The Wayne & Garfield County Insider August 1, 2019

Page 1

The

Insider

Serving Wayne & Garfield Counties, Utah

LOA • FREmONT • LYmAN • BICkNELL • TEASDALE • TORREY • GROvER • FRUITA • CAINEvILLE • HANkSvILLE PANGUITCH • PANGUITCH LAkE • HATCH • ANTImONY • BRYCE • TROPIC • HENRIEvILLE • CANNONvILLE • ESCALANTE • BOULDER

Thursday, August 1, 2019

World Record Cont'd on page 4

Garfield County Commission July 22

An Old Juniper Snag at Capitol Reef National Park

Locals in Tropic Smash World Record

TROPIC - When the world is looking for greatness, it will always find it housed within the small towns of southern Utah. A small-town Father and Son from Tropic, Utah decided to promote their two small businesses by attempting to break a Guinness World Record. Rob Brannon and his son, Josiah Brannon (aka, “The Ripped Ranger”) leveraged their SoccetBall training skills to break an existing Guinness World Record held by YouTube Superstar, Tyler Toney, (the Bearded Guy) of DUDE PERFECT. Josiah smashed the Guinness World Record for the “Farthest Basketball Shot Made with the HEAD" on June 24, 2019

Issue # 1318

continuing discussions of conditional use permits and short term rental management

bill SanderS

"This picture of an old Juniper snag was taken in Capitol Reef National Park. " —Bill Sanders, Torrey This photo was taken by Bill Sanders for The Insider photo contest. So many great photos were submitted, that we decided to highlight all of our favorites over the coming weeks. Thanks to all who participated! Keep them coming. We may feature yours in a future issue!

Wells Fargo Branch Closure Leaves Escalante’s Future Financial Services in Limbo

GARFIELD COUNTY The Garfield County Commissioners held their regular meeting, including three public hearings, on Monday, July 22. The initial Board reports touched on the meetings and activities the three commissioners have engaged in since the last commission meeting, without going into much detail: Commissioner David Tebbs reported on continuing work revising the county’s business license ordinance, on a scheduled meeting he’ll attend with Rep. Stewart’s office and Zion National Park

regarding a new visitation plan, and on the plans to expand parking at Mossy Cave pullout and Hwy 12. Commissioner Jerry Taylor reported on a trip to Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta and his meeting there with staff and Dr. Phillip Curry to discuss the museum and “how they put it together.” Taylor mentioned the museum’s claim to fame is being the “Dinosaur Capitol of the World,” with fossils coming from the same period as those in Grand Garfield Commission Cont'd on page 6

BLM Utah to Offer 146 Parcels in September Oil and Gas Lease Sale

SALT LAKE CITY - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced that it will offer 146 parcels of land, totaling nearly 183,520 acres, at its September quarterly oil and gas lease sale. The parcels are on lands managed by BLM’s Canyon Country, Color Country, Green River and West Desert Districts. The BLM

will hold the lease sale online at www.energynet.com. Revenues from onshore oil and gas production on federal lands directly fund the U.S. Treasury and state budgets, and support public education, infrastructure improvements, and other statedetermined priorities. Fortyeight percent of lease sale revenue goes to the state while the rest goes to the U.S. Treasury. The state also receives

half of the revenue from royalties if oil and gas are developed on the lease. The BLM is a key contributor to the America-First Energy Plan, an all-of-theabove strategy that includes oil and gas, coal, strategic minerals, and renewable sources such as wind, geothermal, and solar – all of Oil and Gas Leases Cont'd on page 7

inSider

Wells Fargo Bank's Escalante branch will close its doors at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, October 9, 2019. ESCALANTE – The “break up” letter came in early July. Wells Fargo Bank customers received a brief letter, dated July 5, 2019, thanking them for “being a valued Wells Fargo customer.” The letter also informed them that

Wells Fargo is leaving town, with the Escalante branch due to close its doors on Wednesday, October 9, 2019, at noon, sharp. The impending closure leaves Escalante and Boulder residents and businesses with a number of uncertainties.

