I read with interest and humor the articles in Sunday's Oct. 17 Deseret News about the assault made by environmentalists and the news media on off-road enthusiasts and pig farmers in southern Utah. They sure know how to pick a fight.
Where were the Sierra Club, the National Forest Service, local politicians and the Desert News when Snowbird Ski Resort decimated the environment in Mineral Basin for the sake of one more ski run? What was once a picturesque and historic mining area, enjoyed by many, has now been replaced by roads, concrete, steel structures and restricted access signs.While these organizations have battled four-wheelers and pigs, the greedy Snowbird developers have ravaged the entire Mineral Basin landscape. The once foreboding cliffs have now been blasted away and used as filling to smooth the rugged mountainside. Dugways, carved to transition skiers to the next lift line, now scar the landscape where lush vegetation and wildlife once thrived.
It's ironic that the new lift structures were painted green to be "environmentally friendly." The place is an environmental disaster. Worst of all, access to yet another one of our beautiful canyons has now been limited to the privileged few.
Once again the multimillion-dollar Utah ski industry has proven it can have its way with our natural resources. The Sierra Club, the National Forest Service, local politicians and the news media should be ashamed for being so gutless and avoiding a real fight. It seems their own stench is far greater than that wafting from the southern part of the state.
The environmental impact caused by off-road vehicles and pigs is small by comparison to that caused by the ski industry. Of course off-road enthusiasts and pig farmers are easy targets with limited organization and funding, they can do little but squeal.
Tony Anderson
Clinton