This is an old news article. The events in this article are from March 2023.
The Garfield County Commissioners met in Panguitch for a regularly-scheduled meeting on Monday, March 27.
Work with ‘The Dump,’ Ticaboo Fire and Escalante’s Two Reservoirs
Commissioner David Tebbs said he has been in discussion with Tracy Munson at UDOT about road damage on “The Dump” section of Highway 12. That stretch of road, which descends steeply off of the Paunsaugunt Plateau from Ruby’s Inn, has seen cracking and settling in the asphalt as the freshly-paved road begins to slide downhill. The county has requested some signage to note the road damage.
Ticaboo Fire has reached out to the county seeking financial assistance for supplies. Camille Moore recommended establishing a budget for the department to cover what the county sees as minor requests. The area’s emergency services have seen some changes after the Park Service sent a letter stating that they would no longer be able to offer such services, deferring to Ticaboo Fire instead.
Commissioner Jerry Taylor said he is working to secure around $5 million in state funding to clean up reservoirs in the area. He has noted in the past that Escalante’s two reservoirs — Wide Hollow and North Creek — have become clogged with sediment over the decades, reducing their storage capacity. Taylor believes that local reservoirs should be able to store water in years with good runoff to cover for drought years.
Work on Public Lands Issues
Commissioner Leland Pollock spoke about his work on public lands issues. He reiterated his stance that Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is far too big and that the Resource Management Plan, currently being deliberated, would be too restrictive. “We are pushing back with everything we have to stop the abuse of the Antiquities Act,” he said. He worries that the proposed RMP would stop people from using the monument, contrary to his belief that the land is for everybody to use.
Pollock also reported on concerns Ray Golden of Ticaboo has about the BLM’s involvement in the Ticaboo Fall ATV Rally. The rally brings between 300 and 400 people to the area, who are instructed by organizers to stay on roads. Reports are, however, that the BLM has tried to restrict what roads are used by rally-goers.
David Dodds, public works director, stated that he has been continually working on the monument resource management plan. He stated that the BLM recently sent out its set of revised alternative plans and that he and others were disappointed that “none of our suggestions were taken.” He is concerned that the alternative plans are all being drafted internally without regard to input from local governments.
Concerns over the New Road Maintenance Resolution
David Rivera, a resident of Mammoth Creek, spoke to the commissioners about his concerns with the county’s recent resolution on maintaining Class B roads. Many of the roads around Mammoth Creek, at over 8,000 feet, are still buried under four feet of snow, leaving some frustrated.
The road maintenance resolution, signed earlier this month, stated that the county has only limited resources for road maintenance and would prioritize what roads to maintain first based on “safety, use, connectivity, location, availability of resources, and overall economic benefit to the County.” Mr. Rivera said that “economic benefit” should not be a consideration, and should be removed from the resolution. The commissioners did not directly address the economic benefit concept, but reiterated they only had so much in resources to maintain the roads.
Amendments to the Campground Ordinance
Kaden Figgins presented amendments to the Campground Ordinance which defines, “Modern Campground” as a conditional use and strikes out the concept of “semi-primitive” campgrounds. In essence the ordinance prohibits any commercial campground from operating unless it has a potable water system and wastewater system approved by the health department.
Deer Numbers
Kevin Bunnell of the Utah Division of Wildlife discussed hunting and trapping with the commissioners. Previous commissioners were concerned about elk, but now Commissioner Pollock is mostly concerned about the small number of mule deer, especially on Mount Dutton east of Panguitch.
Mr. Bunnell explained that deer numbers in a given season are determined by what state the does are in when winter comes — whether they have enough fat on their backs — and that is what determines fawn survival. He stated that this winter in Northern Utah, the survival rate of fawns is estimated to be close to 0%. Southern Utah fawns have fared better, with the Division expecting around a 60% survival rate, as usual.
So this year should we try for tags on the Henries, or the Paunsaugunt?
The Paunsaugunt, Bunnell says.
– The Byway