Dear HCN,
The issues of tourism and
formal designation of special status for the San Rafael Swell have
once again surfaced. As I remember, the last time the people of
Emery County had this much debate about development issues was in
the early 1970s. At that time there was a very tiny minority who
spoke in favor of mining tourists, mining coal and keeping our
water for agriculture and diverse growth. This faction lost the
debate. We mined the coal, but shunned the tourists, and sold the
majority of our water to one entity – Utah Power & Light. Now
UP&L is long gone, replaced by Pacific Corp. and whatever
multinational conglomerate that has bought (or is buying, or will
buy) them.
How ironic that some of the same naive
voices who promised such a bright future in the early 1970s now
lament our loss of heritage and our dim economic prospects. Now we
speak of protecting “local interests” from “outsiders” and of
working with “good politicians” with the “right kind of values.” We
speak of preserving “our heritage and access to the land” –
whatever the hell that means (I guess our 10- or 15-year-old
history of driving four-wheelers anywhere we damn well
please).
Anyway, all I know is that when the
decision is made in some faraway corporate board room or political
chamber to sell San Rafael River water to the lower Colorado River
Basin states, you can kiss our lately lamented heritage
good-by.
Because our heritage and our future will
be going down the toilets of countless Southern California homes!
And if recent political maneuvering is any indication, the water
transfer will have the blessing of two lauded institutions that are
held up by some of my neighbors as the purveyors and protectors of
the “right kind of values” – the Farm Bureau and the
governor.
Oh well, Emery County can be proud of
the fact that it beat out Carbon by one place for the county with
the lowest population growth during the 1990s. This achievement
makes me hearken to a favorite saying of past and present political
wags: “We didn’t do it for our own sake; we did it for the
children.” Give me a break – I’ve got a little farming to do, and a
few tourists that need milking.
Gary
George
Ferron, Utah
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Emery County’s late-lamented heritage.
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