Many Utahns have fought for years to preserve open public lands for all and against the lockup of millions of acres for the elite purpose of "solitary, non-motorized recreation" under the heading "wilderness." At the same time, the mayor of Springdale, a tiny community at the gate of Zion National Park, has campaigned for millions of acres of wilderness.
Now the Fish and Wildlife Service proposes to introduce California condors into southern Utah with 39 percent of the state being classified as "population area" for the bird. Given the immense power of federal bureaucrats under the Endangered Species Act, only the most naive or the most uninformed would consider this to be a matter of little consequence. Enter again the mayor of Springdale. "It's amazing to me that anyone could oppose the release of these glorious birds," he says. (It's the bureaucrats, not the birds, that are objectionable.)When Zion National Park was closed due to the federal budget impasse, it was, for that time, much like a federal wilderness or a protected habitat for an endangered species. How did Springdale react? Springdale merchants stormed the barricades in an act of '60s style civil disobedience, demanding that the park be opened again to motorized access.
No wilderness for them. And these are the people who look down their well-heeled, blue noses at the lowly timber man, rancher, miner, elected official or motorized recreationalist who have traditionally opposed federal land lockups. It seems that the mayor and many of the residents of Springdale want roadless wilderness and locked-up resources as long as it is in someone else's back yard. No one had better threaten their profit from public land. Such hypocrisy.
Paul L. Young
St. George