Rural Utah is united by our heritage with the land. We use this “common ground,” as it were, to accomplish things we wouldn’t be able to do alone.
Most people — the tourists that is — drive into Rural Utah and are struck by the picturesque red rocks, the green fields and yes … the cows.
But our little towns are so much more than just a tourist spot. They are home.
Despite what many of the tourists may think, we don’t keep the worn fences, smart green fields and bossy milk cows just for tourists’ enjoyment. We keep them because our heritage calls us to.
This heritage, while separating us from our tourist friends, is what ties all of Rural Utah together.
About Us
The second of The Byway’s three missions is to “unite Rural Utah with content written by us, about us.” I want to focus first on content about us.
What is content that is about us?
The easy answer to that question is content that is relevant to our community — relevant to farmers, ranchers and small town families. One of our readers once complained of the Insider, “I really don’t care about women throwing their panties on the stage at a performance from Tom Jones.”
Thank you! Neither do we.
What we do care about are what the heck is going on with BLM lands, what the kids are doing in local sports and school events, and which weather, fire and drought patterns will be harmful to our communities.
We also care about economic influences on Wayne, Piute and Garfield counties and building a world that is a better place for the other small town people around us.
That is what a local paper should be: content about the small towns we live in.
By Us
Not only does The Byway cover content about us, it is also by us.
Everyone involved with the paper, the editors, journalists, designers and youth, is from small towns in the area.
Our three or four editors, for example, all live in different towns in Garfield County.
Our youth writers come from all over the Byway. Some stay longer than others — we don’t fault them for growing up and moving around. The more consistent writers are from Panguitch, Escalante and Junction.
As locals, we understand issues that just aren’t relevant to tourists. Our ancestors made ties to the land and the people here that many in this community are unwilling to give up. It’s this tenacity and devotion to the community that we want to reflect in the paper.
The Byway isn’t some outsourced, big, rich newspaper; it’s us.
Uniting Rural Utah
Here at The Byway we believe many of the things we stand for — using public lands, teaching and mentoring youth, communicating through civil discourse — are also the things that bring our community together.
Focusing on the things we agree on has done wonders for the byway community already.
We have come together by:
- Playing sports.
- Participating in clubs.
- Organizing community events.
- Working together at church and school.
- Serving one another.
- Voting.
- Even standing out as Rural Utahns.
The Byway missions work to record and protect all the ways that we come together. Hopefully this helps to unite Rural Utah, even when we disagree, in the common goal of defending home.
The tourists can keep their pictures; we’ll keep our heritage.
– The Byway
Feature image caption: The green fields and red rocks in Cannonville, Utah, represent a picturesque keepsake for the tourists, but the homeland of our fathers and a source of unity for us. Courtesy Abbie Call.