CORRECTION: The “New gray wolf pups make a new pack in Colorado; wolf deaths continue” article published on Aug. 19 misstated that a Colorado Wolf Tracker Facebook post had been created and erased in May. The post was made on Aug. 17 and was no longer visible by Aug. 18.
The real land grab
Recently, the Trump administration shrunk two monuments in Southern Utah: Bears Ears National Monument and Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument. If this statement sounds familiar, you might remember them doing the same in Trump’s first term. Those cuts were rescinded during the Biden administration. These new cuts are more severe, reducing the monuments by close to 90%.
I live in Carbondale, but I have also lived in southern Utah, and have traveled in each of these monuments extensively. Some of my fondest memories and best friendships have been formed in twisting canyons, on late night drives down rutted dirt roads to remote trailheads. I know many people in our town make the pilgrimage to the desert each spring and fall.
This type of visitation forms a major part of the economy of southern Utah. People travel from all over the world to come see the surreal landscapes of the Colorado Plateau, and they spend money in the small towns surrounding these parks and monuments. The outdoor tourism boom has revitalized many of these towns.
The protection of public lands is one of the few realms these days in which we can find strong bipartisan support. Utah is a firmly red state, but almost three-fourths of Utah voters support the protection of public lands, including these specific monuments.
So the question remains, why do Utah’s representatives consistently push this monument-shrinking, anti-public lands agenda since they were elected to represent their constituents? The answer lies in the extractive industry lobbyists who are padding the pockets of Utah’s representatives.
The fate of these lands is to be opened to mining interests, to oil and gas. They will take land out of the public domain and sell it to the highest bidder. These companies can be foreign-owned, have a long track-record of not cleaning up their mess and I can guarantee you that none of the owners come from Escalante, Blanding or Monticello.
These cuts benefit no one — not the Utahns whose economies have a renewable resource in tourism to build their communities, not the indigenous tribes whose advocacy led to the creation of these monuments and have stewarded this land for generations and not for the other Americans whose tax money runs these monuments. The Trump administration consistently labels the original monument declarations as “land grabs,” but they are the ones moving public land into private hands to the benefit of multinational corporations and themselves.
The open space and beauty of the west is such an essential part of living here. The legacy of land protection was forward-thinking and certainly among the things I am proudest about being American. Having intact and pristine ecosystems is only going to become increasingly important in the decades ahead, both for those seeking refuge and respite from jobs or from the city, and for the locals who call these places home. It takes only moments to destroy a place, but constant vigilance to protect one. Let’s not make the mistake of letting this legislation slide. These are just the first places on the chopping block.
Nicholas Roman
Carbondale
Support the library
Hardly a day goes by when I don’t have the thought that I’m lucky to live in Carbondale. What a great town.
I think that one of the reasons that it’s so satisfactory a place to be is that we have a great library that is woven into our daily lives in many ways. The services available for our children are varied and are offered to toddlers, adolescents and everyone between.
If you go into the library after school, you’ll see the place busy with kids in their own world, using the computers, getting a snack from the librarian behind the desk, engaging with their friends and generally being very much “at home.”
It’s been my experience that when a young person finds this level of comfort and acceptance at the library, they’re hooked for life. The library will be a place of resource and community throughout their adulthood.
So many activities are offered — from a gingerbread house competition, an invitation to come in with your dog on a Sunday afternoon, to story times for infants through preteens. The librarians are terrific with the little ones and the teens, too.
Check out a Yoto player, a board game or a ukulele. There are many services and opportunities available at our hometown library that everyone should investigate.
These services are easy to become accustomed to, so I urge the community to vote yes on the Garfield County Public Library mill levy continuance on November’s ballot.
Ruth Hollowell
Carbondale
MovieLand
Hi RFV Residents,
There is a very good chance that Basalt will not allow another hotel where MovieLand is now. It was voted down by the Basalt Planning and Zoning Commission and Basalt Town Council might do it also.
Would you be interested in helping to promote Crown Mountain Park in acquiring the building for an indoor recreation facility?
The current building as a recreation center would require absolutely minimal reconstruction as it has no windows; we do not want windows.
The building is sound proof as the movie speakers are way, way louder that a recreation center would ever be.
Heating and ventilation is designed for much larger crowds than a recreation center would have.
Parking lot is IN.
The electrical power needed for the projectors, lights, heating and ventilation is perfect for a recreation center.
AND MOST IMPORTANT, it has a FORTY FOOT CEILING WHICH WOULD ALLOW, basketball, pickleball, volleyball, tennis and plus numerous second floor activities.
Let’s do it!!!!!!
The purchase would, should, or could involve Crown Mountain Park, Town of Basalt and Eagle Country.
This is an amenity that would service the residents of the place where WE LIVE!
Ted Bristol
El Jebel
Snowmass Falls Ranch
Pitkin County’s proposed transfer of the 650-acre, $34 million Snowmass Falls Ranch to the U.S. Forest Service is a grave mistake. Our local government — not the federal bureaucracy — is the only reliable steward for this legacy ranch at the threshold of the Maroon Bells-
Snowmass Wilderness.
This property is deeply bound to our valley’s heritage. Homesteaded in 1906 by Kate Lindvig and stewarded across eight decades by the Bob Perry family, it represents the living history of our working landscape. Decades ago, my husband Doug and I operated Moon Run Outfitters, sometimes with permission, we rode through Bob’s corrals to access Haystack Mountain. I know this dirt, I know these trails, and I know exactly what is at stake.
Surrendering local title to federal control places this wilderness in immediate jeopardy. Federal protections remain perpetually vulnerable to regulatory rollbacks, administrative rule changes and shifting political mandates. Weakening safeguards like the Roadless Area Conservation Rule risks opening pristine lands to commercial exploitation and extraction without local oversight.
Given the ranch’s extreme proximity to Aspen and Snowmass Village, losing local ownership creates a dangerous vulnerability: under shifting federal policies, wildlands could eventually be privatized into luxury compounds for the highest bidder.
The Wilderness Act of 1964 was intended to protect wild places in perpetuity, but federal administrations can no longer be relied upon to honor that mandate. I urge the Pitkin County Commissioners and Pitkin OST to pause this transfer immediately. Retain county ownership, preserve local control, and safeguard Snowmass Falls Ranch for our community before it is too late.
Sincerely,
Holly McLain
Carbondale
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