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Far worse than what three idiots can do.

There has been a couple of diaries about the idiots who thought it would be a great idea to rearrange nature and topple a hoodoo at Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. No doubt those fools deserve all the scorn that can be heaped upon them, but something far worse is waiting for the red rock heaven that is south central Utah and maybe we all can do something about it.

There is so much more to this part of Utah than just Goblin. It's part of an rare ecosystem and a vanishing wilderness that is both brutal and beautiful. It's the San Rafael Swell and its also a site that is ripe for exploitation by the energy and mineral industries. We need to protect it.

Please be careful as we climb the dkos hoodoo to see what is on the other side.

The BLM has decided to put 82 parcels of land in the Swell up for auction on November 19th. The parcels add up to 144,000 acres of land, some of it is in areas that have qualified for wilderness consideration.

This article in the Salt Lake Tribune tells the tale, but it doesn't capture what will be lost or the sadness that even the idea of this causes those of us who have been there. This area has been so close to National Monument status in the past and it just never seems to make it all the way.

The first proposal for the protection of National Park status came in 1935 and in 1936 it was noted that the Swell had over 2 million acres of roadless desert land. A lot of that roadless land was spoiled during the uranium mining boom, but happily those days are past. Each decade has brought renewed effort only to see the plans die. As the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance notes,

Between 1967 and 1973, a stream of BLM planning documents identified well over 250,000 acres of lands qualifying for primitive or natural area designation, and a 1972 study by Utah State University recommended primitive area designation for 307,000 acres (Dalton and Royer, 1972).
We came tantalizingly close again in the 1990s when Clinton was president. A land use proposal was put forth by locals working with environmentalists, but disagreements ended the coalition and in the end it didn't happen. Even Mike Leavitt proposed wilderness designation when he was in the George W. Bush administration, but he was ignored.

Let's try to save what we have left before we are just memories like these guys

Image may be NSFW.
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Contact the BLM Field Office in Price and let them know what you think. The official public comment time has passed, but it really does matter if we raise a stink.

BLM Price Field Office

125 South 600 West Price, UT 84501 435-636-3600

Email the BLM itself here.

Contact the Department of the Interior. The BLM is under their purview and they need to hear from us as well.

Website: Department of the Interior (DOI) Contact via the Web: Contact the Department of the Interior (DOI) E-mail: feedback@ios.doi.gov Address: 1849 C St NW Washington, DC 20240 Phone Number: (202) 208-3100

And lastly contact President Obama and ask him to give this area of unique natural beauty the protection it deserves. Make it a Monument, make it a Park. Just save it.

The President's email is here The President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington DC 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111

It's worth everything!

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Clik here to view.

Photo by Hank Bessembinder on Photobucket.


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