The Creation Myth of Moab is a persistent myth that is influencing public lands debates all over the region. And like so many persistent myths out here it ignores inconvenient truths and nuance, and is likely just reinforcing historic negative outcomes, rather than acting as a learning opportunity that leads to better ones.
One could argue that Moab isn't the place it is today because of the National Parks, or protected public lands won by "enviros", but despite of them. The majority of use in the Moab area has nothing to do with the parks, other than as background scenery for whatever else people want to do (I think Moab BLM outside the parks sees some 3M visitors a year? Somebody good with numbers (ahem) should check that). For decades, Moab's identity has been a place where everything goes--Want to do some mineral exploration? Here's a shovel! Go rock hounding, or better yet, poke around a little for some arrowheads? Whatever, nobody will know! Target shooting? Line 'em up! Rock climbing or rock crawling? Let's do both! Want to basejump off a slackline and land in your side-by-side to drive out to your RV parked in the crypto on the point where you can cut down some inconveniently situated junipers in order to get a better view? Game on! Nobody cares, its OUR land! And, unfortunately, for many decades the BLM, the counties, and the powers that be either directly supported that mantra through more and more "amenities", or just turned a blind eye. And now those uses, and the behavior, is entrenched, and much harder to pull back. And the hordes just keep on coming, wanting their piece of the free for all that they've heard so much about.
If the enviros that the Myth-expounders blame for today's Moab were actually as successful as people like to pretend they were, there would be more Wilderness (there is currently zero acres of designated Wilderness in the Moab Zone east of the Green River), fewer roads, and better management of the cultural, ecological, water, and wilderness resources in all the areas of the Moab Zone that aren't named Arches or Canyonlands. Instead, we're left with a situation were the BLM gets pilloried for any attempt they make to rein in the madness and bring the Moab Zone back to a more sustainable situation. There are so many who long for their Moab of old (when there was less of everything except for healthy public lands), but fail to realize that in order to attain some semblance of that, we're all going to have to agree that we can't do everything everywhere anymore.
I appreciate your nuanced analysis of the situation in Moab today, and the interesting historical background. I was one of those enviros who, back in the '80s, was touting recreation as a partial answer to a declining resource-extraction economy (or one we hoped was declining, anyway). I think SUWA and the other Utah green groups were pretty careful to advocate for the kinds of recreation that had minimal impact on the land -- basically dispersed, nonmotorized travel in the roadless backcountry, along with the usual auto-based tourism based largely in Arches and Canyonlands. None of us foresaw the rise of social media and the whopping impact it had on outdoor recreation, nor the Mighty 5 advertising campaign which spiked visitation to the parks, nor the phenomenal rise in motorized recreation and the whole industry it spawned. Soren (comment below) is absolutely right in that had we designated a few wilderness areas around Moab (Millcreek canyon, Behind the Rocks, Harts Draw, Labyrinth Canyon East, and suchlike), we would at least have some refugia from the motorized mayhem.
That said, I've been interested in my daughter's experience as a recent Moab immigrant -- she finds it a pretty congenial place, with many community-oriented organizations, lots of interesting events going on, and enough folks her age to make for a good social scene. She bristles at the usual characterization of the town as a hellhole and says you have to get away from Main Street to see what is really going on there. Could be something for your further investigation, Jonathan!
Yeah, Moab, what is there to say, other than that after my last drive through Castle Valley I’m calling it the Moab metropolitan, (watch out Cisco). But this mention of the ski resort development as catalyst is worrisome here in one of the last unspoiled corners. Do you know somethings, Jonathan, that I should know about Powderhorn? There are unsubstantiated rumblings afoot…
Trying to figure out what's going on in the New West begs an invocation of the old Mencken quip, "for every complex problem there is "simple, neat, and wrong". Maybe we are asking the wrong questions with our focus on which interest to blame. It seems that the unmentioned background for change in the West is the broad lack of agreement on what public lands are "for". Each group, local communities, intrastate visitors, tourists, recreationalists, and Federal and state agencies all assert that their voices should be prioritized, and all appeal to their own chosen authorities. If there is a solution, it is going to require addressing this problem first.
Thank you for this thoughtful and nuanced look at Moab's evolution and dynamics. It's not binary or black-and-white as you point out. It seems these dynamics are playing out in places like Kanab and, on a smaller scale, Nucla/Naturita.
Oh Moab. Sigh. I’ll never forget rolling through there with my family early 90’s and thinking there was something special about the place. I was an adolescent and like you Johnathan, towns were for gas and food. So, this stop was just looking down the road. Flash forward a decade and I’m stopping there on a drive back to NM from Seattle, once again just for gas, and I look south from the Navtec Boatyard across the street and think “there’s something special about this place.” Flash forward another half a decade and my girlfriends and I have broken down on our way to Burning Man - we’ve been towed to Moab where a friend of a friend will put us up in a boathouse. Long story short I met my dirt bag of a husband that night, he was the Knight in shining armor who swifted us safely to and from the party in the Nevada Desert. He worked for Navtec. Eventually he left Moab for my beautiful home, now our beautiful home in northern NM. And we fear the cautionary tale of becoming the next Moab here. And we lament the loss of the Moab of our youth that was not crawling with yahoos but was rather a wild and special place where you might meet the most wonderful people you’ll ever know. Thanks for a great piece Johnathan. Enjoy your driving around during the spring in the southwest… best time of year to cruise.