Op-Ed

Teasdale's Red Rock Cultural Hall by Janice King Schiefelbine

TEASDALE - Many of us have traveled to distant cities and enjoyed rich historical buildings and churches, yet we sometimes do not recognize or value the rich architectural treasures in our own communities. In our country, many buildings are torn down or run down because of “progress,”expediency, or just to replace them with a more modern idea. This might have been the fate of the unique building, the Old Rock Hall/Cultural Hall in

Teasdale, were it not for the resources and great energies expended by a few citizens to save this lovely structure from dilapidation and ruin. The town of Teasdale, like other mid Wayne County communities, was once a thriving, independent family community with its own school, store, ward, and church. Uniquely, the town had also built a separate CulTeasdale Cultural Hall Cont'd on page 2

REGIONAL WEATHER FORECAST FOR SOME BUT NOT ALL REGIONS REPRESENTED IN OUR NEWSPAPER COVERAGE AREA

THURS. AUGUST 1 - WED. AUGUST 7

Thunderstorm chances kick off August on Thursday and Sunday. Otherwise, partly cloudy skies. Highs this week in the 80s. Lows in the 50s. Rain chances range from 20 - 40%. Happy August!

Key questions are whether--or for how long—Wells Fargo’s ATM services will remain in place after the branch building closes, or whether another bank will be interested in locating a branch to the area. It’ll be the first time in 46 years that Escalante has not continuously had a local bank branch, in one form or another. “Starting in the early 70s we had Iron County Bank, and then it was Dixie State Bank, then First Security, and then Wells Fargo,” said Sue Mosier, who retired as a teller from Wells Fargo’s local branch, after working for all four banks since the mid-1970s. During each of these transitions, each new bank bought the previous bank’s building and accounts, which meant uninterrupted local banking services. “It sounds like we might have to wait a year before another bank can come in here, said Mosier. “Where will businesses get change? Plus it’s putting four people out of work.” According to another Branch Closure Cont'd on page 10

Trogons and Barbets and Hornbills, OH MY! Malaysia Part 1

ESCALANTE / MALAYSIA - Great Argus. Crested Fireback. Red-bearded Bee-eater. Chestnutbacked Scimitar Babbler. Bornean Bald Laughing Thrush. These Malaysian bird names would whet the appetite of any serious birder. Malaysia, plus Sumatra and Java, form the Sundaland Zoological Region, separated from lands to the south and east (parts of Indonesia, New Guinea, the Philippines) by the Makassar Malee KoK chung rine Trench, over 5 miles deep. Wal- Rhinoceros Hornbill showing its large, ornamented bill. laces’s Line, named It seemed that Malaysia a guide Lee Kok Chung, or for Alfred Russell Wallace was the area which held the just “Lee”, who seemed able who noted many differences highest number of both Life to see and hear birds ordinary between the faunas on either side, follows the trench. (Wal- Birds and Life Families (4) for people can’t. Big, colorful lace was gathering data at the me, so I signed up for back-to- birds are one thing, but there same time as Charles Darwin back birding trips: 8 days with are lots of small, crypticallyand generated a similar evo- 4 other birders on the Malay colored species which are lutionary theory.) Sundaland Peninsula, which hangs off hard to spot on the dark forwas a rainforest refuge dur- the bottom of Thailand, and est floor. Lee made sure we all ing the last glacial maximum 10 days in the Sabah Prov- saw virtually everything. Most of our time on the of the Pleistocene, preserving ince (NE corner) of the island of Borneo, to the east. It was the seeds of the wide diversity Malaysia Pt 1 of plants and animals which our good fortune to have as Cont'd on page 4 inhabit it today.

Yesterday's weirdness is tomorrow's reason why. —Hunter S. Thompson

ALL content for THE WAYNE & GARFIELD COUNTY INSIDER must be submitted by FRIDAY AT NOON to be included in the following Thursday edition of the paper.

BOXHOLDER

PRE-SORT STANDARD PAID RICHFIELD, UTAH PERMIT No. 122


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