Moab Merchants speak out.......

[DsrtJeeper]

I copied this from a friend's post on the local board:
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http://www.suwa.org/entry.php?entry_id=657



OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNOR HUNTSMAN SIGNED BY MORE THAN 100 UTAH BUSINESSES

Businesses and Conservation Groups*Urge Governor to Protect Utah Wilderness


More than 100 Utah business owners, residents and conservation groups joined together to praise Gov. Jon Huntsman for supporting Utah?s wild landscapes and to question recent actions jeopardizing these special places.* They voiced their concerns in an open letter published in*the Easter Sunday edition of the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News.*

The letter writers ? who include a broad spectrum of residents and businesses from all over Utah, like former Grand County Council member Al McLeod; the Alta Lodge; Moab Chevron; Powder Corporation of Park City; and Petzl America ? say several recent legal steps taken by the State of Utah could undermine protection of key natural areas and cost the state valuable opportunities for economic development.*

Several lawsuits brought by the state seek to turn dirt trails across scenic public lands into highways. The state is also supporting a legal challenge to the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

Dear Governor Huntsman:
We wish to congratulate you as you begin your tenure as Utah?s new governor, and to thank you for your expressions of commitment to Utah?s wild places at the recent Outdoor Retailers Convention.

We represent a broad spectrum of well over 100 business owners, conservation organizations and individuals who understand that preserving Utah?s spectacular landscapes is key to our quality of life. Our natural setting is central to our identity and economy. It is the reason we live here, play here, raise our families here and keep our businesses here.

Which is why we are deeply concerned about recent actions by the State of Utah that threaten this setting and so much of what we value about where we live.

Recently, the State of Utah joined a legal challenge to the creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
The State of Utah is spending millions of dollars on lawsuits to turn phantom ?roads? and jeep tracks into highway rights-of-way. This action could create a destructive and unnecessary spider web of roads through some of our wildest and most sensitive landscapes. This includes Canyonlands National Park, where lawyers for the state have filed a lawsuit claiming that a lush, remote streambed ? essential to native plants and wildlife ? is actually a state ?highway?.
State lawyers have pressured federal land managers working on long-term planning for public lands to minimize protection of Utah?s most magnificent, undeveloped wild places.

Some of the special places at risk are Utah icons: National parks, like Zion and Canyonlands; Factory Butte; Cedar Mesa and its archaeological wonders; the Canyons of the Escalante; the Kaiparowits Plateau and the San Rafael Swell.

We hope you recognize that these actions threaten some of the most magnificent landscapes on earth ? landscapes which also contribute significantly to a vibrant economy in Utah. Taxpayer money should not be spent in efforts that undercut both the beauty and the long-term economic prosperity of our unique state.

We urge you to use the authority of your office to protect these special places. Generations to follow will be grateful for the legacy of vast, unspoiled spaces and their enduring peace, solitude and grandeur.

Signed:

