KZMU News

Local climbers are working on restoring several handholds in the Big Bend Bouldering Area after a petroleum-based grease was smeared into them. “Someone…literally smeared it like you would spread cream cheese on a bagel over these holds,” said Friends of Indian Creek board member Lisa Hathaway. The group and others are carefully working on restoring the fragile sandstone sites. The BLM is currently offering up to $1,000 for information leading to the identification of those responsible for the vandalism. Plus, our radio partners report on the evolution of Coal Basin from mining to mountain bikes.

// Show Notes //

Photo: A handwritten note from local climbers urging others to avoid recreating on recently vandalized sites. Locals estimate it will take several more weeks to restore certain handholds after grease was found smeared into them.

// Big Bend Bouldering Area Vandalism

// Local BLM Tipline: 435-259-2131

// The BLM is currently offering up to $1,000 for information leading to the identification and conviction of those responsible for greasing the handholds at the Big Bend Bouldering Area

// Friends of Indian Creek

https://friendsofindiancreek.wordpress.com

// KDNK: From tragic history to mountain bike park, Coal Basin continues to evolve – and surprise

https://www.kdnk.org/2022-02-10/from-tragic-history-to-mountain-bike-park-coal-basin-continues-to-evolve-and-surprise

Grand County is testing all ATV-related rental and guiding businesses for noise ordinance compliance before the busy spring tourism season. Noise testing is part of a suite of requirements for ATV and UTV-related businesses that local government enacted last year. At a recent noise testing event, county staff interacted with owners and made recommendations on modifications that could make their vehicles quieter. Plus, a new report shows the impact of ‘speculative’ oil and gas leasing on wilderness areas. And, some Utahns are looking to save the threatened Great Salt Lake through art.

// Show Notes //

Photo: Grand County law enforcement officers test an ATV for noise compliance at the Old Spanish Trail Arena on February 16, 2022. Under the local noise ordinance, vehicles must not be louder than 92 dBA as measured from a stationary test.

// Grand County Noise Pollution Ordinance

https://www.grandcountyutah.net/DocumentCenter/View/11607/Title-11---Noise-Pollution---approved-7-20-21

// Center for Western Priorities: ‘No harm, no foul’ doesn’t exist in oil and gas leasing

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/baa3a7b6346047d3a1d46ef9ea1ca4fd

// US Dept of Interior: President Biden to Take Action to Uphold Commitment to Restore Balance on Public Lands and Waters, Invest in Clean Energy Future

https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/fact-sheet-president-biden-take-action-uphold-commitment-restore-balance-public-lands

// irreplaceable, a 1700+ line praise poem for Great Salt Lake

https://nanseymour.com/blog/item/141-irreplaceable-a-1700-line-praise-poem-in-the-making

// KUER: A poet is keeping vigil at the Great Salt Lake during Utah’s legislative session

https://www.kuer.org/arts-culture-entertainment/2022-02-14/a-poet-is-keeping-vigil-at-the-great-salt-lake-during-utahs-legislative-session

During the height of the pandemic, Pete Sands was delivering essential goods to households across the Navajo Nation when he started noticing something – older people asking for translation help. “The elders would ask me, ‘do you speak Navajo? I can’t talk to my grandkids because the language isn’t there,’” he said. “People kept coming to me, [saying] ‘you got to save the language somehow – you’ve got to help somehow.’” After this experience, Sands is now producing a children’s show called Navajo Highways. It centers on two puppets, Sadie and Ash, as they travel around the Navajo Nation learning their language and culture. Today on the news, we learn how Navajo Highways will fuse storytelling, art, and humor to promote Diné Bizaad and community.

// Show Notes //

Photo: Pete Sands with puppets (top left) Uncle Al and Grandma Sally, (bottom left) Ash and Sadie. Navajo Highways is a children’s TV show currently in production aiming to teach children about the Diné language and culture. Courtesy Pete Sands

// GoFundMe: Startup funding for ‘Navajo Highways’

https://www.gofundme.com/f/startup-funding-for-navajo-highways?qid=9ae8b3d9c05624eef73d2fa706652b3d

// Pete Sands & The Drifters

https://sandstradingcompany.com/home

Sarah Fields is an expert in uranium. From her base in Moab, she's researched all things radioactive in Utah since 2006. Her one-woman organization Uranium Watch fights for environmental protection and clean-up around the region. “These were things that were affecting my life, affecting my family, affecting my community. And I just found I started learning about one thing and then I learned about something else,” says Fields. “…And it's been a big center of my life for several years.” Today on the news, we tour La Sal-area uranium mines currently on stand-by with Fields for our latest audio portrait.

// And, the Weekly News Reel, where we check in with reporters on their latest stories of the Moab area. Doug McMurdo of The Times-Independent discusses a proposed luxury campground project sparking a larger conversation about short-term rentals, a pickleball demonstration attracting lots of locals, and the surprising outcome of a 2020 aggravated assault case. Alison Harford of the Moab Sun News discusses a high schooler’s creative extra credit project, a PTA for HMK, and gardening season related events.

