KZMU News

New research has highlighted the fascinating history of Moab pioneer William Grandstaff. We speak to a genealogist, composer and museum curator helping to map Grandstaff’s life from slave to frontier cowboy. Plus, A 25-year-old river guide from Colorado is racking up hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok explaining the megadrought in the Colorado River basin. The reasons for it, and potential solutions, can be hard to wrap one’s head around, but Western Water Girl makes it snarky and fun.

// Show Notes

// Photo: Composer and writer Gerald Elias stands in front of the Grandstaff Canyon Trailhead on September 1st, 2022. KZMU

// Gerald Elias' work:

https://geraldeliasmanofmystery.wordpress.com/

// Moab Museum:

https://moabmuseum.org/

Volunteers continue to clean-up Mill Creek Parkway this week. Moab’s August 20th flood sent large amounts of debris through the creek bed, leaving piles of sand and vegetation in its wake. Community members are doing what they can to clear this debris so city employees can focus on big infrastructure repair and improvements, damages that are currently estimated at $10 million. Hear the details on the clean-up events from Grand County Trail Mix Board Chair Colin Topper, who also talks about the silver lining of this local disaster – community.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Volunteers pull debris from the Mill Creek Parkway on Tuesday, September 6th. Clean-up events along the parkway are happening every evening this week.

// Mill Creek Parkway Community Clean Up

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=443319547830816&set=a.250773093752130

// Tuesday & Wednesday: 400 East to Mulberry Lane from 5pm – 7pm

// Thursday & Friday: Main Street to 100 East from 5pm – 7pm

// Questions? Contact Colin Topper 435-210-1382

Earlier this summer, two horsemen traveling with pack animals appeared in the northern corridor of Highway 191. As artistic silhouettes, the riders commemorate the history of the Old Spanish Trail and the cultural, social and economic situations that brought more people to the Moab area during the mid-1800s. The trail snaked roughly 1200 miles from California to New Mexico and Moab’s geology provided an important river crossing. Plus, Utah is suing the Biden administration over its expansion of national monument boundaries for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Stephen Schultz, president of the Canyonlands Backcountry Horsemen, with his favorite artistic silhouette. Dressed in spurs and outfitted with an embroidered blanket, Schultz says this rider truly has ‘style.’ KZMU/Molly Marcello

// Utah Gov Spencer Cox 8/24 Press Release on Monument Lawsuit

https://governor.utah.gov/2022/08/24/utah-challenges-unlawful-designation-of-national-monuments/

// Canyonlands Backcountry Horsemen

https://www.bchutah.org/bch-canyonlands.php

// DOE: Commemorating the Old Spanish Trail in Moab

https://www.energy.gov/em/articles/commemorating-old-spanish-trail-moab

// Epicenter Green River: The Old Spanish Trail

https://ruralandproud.org/epicenter_blog/ost/

During Interstate 70 construction in the 1980s, more than 100 structures were found near Sevier, Utah, dating from the 10th and 11th centuries. After hundreds of thousands of artifacts were excavated, the actual village site was destroyed by the freeway’s construction. Fremont Indian State Park was established to preserve the site’s treasures. Plus, an Arizona tribe plans to pull out of a deal meant to prop up the Colorado River’s largest reservoir. And later, a group of scientists and nonprofit leaders recently headed over Independence Pass in a small airplane, looking for places to restore beavers.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Nathanial Pikyavit demonstrates how to throw an atlatl. The atlatl is the wooden portion on the bottom. It has a hook to attach to the metal spear. Kristine Weller/KUER

// KUER: Fremont Indian State Park exists to keep an ancient tribal way of life alive

https://www.kuer.org/arts-culture-entertainment/2022-08-30/fremont-indian-state-park-exists-to-keep-an-ancient-tribal-way-of-life-alive

The Grand County commission has approved using transient-room tax funds to support businesses impacted by the August 20th flood. Plus, our partners report on villainized snakes in the West. And food banks across the country are grappling with two major problems: demand from customers is up and supplies are down.

// Plus, the Weekly News Reel! Doug McMurdo of The Times-Independent discusses using tourism tax funds for non-marketing ends, the state of Moab's emergency alert system, alternative-dwelling zones and the start of election coverage. Alison Harford of the Moab Sun News talks about the legacy of William Grandstaff, a tortoise adoption program and upcoming outings led by the Canyonlands Field Institute.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Downtown businesses are looking for help after the August 20th flood. KZMU

// New program proposal for flood relief emergency grant program

https://www.grandcountyutah.net/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/548?fileID=41423

// Report your flood damage here

https://moabcity.org/609/Flood-Damage-Information

// The Times-Independent: County approves flood relief grant program

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/county-approves-flood-relief-grant-program/

// The Times-Independent: ‘The community deserves better’

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/the-community-deserves-better/

// The Times-Independent: Alternative dwelling idea advances as planning leaders butt heads

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/alternative-dwelling-idea-advances-as-planning-leaders-butt-heads/

// Moab Sun News: Moab Museum debuts new exhibit on William Grandstaff

https://moabsunnews.com/2022/09/01/william-grandstaff-exhibit/

// Moab Sun News: Save the threatened desert tortoise by … adopting one?

