KZMU News

Last week, multiple organizations filed protests with the state claiming the water rights for a controversial housing development on Kane Creek Boulevard should be revoked for nonuse. In Utah, water rights that go unused for seven years are subject to forfeiture. The property is located along a largely untouched section of the Colorado River, and many Moab residents have been pushing back against the development for months. The water rights protests are just one of many attempts local activists have taken recently to thwart construction on the property.

//Show Notes:

//Previous reporting on the Kane Creek development:

https://soundcloud.com/user-452372146-352514478/development-in-kane-creek-will-break-ground-next-week

Heartbreak – that thing of sorrow and loss – has united a group of poets in towns across the west. Their work is collected in the anthology Poems for Ex-Lovers, which recently released its third volume of heartbreak poems. Plus, neighborhood peacocks add a little magic to a street in Salt Lake City. And, environmental groups filed a proposal for managing the Colorado River.

And! KZMU turns 32 today! It’s also the sixth anniversary of KZMU News! There’s so much to celebrate today. Thanks, listener, for making it all possible.

On the latest Regional Roundup, a county in our region recently declared itself *not* a sanctuary city. Our regional reporters unpack what that might mean for local immigrants. Plus: skijoring is becoming an economic plus for many small towns in the Rocky Mountains. And: author Laura Pritchett on her new book Playing with (wild)fire, inspired by Colorado's largest wildfire.

Today we talk to Sophia Fisher, reporter with the Moab Times-Independent, about the BLM’s decision to keep off road vehicle trails closed in the Labyrinth Canyon area while litigation against the recent closures persists. We also talk about the upcoming departure of Moab City Manager, Carly Castle, as well as Sophia's upcoming resignation from the Times-Independent. We finish off discussing how the animal shelter in Moab is handling capacity issues, and we give a quick update about Seekhaven, a local nonprofit for domestic abuse victims, that just received a $2 million grant.

// Show Notes:

// Roads closed by Feds near Moab will stay closed – for now

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/roads-closed-by-feds-near-moab-will-stay-closed-for-now/

// Castle resigns as city manager

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/castle-resigns-as-city-manager/

// Sharing news of my own departure

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/52359/

// Like the rest of the nation, Moab’s shelters are packed

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/like-the-rest-of-the-nation-moabs-shelters-are-packed/

// Seekhaven receives $2 million award from yield giving organization

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/seekhaven-receives-2-million-award-from-yield-giving-organization/

Moab is remembering Jim Stiles, the editor and publisher of The Canyon Country Zephyr, an alternative publication covering southeast Utah. Stiles passed away at his home in Coldwater, Kansas earlier this month. He spent over three decades living in the Moab area, first coming out in the 1970s to work as a seasonal ranger at Arches National Park. On today’s news, we hear an excerpt from an archival interview with Stiles, conducted over a decade ago by KZMU’s Christy Williams Dunton.

// Find the full interview here:

https://www.kzmu.org/jim-stiles-on-hopelessly-clinging-to-the-past/

On the latest Regional Roundup, we revisit KZMU's reporting on how over 3,000 homes on the Navajo Nation received official addresses. Plus: an interview about teen mental health. And: a discussion on people moving back to rural America.

Today we talk to Sophia Fisher of the Moab Times-Independent about a phone scammer who targeted a Moab resident. We also talk about the new superintendent for Arches and Canyonlands Nationals Parks. And we finish off discussing two new management plans for the Bears Ears National Monument and for the Green and Colorado rivers within Canyonlands.

// Show Notes:

// Dollar General employee foils would-be scammer

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/dollar-general-employee-foils-would-be-scammer/

// Canyonlands seeks input on river management plan

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/canyonlands-seeks-input-on-river-management-plan/

// Arches, Canyonlands announces new superintendent

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/arches-canyonlands-announces-new-superintendent/

// BLM, USFS invite input on Bears Ears National Monument draft plan

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/blm-usfs-invite-input-on-bears-ears-national-monument-draft-plan/

Two weeks ago, a lithium mine in Green River overflowed with more than 400,000 gallons of water. Representatives from the company, A1 Lithium, said no discharge reached the river. But local residents worry larger accidents could contaminate the waterway in the future.

// Photo: Green River residents gathered for a public meeting last week about a recent lithium well accident. Photo by Emily Arntsen

// Show Notes:

// Moab Times-Independent Coverage: https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/green-river-could-see-pilot-lithium-plant-as-early-as-this-month/

Last week, the Canyonlands Regional Airport staged a fake plane crash as part of a mandatory emergency response exercise. All agencies included in the airport's emergency response plan were present, plus actors from the Grand County High School drama club, who played crash victims.

Photo: Emergency responders carry an actor in a plane crash exercise to an ambulance. Photo by Emily Arntsen.

On the latest Regional Roundup: an interview with reporter Susan Shain about her new High Country News article on building housing on public lands. And: how an elementary school in our region is implementing programs to make newly arrived immigrant children feel welcome and safe. Plus: a report on a new cannabis growing enterprise in a tiny Colorado town.