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Letter to the Editor on Utah Rural Summit 2003:
A Roadmap for the Future
Published Aug. 28, 2003 Dear Editor: Now, it is time for you to publish a credible perspective on the economic value of tourists to our county and its ability to sustain life. We are the business people, the property owners, the taxpayers, the employers, and the people who want a local economy which is sound for ourselves, and which will grow so that our younger people may continue to live our chosen lifestyle. We live here because we love our environment, our heritage, and our neighbors. Because we appreciate the phenomena with which we are blessed, we understand why other people choose to visit and complement our bounty. "Tourists" don't "shackle" us as expressed in your "Mystery guest editorial." Rather, tourists are visitors to our area who are paying guests. They come here to enjoy what we have, not to destroy. These people choose to recreate here where we are fortunate enough to live. Tourists are in awe of what nature has created here and they also wish to learn about local pre-history, the pioneer heritage, and all of the natural sciences here. The Scenic Byway 12 All-American Road designation acclaims, at a national level, the assets that surround us. The Heritage 89 Alliance, and soon-to-be National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area, focuses on the unique history of six counties in southern Utah. Both of these designations are designed to attract more visitation to our area -- thus, providing increased economic benefit so that we may continue to be viable. These tourists-guests come here from throughout our country, as well as from other nations. Our U.S. and foreign visitors have the right to enjoy the vistas and the recreational and educational opportunities through which they travel. What right does anyone have to deny these visitors these opportunities? What right does a newspaper and its staff have to knowingly and willfully attempt to deter our livelihood and our right to choose to promote, attract and enjoy these visitors in our communities, who provide the economic base which sustains us all and allows us all to live here? Let us remind you that we are the business people. We know how dependent we all are economically, socially, and culturally on our visitors and tourists. These people enjoy what we have to offer them. Also, however, they are willing to share not only their money with us but also their ideas and curiosity about our environment. They enlighten us about their cultures and give us and our children an insight into lifestyles that differ from our own. They make us realize just how fortunate we are to live here. Many of our tourists are "shackled" in urban lifestyles from which they may escape, if even only briefly, when they become tourists here. Economically, we appreciate what these visitors leave here, but also, when we take the time to listen to them, they force us to look into our own mirrors and see how truly blessed we are. We have many reasons to be appreciative and grateful to our tourists. Sincerely Yours, Sharol Bernardo, Moqui Motel/RV Park and Desert Wolf Gallery, Escalante, UT Julia Cozby, Utah Canyons, Inc., Escalante, UT Barry & Celeste Bernards, Escalante Outfitter, Escalante, UT Philip & Harriet Priska, Serenidad Gallery and Retreat, Escalante, UT Tom & Linda Mansell, Escalante's Grand Staircase Bed & Breakfast/Inn, Escalante, UT Rosalea Caldwell, Circle D Motel, Escalante, UT Christine Haycock, Plate of Dreams, Escalante, UT [employee of Wells Fargo Bank] Jenifer Stead, Cowboy Blues, Escalante, UT Donald L. Mosier [employee of Dixie National Forest] & Suzanne Mosier, Cross Stitch & More [employee of Wells Fargo Bank], Escalante, UT Scotty Mitchell, artist, Boulder, UT Unrecognizable Name, Landscape Architect, Boulder, UT Unrecognizable Name, Trailhead Cafe & Grill, Escalante, UT Unrecognizable Name, The Orchard House Bed & Breakfast, Escalante, UT Brent Cottam, Cottam's 66 Station, Escalante, UT Sherian Dutton, Prospector Restaurant, Escalante, UT Debra Cronin, Golden Loop Cafe, Escalante, UT
Credible Perspective: Response to Letter to the Editor on Utah Rural Summit 2003: A Roadmap for the Future Published Aug. 28, 2003 By Toni Thayer
Thank you for your letter responding to my Guest Editorial on Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt’s Rural Summit published Aug. 14. The “mystery guest editorial” that you reference was actually just an honest mistake of omission that was corrected in the Aug. 21 edition. You say, “Now, it is time to publish a credible perspective on the economic value of tourists to our county.” It may, very well, be that time—look for future articles. Your letter compares apples to oranges. The subject matter of my editorial was not on the economic value of tourists, but rather, it was on the format of the Governor’s regional economic meeting and its lack of planning for any industry, other than tourism. However, you bring up some interesting points. As you say, you are the “business people, the property owners, the taxpayers, the employers.” I assume your “credible perspective” has been built from this viewpoint. You imply that my perspective is not credible. In southern Utah, my perspective of the value of tourism comes from various job opportunities in that industry and from being an “employee”. During my first six months in Escalante, I worked three different tourist-related jobs, all at the same time. They were the only jobs on the market, and I was grateful for them. All paid minimum wage or barely more and were seasonal and temporary, available only through the summer months. Perhaps the tourists don’t shackle you, the business owners, but as an employee making a minimum wage, I was “shackled” to Escalante. In fact, I was trapped within the city by the only wages available, but not making enough to “sustain” my life or enough to leave the area. As an Escalante resident, for the first time in my life, I’m now drawing unemployment based on Ariz. wages earned as a Finance Manager. Here, unemployment pays more than working as a tourist industry employee. Occasionally, I’m able to extend the length of my unemployment by working for companies outside southern Utah. All of the money that sustains me in Escalante comes from outside the community, because the community is unable to offer a “sustainable, living wage”. This practice of “long distance employment” is used by many local residents to sustain themselves in the local economy. As a true environmentalist, I believe in the concept of shopping locally and have brought my money to local businesses, even if that meant paying more or buying something not quite what I wanted. I currently write for the Garfield County News as an unpaid volunteer because this publication is struggling just as every other business is in the area since resource production ceased. This is not a surprise. It was anticipated and projected in studies done years ago when the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was designated. Although tourist dollars are a slice of the region’s total economic “pie”, the consistent money that comes to your businesses, day-in and day-out, is from area residents if you cater to their needs in any way. One exception to this, of course, is the increasing amount of Federal employees staying in area hotels and eating in local restaurants while in town and Federal agency purchases from other local businesses. These incoming funds to the local economy are not dependent upon the economic health or well being of the area’s residents, nor are they derived under the “hard-earned profit standards” that govern private enterprise. The economic development concept put forth in your letter is one of constantly filling up the local economic “bucket” with money from an outside source. This is archaic and outdated. It is not “self-sustaining”, because the bucket must be constantly filled with a new revenue stream from outside the community. Self-sustaining, on the other hand, indicates a community that requires very little outside help or input. These communities have learned a better way to fill the local economic bucket. They “plug the leaks” by stopping the flow of money that leaves the region when local residents and businesses shop in other towns. Locals in this particular region would also have increased buying power to support existing businesses if they were making a “sustainable” wage. If you, as the tourist-related business owners, are experiencing great profits from worldwide visitors to the area, then please do pass them on to your employees by substantially increasing their hourly wage to one that can “sustain” them and their families. Gov. Leavitt’s speech at the Rural Summit was on a vibrant rural economy derived from worldwide tourism and the need to preserve the surrounding lands due to their extremely high value for viewing purposes. Based on that, I asked Gov. Leavitt: - How do we make the tourists, who view and use this local “valuable” land and other community assets like water, sewers, roads, and emergency services, pay for this privilege (or their “right to enjoy the vistas” as your letter states)? - How do we make tourism pay a livable wage for area residents? - How do we balance the scale between resource production-related wage earners, coming from the urban world and wanting preservation of Utah’s natural resources, with the needs of local residents who have given up their resource production jobs for preservation of their local lands? My questions evoked strong laughter from the Governor and the predominantly urban audience, but he didn’t have any answers. Do you? Is it really a laughing matter? ----------------------------------- Stay Current with Related Articles, Reader Comments and Southern Utah Happenings. Subscribe to Garfield County News. Published Each Thursday. $34 per year. Send check to GCN, P. O. Box 127, Tropic, UT 84776 Phone: 435-679-8730 Fax: 435-679-8847 garfnews@color-country.net Please tell us that Spirit Helps referred you!
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