Did a Land Transfer Blessed by Environmentalists Give a Boost to TAR SANDS NATION?

If anyone has ever examined a land ownership map of Utah, they’d notice the odd checkerboard of sections, scattered across the Beehive State. These are State Institutional Trust lands, given to the state decades ago by the federal government as a means of compensation for federalizing so much of the rest of it. The state is mandated to exploit these lands commercially, to generate revenue for public schools.

But many of the SITLA sections are “landlocked” inside large federal parcels and SITLA has long wanted to find a way to make them more productive. BLM and the Park Service have likewise sought ways to resolve the checkerboard problem. A decade ago, the Moab office of the BLM sought a trade with SITLA. In exchange for recreational lands in southeast Utah, where tourism was already exploding, BLM would transfer mineral lands to the state.

To read more of Jim’s story, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/the-land-exchange-bill-that-went-oops-by-jim-stiles/

I cannot remember what it was called—I keep thinking Frostop?’—but it was across the ballparks. This image is from 1979…

Click the image below to see more of Terry’s “Instant Moab” photographs…

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/instant-moab-photos-and-captions-by-terry-knouff/

Click the image below to see more of Paul’s incredible photos of the West:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/vlachos-views-photos-and-captions-by-paul-vlachos-7/

“I grew up believing that once I was grown

I’d find a good man and make him my own

My search for this man has left me at a loss

There was one it seems, but he died on a cross

A husband I took and promised to cherish

To love and to honour until we both perish

Forsaking all others, for richer, for poorer

We turned from the altar, and that’s when I saw her…”

To read more of Judy’s poem, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/from-the-outer-banks-good-men-long-time-passing-by-judy-banks/

From the August 1990 Zephyr…

“Apparently the process had indeed gone beyond the talk stage. In fact, the Action Plan’s May 1990 date was a full month before my conversation with Mr. Panos. Two weeks late, Senator Jake Garn and Representative Wayne Owens introduced legislation to set aside $6 million for the establishment of a Kokopelli National Theatre of the Arts. It appeared that the proposal was developing a head of steam before anyone knew of its existence.”

To read more of Jim’s story, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/06/02/flashbacks-from-the-august-1990-zephyr-the-kokopelli-national-theatre-by-jim-stiles/