The Creation Myth of Moab is a persistent myth that is influencing public lands debates all over the region. And like so many persistent myths out here it ignores inconvenient truths and nuance, and is likely just reinforcing historic negative outcomes, rather than acting as a learning opportunity that leads to better ones.
One could argue that Moab isn't the place it is today because of the National Parks, or protected public lands won by "enviros", but despite of them. The majority of use in the Moab area has nothing to do with the parks, other than as background scenery for whatever else people want to do (I think Moab BLM outside the parks sees some 3M visitors a year? Somebody good with numbers (ahem) should check that). For decades, Moab's identity has been a place where everything goes--Want to do some mineral exploration? Here's a shovel! Go rock hounding, or better yet, poke around a little for some arrowheads? Whatever, nobody will know! Target shooting? Line 'em up! Rock climbing or rock crawling? Let's do both! Want to basejump off a slackline and land in your side-by-side to drive out to your RV parked in the crypto on the point where you can cut down some inconveniently situated junipers in order to get a better view? Game on! Nobody cares, its OUR land! And, unfortunately, for many decades the BLM, the counties, and the powers that be either directly supported that mantra through more and more "amenities", or just turned a blind eye. And now those uses, and the behavior, is entrenched, and much harder to pull back. And the hordes just keep on coming, wanting their piece of the free for all that they've heard so much about.
If the enviros that the Myth-expounders blame for today's Moab were actually as successful as people like to pretend they were, there would be more Wilderness (there is currently zero acres of designated Wilderness in the Moab Zone east of the Green River), fewer roads, and better management of the cultural, ecological, water, and wilderness resources in all the areas of the Moab Zone that aren't named Arches or Canyonlands. Instead, we're left with a situation were the BLM gets pilloried for any attempt they make to rein in the madness and bring the Moab Zone back to a more sustainable situation. There are so many who long for their Moab of old (when there was less of everything except for healthy public lands), but fail to realize that in order to attain some semblance of that, we're all going to have to agree that we can't do everything everywhere anymore.
I appreciate your nuanced analysis of the situation in Moab today, and the interesting historical background. I was one of those enviros who, back in the '80s, was touting recreation as a partial answer to a declining resource-extraction economy (or one we hoped was declining, anyway). I think SUWA and the other Utah green groups were pretty careful to advocate for the kinds of recreation that had minimal impact on the land -- basically dispersed, nonmotorized travel in the roadless backcountry, along with the usual auto-based tourism based largely in Arches and Canyonlands. None of us foresaw the rise of social media and the whopping impact it had on outdoor recreation, nor the Mighty 5 advertising campaign which spiked visitation to the parks, nor the phenomenal rise in motorized recreation and the whole industry it spawned. Soren (comment below) is absolutely right in that had we designated a few wilderness areas around Moab (Millcreek canyon, Behind the Rocks, Harts Draw, Labyrinth Canyon East, and suchlike), we would at least have some refugia from the motorized mayhem.
That said, I've been interested in my daughter's experience as a recent Moab immigrant -- she finds it a pretty congenial place, with many community-oriented organizations, lots of interesting events going on, and enough folks her age to make for a good social scene. She bristles at the usual characterization of the town as a hellhole and says you have to get away from Main Street to see what is really going on there. Could be something for your further investigation, Jonathan!
Yeah, Moab, what is there to say, other than that after my last drive through Castle Valley I’m calling it the Moab metropolitan, (watch out Cisco). But this mention of the ski resort development as catalyst is worrisome here in one of the last unspoiled corners. Do you know somethings, Jonathan, that I should know about Powderhorn? There are unsubstantiated rumblings afoot…
Trying to figure out what's going on in the New West begs an invocation of the old Mencken quip, "for every complex problem there is "simple, neat, and wrong". Maybe we are asking the wrong questions with our focus on which interest to blame. It seems that the unmentioned background for change in the West is the broad lack of agreement on what public lands are "for". Each group, local communities, intrastate visitors, tourists, recreationalists, and Federal and state agencies all assert that their voices should be prioritized, and all appeal to their own chosen authorities. If there is a solution, it is going to require addressing this problem first.
Super article and the usual great photos. Do you know if the blue truck is for sale?
Thank you for this thoughtful and nuanced look at Moab's evolution and dynamics. It's not binary or black-and-white as you point out. It seems these dynamics are playing out in places like Kanab and, on a smaller scale, Nucla/Naturita.
Oh Moab. Sigh. I’ll never forget rolling through there with my family early 90’s and thinking there was something special about the place. I was an adolescent and like you Johnathan, towns were for gas and food. So, this stop was just looking down the road. Flash forward a decade and I’m stopping there on a drive back to NM from Seattle, once again just for gas, and I look south from the Navtec Boatyard across the street and think “there’s something special about this place.” Flash forward another half a decade and my girlfriends and I have broken down on our way to Burning Man - we’ve been towed to Moab where a friend of a friend will put us up in a boathouse. Long story short I met my dirt bag of a husband that night, he was the Knight in shining armor who swifted us safely to and from the party in the Nevada Desert. He worked for Navtec. Eventually he left Moab for my beautiful home, now our beautiful home in northern NM. And we fear the cautionary tale of becoming the next Moab here. And we lament the loss of the Moab of our youth that was not crawling with yahoos but was rather a wild and special place where you might meet the most wonderful people you’ll ever know. Thanks for a great piece Johnathan. Enjoy your driving around during the spring in the southwest… best time of year to cruise.