kind of behavior was in the minority in the OHV/4WD community. After leaving Vernal twenty years ago and having experienced the fast paced lifestyles of the Wasatch Front and Bay Area, I now have a much broader perspective on open space, WSAs, OHVs, hunting, mountain bike festivals and the "amenities economy". My perspective and opinions on these subjects are not as black and white or as easily definable as the Old vs. New Westerners. It's hard if not impossible for both the Old and New Wester's to understand, because as you pointed out, both sides are hypocrites (so am I to a certain degree, but at least I know I am). The hard part for many Old Westers to understand is that they take for granted the natural beauty and quiet they live near. Urban New Westers know all too well that it's worth the 3-4 hour drive to escape into those places, and many have a more deserved appreciation of it. What's interesting is that they both agree on one thing, which is they want to develop the crap out of whatever is left as fast as possible. Your discussion with the real estate people drives this point home. Some of that recently happened in Vernal, as a good old boy out there who owned several acres of prime land not far from downtown that he used to graze his cows on decided to sell it a while back. Now there's talk of a big contractor from Salt Lake coming in (and not using any local contractors.) to build hundreds of homes, primarily aimed at the exploding oil field worker population. The guy made a killing of course (can we blame him), and another field of alfalfa is gone... When I go back to Vernal I'm just amazed at what it has turned into and how busy, noisy and congested it is. With its Super WalMart and overabundance of fast food franchises, you would think you're on the Wasatch Front. That's right, I'm talking about little ole' Vernal, Utah. Yea, I know Moab is the same, (I was there for Memorial day weekend) but for different reasons. But, I have to admit I still love driving down into Ashley valley with Split Mountains' yawning chasm off to the right and Dry Fork to the left. Ahhh... I believe M.A.H.B.U. idea is a good start to possibly reconciling the differences between the two camps. Can we come together, maybe, in what some call the "Radical Center"? Ranching AND Ecological Stewardship, Responsible Extraction Industries AND Respect for Native Species? Extremes on either side are only going to get us in more trouble. What is desperately needed is for everyone to come clean on their respective hypocrisies, to help clear this "fog of war", so to speak, that is obscuring the common sense we all need so bad right now. Sincerely, Ron Weales The MAHBU story can be accessed at www.canyoncountryzephyr.com. Look for it at the top of the homepage. "The Greening of Wilderne$$ in Utah" is also online. Click the ‘archives’ icon on the right side of the home page; then click on the June/July 2005 issue...JS | |||||
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