https://moabsunnews.com/2022/09/01/adopt-a-desert-tortoise/

// Moab Sun News: Free community events offered by Canyonlands Field Institute

https://moabsunnews.com/2022/09/01/cfi-free-community-events/

Swanny City Park is a place for Moab residents to practice a range of different hobbies — as well as meet others that are into what they’re into. On a Wednesday afternoon, a small group gathered to practice handstands and talk about the struggle to be inverted. Plus, our partners report on mushroom hunting after monsoon storms around Telluride. And tribal nations across the country will be receiving funding for the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program put forth by the Department of Commerce.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Moab locals gathered for a Handstand Jam on August 31st, 2022. KZMU

// Music: Solid Gold by Miami Slice. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Miami_Slice/Disco_Cuts/Solid_Gold/

// KSUT: Tribal Nations to receive funding for high-speed internet

https://tribalradio.org/tribal-nations-to-receive-funding-for-high-speed-internet/

// KOTO: https://www.koto.org/featured-news-stories/2022/8/11/a-foray-into-san-juan-mushrooming

A mining company and regulators failed to clean up waste from a uranium processing mill in a small New Mexico community. Now the company wants to hand the site over to the Department of Energy — they just need to get rid of the residents first. KZMU speaks with investigative reporter Mark Olalde of ProPublica about his reporting on this story.

// Show Notes:

// ProPublica: A Uranium Ghost Town in the Making

https://www.propublica.org/article/new-mexico-uranium-homestake-pollution

// John Boomer Arts

https://www.facebook.com/people/John-Boomer-Arts/100054373156642/

// A Uranium Ghost Town in the Making: John Boomer song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_6d-C_HX-s

// Photo: An aerial view of Grants, New Mexico and areas around the Homestake uranium mill is seen in 2007. Creative Commons/"Grants NM aerial 2007 by Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA."

A close call at Up the Creek Campground during a flood on August 20th has local officials sounding the alarm — over a lack of an alarm. Moab doesn't have a real-time flood warning system. And an alert system on the county level wasn't activated during the area's recent historic flooding.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: The 18-site Up the Creek Campground has been in Moab for 30 years. After a devastating flood, the owners are unsure about reopening. KZMU

// Sign up for Grand County alerts here:

https://www.grandcountyutah.net/alertcenter.aspx?CID=3

// Sign up for Moab's alerts here:

https://moabcity.org/64/Emergency-Alert

// Check Mill Creek's gauge

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/09183500/#parameterCode=00060&startDT=2022-08-15&endDT=2022-08-22

// Check Pack Creek's gauge

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/09184600/#parameterCode=00060&startDT=2022-08-15&endDT=2022-08-22

Moab continues to clean up after last weekend's historic flooding. Businesses, streets and residences were impacted — as well as some of the area’s bike trails. That includes the Robin Groff Memorial Skills Park off Mill Creek. That creek became a raging river, cutting new channels and flooding nearby land. On Saturday over 40 people, five earth movers, two chainsaws and a dog showed up to restore the park. Plus, our partners have an update on this summer's strong monsoon season in the Colorado River basin. And climate activists gathered last week outside of a lodge in Grand Teton National Park where the Federal Reserve was holding its annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Volunteers gathered at the Robin Groff Memorial Skills Park off Mill Creek on Saturday to remove flood debris. KZMU

// Moab City flood damage information

https://moabcity.org/609/Flood-Damage-Information

// The Times-Independent: Robin Groff Memorial Bike Skills Park rolls on

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/robin-groff-memorial-bike-skills-park-rolls-on/

// KHOL: Climate activists protest at Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium

https://891khol.org/climate-activists-protest-at-federal-reserves-jackson-hole-economic-policy-symposium/

In this week's News Reel, Sophia Fisher from The Times-Independent discusses the aftermath of Moab's historic flood. Many businesses spent these last days surveying damage and shoveling mud. One of those businesses especially impacted was Up the Creek Campground. The popular site is located in town, on the banks of Mill Creek — which became a raging river on Saturday night. Also, Alison Harford of the Moab Sun News discusses our community's emergency alert system or lack thereof. Most here learned of the recent flood’s extent through social media, friends or maybe firsthand. That’s raising big questions about how our alert system functions and the potential danger for residents and tourists in times of crisis.

//Show Notes:

// Photo: Up the Creek Campground will be closed for the foreseeable future as the owners recover from a devastating flood. KZMU/Justin Higginbottom

// Weekly News Reel Mentions

// The Times-Independent: Up the Creek co-owner saves sleeping campers

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/up-the-creek-co-owner-saves-sleeping-campers/

// The Times-Independent: ‘Hope from the ashes’

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/hope-from-the-ashes/

// The Times-Independent: School board wants to trim property taxes

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/school-board-wants-to-trim-property-taxes/

// Moab Sun News: Emergency alert system proved faulty

https://moabsunnews.com/2022/08/25/emergency-alert-system-proved-faulty/

// Moab Sun News: Future monsoon seasons expected to become more extreme

https://moabsunnews.com/2022/08/25/future-monsoon-seasons-expected-to-become-more-extreme/

// Moab Sun News: Flood impacts most vulnerable residents

https://moabsunnews.com/2022/08/25/flood-impacts-most-vulnerable-residents/

// Moab Sun News: Pothole treasures: During monsoon season, these shrimp live fast and die young

https://moabsunnews.com/2022/08/25/pothole-treasures/