// Show Notes //

Photo: Sarah Fields stands next to a radon vent in the La Sal mountains. The vent has a hole which she later reported to local agencies.

// Uranium Watch

https://uraniumwatch.org

// Music Featured in Today’s Audio Portrait

Afterglow by Podington Bear

// Weekly News Reel Mentions

// The Times-Independent: Hopeful eco-retreat sparks a flashpoint

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/hopeful-eco-retreat-sparks-a-flashpoint/

// The Times-Independent: Pickleball demonstration draws scores of people

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/pickleball-demonstration-draws-scores-of-people/

// The Times-Independent: Man accused of beating girlfriend gets probation

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/man-accused-of-beating-girlfriend-gets-probation/

// The Times-Independent: Tea at the Top

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/tea-at-the-top/

// Moab Sun News: The Essex in miniature

https://www.moabsunnews.com/get_out_and_go/article_6086b4a8-9033-11ec-86e5-0fa3277b9c69.html

// Moab Sun News: Local PTA helps meets school’s needs

https://www.moabsunnews.com/news/article_c231d466-9034-11ec-9226-27e478be3e16.html

// Moab Sun News: Garden season is sprouting

https://www.moabsunnews.com/get_out_and_go/article_9b092226-903a-11ec-8130-dfefba5a32e6.html

The Navajo Nation has roughly 250 police officers for some 27,000 square miles – an area slightly larger than West Virginia. Jurisdictional constraints for county police also mean that many on the reservation cannot depend on a speedy response to crime. In November 2021, Utah’s Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls Task Force heard tribal residents’ concerns over a lack of law enforcement. Today on the news, we visit areas within the Navajo Nation in southern Utah to hear about the issue and what residents want. Plus, amid concerns about the unbalanced ratio of short-term to long-term rentals in the county, Grand’s commissioners denied a rezone request related to a proposed luxury campground.

// Show Notes //

Photo: Marilyn Holly is the vice president of the Red Mesa chapter house in the Navajo Nation. She says the community feels neglected by law enforcement.

// Navajo Police Department Organizational Assessment Spring 2021

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ISYTSnsD4DAdKulDCIn1ptztjSvPhuP-/view

// Previous KZMU reporting on Entrada Camps

https://www.kzmu.org/thursday-february-3-2022/

and

https://www.kzmu.org/are-new-glamping-proposals-camping-gentrification-or-do-they-help-increase-access-to-the-outdoors/

On a windy day at Old City Park, Moab’s pickleball players demonstrated the sport for a large group of onlookers. A combination of tennis, badminton and ping pong, pickleball is played with a hard paddle and a plastic ball. That combination emits a noise that some community members are concerned is too loud for the atmosphere of the park, where the city is considering building courts. Said one pickleball player of the recent concerns, “we just want [courts] somewhere.” Plus, the new Amache National Historic Site in Colorado is ready for President Biden’s signature.

// Show Notes //

Photo: Pickleball players demonstrate the sport as local government staff measure its sound. Moab City is considering building pickleball courts at Old City Parrk.

// KZMU: ‘It’ll Go Bananas,’ Pickleball Players, City Support Courts in Moab

https://www.kzmu.org/itll-go-bananas-pickleball-players-city-support-courts-in-moab/

// Petition: Save the quiet at Old City Park in Moab UT

https://www.change.org/p/moab-city-council-save-the-quiet-at-old-city-park-in-moab-ut?redirect=false

River guides working on federal lands this coming season will receive a $15 minimum wage with overtime after a federal judge denied a request by outfitters that they be exempted from the rule. Today on the news, we hear from the executive director of a foundation providing counseling and scholarships to river guides about this ruling. And, a new bill seeks to end mail-in ballots and drop-off collection boxes in Utah. Critics say the measure is aimed at political organizers. Plus, grazing fees on public lands are lower than they were forty years ago. And a report on stray cows in New Mexico’s Gila National Forest recently shot by the Forest Service.

// Show Notes //

Photo: Rafters paddle down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Courtesy Flickr user Al_HikesAZ/Creative Commons

// KZMU: Often Living ‘Hand to Mouth,’ Local River Guides Weigh in on Wage Increase

https://www.kzmu.org/often-living-hand-to-mouth-local-river-guides-weigh-in-on-wage-increase/

// Whale Foundation

https://www.whalefoundation.org

// What’s getting more expensive? Everything but grazing fees.

https://www.hcn.org/articles/south-public-lands-whats-getting-more-expensive-everything-but-grazing-fees

A bill aiming to incentivize film production in rural communities has made it out of committee. Advocates are vying to bring feature films – and their money – to rural areas. Utah currently has film incentives, but most are used for productions on the Wasatch Front. Plus, Crested Butte, Colorado residents want their local government to be a leader in climate change resilience. But as our radio partners report, some residents were not happy with the purchase of a new electric vehicle for the local police.

