Loving Our Lands To Death

Zion National Park is now the third most visited National Park in the United States, bringing in 4.5 million visitors a year – an increase of 60 percent of visitation over the past three years.

Try Googling “public lands in America.” You’ll find loads of maps covered in different colors outlining types of land – private, city, county, state and federal. The color representing public lands spans the country and absolutely covers the West, reminding residents that most of Utah is public, owned and managed by the federal government.

Anyone who’s visited St. George in the southwestern corner of Utah knows that it’s hot and dry, one of the driest cities in the United States. But it’s also one of the fastest growing. Growing populations need water, and at less than 10 inches of precipitation a year, how does St. George get it?

Utah’s public lands welcome tourists from around the globe to play, explore and adventure - sometimes to a fault. In the last four years, Utah has seen a 68 percent increase in search and rescue missions in our national parks. Just last year, there were 324 rescues statewide, costing Utah nearly $300,000 in equipment, training and manpower.

In 1990 the federal government passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, outlining public building access policy to assist people with disabilities, but the ADA does not apply to federal lands including those managed by the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the National Parks Service.

Picture yourself scrolling through your Facebook feed. You see a friend’s picture on top of Mt. Timpanogos. They look happy, healthy and adventurous. You get a little envious.

When it comes to public lands in the United States, most citizens agree that they should exist. However, there is less agreement on how they should be funded.

Utah has been one of the most popular areas in the United States for filmmakers since westerns hit the big screens almost 100 years ago according to experts in the film industry. Is it possible to reap the economic benefits of movies and commercials while preserving Utah’s iconic landscapes used on camera?

Maynard Dixon was a successful western artist, known for his impressionistic works featuring southern Utah and Arizona landscapes. In 1939 he left his home in San Francisco for Mount Carmel, Utah - a small town settlement bordered by national parks and public lands.

My family hosted Japanese exchange students when I was in high school. As a result, I have a bunch of Japanese sisters, one of which is a mountaineer, gear-tester, and all-around outdoorswoman. She loves hot springs and wanted to know which natural hot springs in Utah were good to visit. So I set off to find out.