As a counter to the monument designation, and in fact as a long standing response to what local and state governments consider federal overreach, there are some in Utah state and local governments like San Juan County who have advocated…
MOAB, (4,042 alt., 883 pop.), seat of Grand County, is the commercial center of an extensive sheep and cattle country, and since 1930 has achieved importance as a point of departure for scenic attractions in southeastern Utah. Though isolated it…
Among many Moabites who instinctively label themselves “progressive environmentalists,” the collective vision for a better future in Southeast Utah is frequently and inextricably linked to one word— it’s almost a rallying point: ‘Sustainability.’ I see the word enthusiastically bandied about…
Over the last 30 years, many sections of US 191 between Crescent Jct and the Utah/Arizona state line have undergone upgrades and reconstructions. A four mile section of highway between Monticello and Blanding, however, remained much the way it was…
NOTE: I first wrote this in the mid-1990s, when I thought there was a chance our little town of Moab might avoid–or at least try to avoid—the kind of fate that it has eventually been consumed by. It was also…
I know the drive back home intimately. Coming from any direction, the Black Hills are a forested island, rising out of the dust-sea of plains. The hills are old and carry all the legends of old age. Harney Peak, where…
Four months ago, the Grand County Council presented a proposal to build an “energy transportation corridor” via Sego Canyon, through the Book Cliffs, to possible oil development sites in the northern tip of Grand County. The plan included the creation…
By the mid-1990s, Moab and Grand County citizens—especially voters—were worn out. So was I. Beginning in 1987, with Moab’s economy in tatters and its elected officials proposing a toxic waste incinerator at Cisco to boost property taxes, it was one…
What Might Have Been? In 1990, Moab was in the process of being “re-discovered” yet again. The University of Utah announced plans to build a massive Kokopelli National Theater on the Sand Flats adjacent to the Slick Rock Bike Trail. …