// Show Notes //

Photo: Monument Valley on the Navajo Nation between Utah and Arizona has been featured in many films over the last century. A new bill aims to incentivize more feature film productions in rural Utah.

// Senate Bill 49 State Film Production Incentives Amendments

https://le.utah.gov/~2022/bills/static/SB0049.html

// Utah Film Commission

https://film.utah.gov/incentives/

// Moab to Monument Valley Film Commission

https://www.filmmoab.com/?fbclid=IwAR0CAt6nqFjaoxhDmykTpUYhZXo7AloK9De6tZcHSusMbBfq1YiyD8pMyjQ

// Do Movie Production Incentives Generate Economic Development? (2018 Study)

https://deliverypdf.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=123003017068028113065001103007091002035005000074066087090121008004123085030027020119100028043014103061021010000027068006077089000053057080086028019069106111073005091063028037025080085088125068075103114121072082007111127064126068121124122112004000099124&EXT=pdf&INDEX=TRUE

// Do State Corporate Tax Incentives Create Jobs? Quasi-experimental Evidence from the Entertainment Industry (2019 Study)

https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/UVNGRDZI6JADTRHH3NWY/full#_i14

// Deadline: Kevin Costner Sets Late Summer Start For His Passion Film ‘Horizon,’ Epic Period Western

https://deadline.com/2022/01/kevin-costner-horizon-western-movie-direct-star-august-29-start-date-1234921230/

// KBUT: Crested Butte’s new police car is an EV. And it’s got some in the ski town upset

https://www.ksut.org/environment-climate/2022-02-01/crested-buttes-new-police-car-is-an-ev-and-its-got-some-in-the-ski-town-upset

The northern skies of the Navajo Nation are clearer after the closure of the coal-powered Navajo Generating Station. But the region lost jobs and tax revenue. A proposed pumped storage hydropower plant that uses the generating station’s transmission lines could bring back revenue and thousands of jobs. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a preliminary permit for the project last year, but it’s still early days. Today on the news, a report on the legacy of coal-fired power on the Navajo Nation and what comes next. Plus, students in our region are experiencing a different approach to learning about climate change.

// // And later the Weekly News Reel, where we check in with reporters on their latest stories of the Moab area. Sophia Fisher of The Times Independent discusses Emery Telcom’s internet rates rising during a fiber transition, Thompson Springs’ water needs and a new housing occupancy requirement up for consideration at Moab City. Alison Harford of the Moab Sun News talks NFTs – and why some local artists are making them. She also discusses a new hydroponic garden at the library and community opposition to pickleball courts at Old City Park.

// Show Notes //

Photo: The coal-powered Navajo Generating Station was shut down in 2019 and demolished a year later. But some are now aiming to re-use the station’s transmission lines for renewable energy. Creative Commons/Alan Stark

// Weekly News Reel Mentions

// The Times-Independent: Internet rates to rise $15 as SE Utah transitions to fiber

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/internet-rates-to-rise-15-as-se-utah-transitions-to-fiber/

// The Times-Independent: The Future of Thompson Springs ¬– The community needs more water

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/the-future-of-thompson-springs-the-community-needs-more-water/

// The Times-Independent: New housing occupancy requirement picks up speed

https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/new-housing-occupancy-requirement-picks-up-speed/

// Moab Sun News: Why some Moab artists are making NFTs

https://www.moabsunnews.com/get_out_and_go/article_d189c5d8-8b6e-11ec-9d4a-03674e8ece10.html

// Moab Sun News: Hydroponics in the library

https://www.moabsunnews.com/get_out_and_go/article_f911a514-8b76-11ec-affc-eb43e0a63005.html

// Moab Sun News: Pickleball, affordable housing and Walnut Lane – Notes from the Feb. 8 City Council meeting

https://www.moabsunnews.com/news/article_3ea06a44-8b71-11ec-8e1d-efd19a6464b6.html

The Aneth Point Downs racetrack is a focal point for communities in southeastern Utah. “That’s pretty much what I do,” said horse trainer Broderick Lee, who was raised on the track. “As soon as I get off work, I come to the horse corral and start tying them up, grooming them, getting them ready to go exercise. And that's how I grew up – loving horses and everything.” Lee spoke to KZMU News for our latest audio portrait. Plus, after their regional paleontologist assessed the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite, the BLM has acknowledged ‘unacceptable’ damage occurred to the 112-million-year-old resource during a work project.

// Show Notes //

Photo: Broderick Lee trains racehorses in Aneth. The Aneth Point Downs Racetrack is a focal point for communities in the region, but has been closed to popular racing events during covid.

// Aneth Point Downs

https://www.facebook.com/AnethPointDowns

// Sounds in the Audio Portrait:

https://freesound.org/people/StephenSaldanha/sounds/165532/

// Music in the Audio Portrait:

Running Eiskrokodil (ID 01) - Remastered by Lobo Loco

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/my-favorite-blues-country-compilation-remastered-1/running-eiskrokodil-id-01-remastered