Dear Editor:
As a former Moabite, I was not too surprised to see that the specter of the Book Cliffs road has reared its ugly head again.
And once again it is the Uinta Basin pushing it. My experiences with the officials in both Duchesne and Uintah counties while I worked for the State of Utah were very unpleasant due to their near worship of oil and gas and their perception of environmentalists (said with a sneer) as scum. I never encountered so much arrogance and ignorance in supposed “leaders” of communities.
Now, that was years ago, and maybe it has changed a bit with new council members, but I wouldn’t trust Uintah Basin officials as far as I could throw them. Further, such a highway, besides being very expensive to build and maintain, would do more damage to one of the last viable habitats for big game.
Once the natural ecosystem is destroyed, you can’t get it back. And who would benefit from Grand County’s money spent on this road? You guessed it, the “drill baby drill” folks from the basin who look down their noses at Moab “hippies.” They’re realizing that those “hippies” actually may have been right about something (tourism).
So, now they come playing nice and wanting Grand County money. Don’t fall for it. It was a stupid idea 30 years ago and it’s still a stupid idea.
Connie Blaine
Fruita, Colorado