Action Consulting, Inc., Moab
Al McLeod, Grand County Council (former
member), Moab
Alder Photo & Writing, Springdale
Alta Lodge, Alta
Angel Rock Real Estate, Moab
Arrow Construction Company, Inc., Kamas
Avalanche Properties, Park City
Back of Beyond Books, Moab
Black Diamond Equipment, Salt Lake City
Bob Walker Art and Design, Moab
Boulder Mountain Lodge, Boulder
Braun Books, Cedar City
Bruce Hucko Photography, Moab
Buffalo Bistro, Glendale
Business Management Services, Moab
Caineville Mesa Market, Caineville
Canyon Springs Consulting, Moab
Canyon Voyages Adventure Company, Moab
Canyonlands Field Institute, Moab
Canyonlands Film Society, Moab
Center Caf?, Moab
Chris Noble Photography, Salt Lake City
Chums, Inc., Hurricane
Colorado Plateau River Guides, Moab
Colorado River and Trail, Salt Lake City
Cottonwood Condos, Moab
Critter Corner, Kanab
Data Wranglers, Inc., Moab
Desert Digital Imaging, Moab
Earthstudio, Moab
Eddie McStiff?s, Moab
Exquisite Container Gardens, Moab
Fando Guest House, Moab
Far Out Expeditions, Moab
Far Out Expeditions, Bluff
Flanigan?s Inn, Zion National Park,
Springdale
Footprints Inc., Moab
Four Corners School of Outdoor Education,
Monticello
Four-Corners Archaeological Services, Moab
Framed Image, Moab
Fullam Fireworks, Moab
Gaia Design, Moab
Gearheads, Moab
Gilberg Design, Kanab
Glyphics Designer Gourds, Moab
Grand Canyon Trust, Moab
Grand County Law and Justice Center, Moab
Great Basin Chiropractic, Salt Lake City
Green River Boaters, Vernal
Groovacious, Cedar City
Healing Arts on Center, Moab
Heartstone Massage, Moab
High Desert Gardens, Moab
Hike Moab, Moab
Horse Mountain Woodwork and Plaster, Moab
Hound Dog Sound, Moab
Human Resource Development, Moab
Independent Publishing Company, St. George
Infinite Health ? The Bridge, Moab
Inskip Ink, Moab
James Kay Photography, Salt Lake City
Joe Sorensen Construction, Inc., Moab
Joel Nystrom Construction, Moab
Knave of Hearts Bakery, Moab
Lisa Albert, LMT, Moab
Living Rivers, Moab
Lost River Company, Moab
Lucky Dog Communications, Salt Lake City
Main Street Music and Video, Moab
Manzana Springs Farm, Moab
Mean Bean Coffee House, Springdale
Miguel?s Baja Grill, Moab
Moab Chevron, Moab
Moab Folk Festival, Moab
Moab Lodging, Moab
Moab Property Management, Inc., Moab
Moab Storage, Moab
Moab/Canyonlands Central Reservations, Moab
Moabilia, Moab
Mondo Caf?, Moab
OkOkOk Productions, Moab
Outdoor Utah Vacation Guide, Salt Lake City
Paragon Painting, Moab
Passage to Utah, Salt Lake City
Patagonia, Salt Lake City
Peace Tree Juice Caf?, Inc., Moab
Petzl America, Clearfield
Phil Triolo & Associates, Salt Lake City
Plateau Restoration, Inc., Moab
Poison Spider Bicycles, Moab
Powder Corporation, Park City
Raven Canyon Ranch, Kanab
Red Dirt Ranch Enterprises, Kanab
Red Rock Bakery, Moab
Red Rock Forests, Moab
Rim Tours, Moab
Rocking V Caf?, Kanab
Rustic Furniture of Moab, Moab
Sacred Earth Foundation, Ivins
SereneScapes Illustration, Moab
Sierra Club (Utah Chapter), Salt Lake City
Slickrock Adventures, Moab
Slickrock Caf??, Moab
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Salt Lake City
Sunshine Deli, Moab
Tesch Law Offices PC, Park City
Thunderpaws, Kanab
Travis Kelly Graphics, Moab
Treasure Mountain Inn, Park City
Tree of Life, Moab
Under-the-Eaves Bed and Breakfast, Springdale
Utah Guides and Outfitters, Moab
Vortex Outdoors, Salt Lake City
Wasatch Frame Shop, Salt Lake City
Wasatch Touring, Salt Lake City
Whipple Plumbing & Heating, Inc., Moab
Will Cooper Acupuncture, Moab
Willow Canyon Outdoors, Kanab
Words and Photographs by Stephen Trimble, Salt Lake City
Xetava Gardens, Ivins

Paid for by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

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[Robert J. Yates]

That's all bs Eric - there are a whole bunch of businesses on there that claim they never signed that POS.

[DsrtJeeper]

Originally posted by Robert J. Yates
That's all bs Eric - there are a whole bunch of businesses on therw that claim they never signed that POS.

Just because the businesses deny signing it doesn't necessarily mean they are telling the truth. The majority of the list includes contractors, adventure tours, photography and graphics studios along with bicycle shops. What do these businesses have to gain from Jeepers visiting Moab? There was a link posted earlier on another forum exposing the actual letter sent to the governor. Is it real? Who knows...

It's certainly evident that many of the cyclist in Moab are greenies and they often express their disaproval as we pass them on the trails. How would this campaign of false signings benefit the greenies?

I just returned from Moab on Sunday and you should have seen the bumper stickers on Volkswagen vans! Potato Salad Hill was closed on a daily basis due to private land owner complaints as well as Moab citizens even though the Jeepers were bringing big money to their town. Keep in mind that this town thrives on moneys brought in over a period of about two months.

[Stu Olson]

IMO, USWA more than likely used the same techiniques for this campaign just as they and other non-recreationist groups do all so often.......they did not lie.....they simply didn't tell everything needed for the average person to make an informed decision.

A clip from the USWA web page from the above link.

Several lawsuits brought by the state seek to turn dirt trails across scenic public lands into highways. The state is also supporting a legal challenge to the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.


The 1st sentence might very well be true. Perhaps the state is trying to spend $$ and make a dirt trail into a highway......or.....perhaps the state is trying to get that dirt trail classified as a road so that the land it goes through can not be turned into another wilderness area.

As to the 2nd sentence.....just what is the challenge being brought against the monmument? They don't say.....so how the $%^(~! could you make any kind of a decision on that? But perhaps because it follows the 1st sentence which sounds "bad", then the 2nd sentence must be bad also....BAD, BAD, BAD state of Utah.

Any of us that have been involved with land use/access issues in recent years should all be VERY aware of the half truths and disinformation that is the corner stone of the programs these a$$holes push at the unspecting. If you believe otherwise, you are just sticking your head in the sand (which leaves your a$$ sticking up in the air and available for others to use at your expense).

Edit: If the first sentence was worded as....

Several lawsuits brought by the state seek to turn a dirt trail that crosses scrub brush covered public land (that has no economic value) into a highway so residents of _______ don't have to spend 4 hours driving to the closest hospital.

Would the above statement invoke the same motional response from the cluless masses and cause them to rally to the cause? Not likely.

[DsrtJeeper]

WOW! The chit is hitting the fan across the 4x4 boards. Me thinks a certain organization is in big twouble.

What would be funny is if this anti-access hoax backfires and garners more support for the offroaders.