By the mid-1990s, Moab and Grand County citizens—especially voters—were worn out. So was I. Beginning in 1987, with Moab’s economy in tatters and its elected officials proposing a toxic waste incinerator at Cisco to boost property taxes, it was one…
In the very first Zephyr, I wrote a long article about a road building proposal that would be debated for years. In late 1989, the lame duck Grand County Commissioners created a self-funded, autonomous special service road district, with the…
In 2013 I attended a San Juan County Commission meeting to talk with the commissioners about how the proposed public lands bill being considered by Congressman Bishop would affect the recreation economy of the region. I am an outfitter…
PREFACE: This is a story about Change…about the transformation of a small part of the American Southwest. It’s about what happened to my old home town of Moab and what may happen next, just 55 miles south. Some say that…
This is the first in a series of “Zephyr Interviews” from the past 25 years. Each will offer a revealing look at Moab’s transformation. In the early 1990s, Moab was on the cusp of massive change. Recently, county residents had…
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Zephyr was only in its fourth year of publication when the effects of an already runaway recreation/tourist/amenities industry became a real worry, at least to me. The reality of it was a sobering wake-up call and I…
NOTE: Bolded passages are those cut out of the final BIKE magazine article. When everything is reduced to the mere counter-balancing of economic interests…when Nature has been so subjugated that she has lost all her original forms, what room will…
I am hopelessly nostalgic. By nature, it seems, I am drawn to historic town squares, brick streets, and dusty museums. I am a sucker for trains and soda fountains. Any pre-World War II architectural style fascinates me. And this fascination,…
May 22-24, 1998…Rex Ranch, Arizona http://www.jmccomb.com/mentor/ EDITOR’S NOTE: This page, in its entirety, is an excerpt from a 1998 “wilderness mentoring conference” that occurred 15 years ago, on May 22-24, 1998 at Rex Ranch, Arizona. This portion of their report…
What Might Have Been? In 1990, Moab was in the process of being “re-discovered” yet again. The University of Utah announced plans to build a massive Kokopelli National Theater on the Sand Flats adjacent to the Slick Rock Bike Trail. …